If you give a boy a birthday...

...Then he'll surely need two more.

Right?

Porter had a very good birthday this year, with a progressive party that spanned almost three weeks, thanks to poor planning on my part and loads of adoring fans in the extended family.

We spent the evening of Porter's actual birthday with Cocoa the horse.

The green frog rainboots were of Porter's own choosing, when with exasperation, he said, "since I don't have any cowboy boots, I guess I'll have to wear my frogboy boots."

After a couple of minutes on the horse, followed by two hours of playing in the dirt, throwing rocks and chasing a vary patient barn cat, we headed home for some birthday cake and a bath.

But that, my friends, was just the beginning.

We had saved the gifts for the "real" birthday party we had planned to throw while Andy's family was in town (and had talked about it with Porter ad infinitum, so there was no getting out of it), but when travel plans went awry, I threw a last-minute (and three times rescheduled) party for Porter so we could give him some presents and sing "Happy Birthday," which we somehow forgot to do on round one of the festivities.

We were joined this time around by Porter's pals Wesley & Holden, and I just love this picture. Who knew birthday candles could be so exciting?

The third portion of Porter's birthday involved present opening from Andy's folks a few days after the second party, followed by more presents from my folks, and one day later, from my sister, on our recent trip to SLC. After being presented with gifts each time Porter has encountered a new family member as of late, I'm concerned he may have unrealistic expectations the next time we all gather.

Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate.

And who is this cute three year old?

A quick highlight of some of Porter Bryan's faves as of late:

CANDY

The suspicious candy-filled mouth is no stranger in the Burt home.

UNCLE

Porter adores his Uncle Layne, and after a stint of not seeing he and Crystal for a few days, will start assuming any knock at the door is "Uncle" coming to play (and is oftentimes mad if it's someone else).

TRAINS, PLANES & AUTOMOBILES

If it's got wheels, it's sure to be a hit in Porter's book.

COLORING

Porter loves to color and do "school work." We think he's a lefty, though our fingers are crossed that he'll settle on the right hand when he stops switching back and forth.

And one thing Porter does not like?

Holding Nora.

He loves to talk to her and play near her, but as soon as we suggest he hold her, he runs out of the room. In the almost five months since she's been in the fam, this is only the second picture we've been able to get of the two of them together (and you may note, that he is not actually HOLDING her). This one came after several where Nora was laying sideways while Porter leaned as far away from her as possible.