Hi baby boy! You are THREE now! You love to say, "I'm this many" and hold up three fingers. You still have a hard time getting 3 of them up, but it is super cute how you focus and do it! You are just a joy. You are a typical youngest child clown- always looking for attention and being silly to make people laugh. You are not shy and often the life of the party, but you have such a sweet and mild temperament. You are night and day different from your brother, Zeke. He was such a wild and crazy toddler and you are calm and focused and predictable. I love it! It is so much easier to have you around ;)
You only take a bath like 2x a week and you always cry about your hair being washed. Your hair is wild and you badly need a haircut. Last week, I chopped off your "rat tail" and you protested..."No, I love mine rat tail!" It held us off for another few weeks ;) you have fine blond hair and it is so cute. You look a lot like June did at this same age. I love having some blond kiddos! You are fairly petite! You were given a cute little short and tshirt set for your bday in size 3t and you're swimming in it! You still very comfortably fit size 2t and size 8 shoes. You have been wearing the same pair of Minnie Mouse tennis shoes for the past 8 months...I keep waiting for you to outgrow them, but you love them so much so I don't mind. You also enjoy your boots a lot! I think your favorite thing to wear might be your "ooh ooh aah aah jacket". It is the monkey Halloween costume! It has little mitten hands and a hood, so quite warm, but doesn't fit in the car seat ;) You love to see what your shirts have on them too and are quite fond of your Iron Man shirt! Luckily, you've grown out of being too picky and mostly wear whatever I pick. Because we don't bathe often, you'll often wear the same outfit for 2-3 days straight- even to bed haha. lazy mom? or smart mom? certainly cuts back on laundry..
You stopped sucking your thumb! I bought some of the bitter tasting nail polish and was gearing up for a fight- it took Jo months even with that nail polish. But you just quit after like 2 days. You'd forget and pop your thumb in and then take it right back out and say "oh ya. i'm a big boy!" and just like that...night time and everything! I'm so proud! it felt hard for me to force you to quit because you're the baby of our family and a baby sucking a thumb is just soo sweet and I wasn't quite ready to let it go yet. you'd self soothe and put yourself to sleep and it was just precious. but i didn't want your teeth being all messed up from it. we just had your first dentist appt yesterday and you did soo good. the hygenist asked "Is he always this calm?" and "I wish all my patients were as calm as he is!" and she also commented on your hair and your eyelashes. she liked you ha! She turned on paw patrol and you just hung out and let them clean your teeth. the dentist did say that you had larger than average baby teeth ha. you actually let us do a pretty good job of cleaning your teeth. i remember having to sit on Zeke for years to get into his mouth. but we don't have to sit on you- you just let us! you fuss sometimes, but mostly you're awesome. your calm little personality is such a gift to me!!
on a not so light note, you gave me quite a scare a few weeks ago! i was making dinner and thought you were playing with Ezekiel and Ellie in the playroom... you're always off playing with them and the door can often be closed and it is just so normal for me to check in on you guys every half hour or so. i finished making the food and sat down to eat before serving you guys. Jo&June joined me and we were having a nice time and I wasn't rushing because I thought you were happily playing. but then Zeke and El came over as I finished asking for their dinner and I wondered why you hadn't followed so I went looking for you right away. you were in the van! you had let yourself in to play and then closed the door behind yourself and then climbed in your carseat and buckled the chest strap, so you couldn't get out. you were probably only in there for 10-15 mins, but by the time I found you you were sooo sweaty. your cheeks took a full hour to stop being bright red. your shirt was full on soaked through. your hair was so wet. it was terrifying! it was about 85 degrees outside, so I am sure it was HOT in the car! and I had poked my head out calling for you, but you'd been hoarse from crying and screaming. oh my word. i can't even believe that we almost lost you! i was just in shock for a few days and couldn't stop thinking about it! I am so thankful to the Lord that He protected you and that Zeke and Ellie came asking for food when they did and that I went looking for you before serving them and that I checked the car just one minute after calling outside... so many ways that could have gone differently, but the Lord protected your precious little life and I will never go more than 15 mins without checking on a toddler again!
You have stopped napping... not my favorite thing, but you're clearly ready. you'll still nap once a week at home if dad lays with you and forces you. sometimes we just have to force you... like when we have a late night! or you'll take a quick car nap like 3x a week haha. 5th child problems! you have been such a great sleeper and Ita had been complaining about you not sleeping great, so I know it is for the best and helps you fall asleep faster at night. You are still sleeping with Ita a few times a week, but you are fighting it hard. you want to sleep with Johanna! of course, Eleanor has been sleeping with Jo maybe 2x/week and so she is super jealous. no way that you get to more than her haha. you don't really have your own bed, so its just musical beds every night... we need to reset come this Fall and probably find you a permanent spot. but you sure like to cuddle! the one night you weren't up with Ita or Jo, I heard you crying around 4am and you climbed into bed with me and I couldn't get good sleep because you were on top of me. you loove to be touching. not just a hand on my arm...no full on pressed against. you also always wake up asking for water in the middle of the night. thirsty, sweaty little sleeper ;) you don't go to bed til 8 because that is when all your siblings go to bed. when they dropped naps, we would put them to bed earlier, but that is feeling hard with you because you always sleep with someone so you won't go to bed until someone else does. eeee we need to fix it! i know sleep is so important. but you're such a happy little guy. I don't feel like you're overtired at all.
you are SO into your toys right now! i would say your favorites are the magna-tiles. you even take some with us just about everywhere. today, 2 square ones together was a sandwich, 4 triangle ones with a square base was a house, 6 triangle ones in a circle with a few more triangles standing on top was a cake with candles. you are so creative! and you build awesome things for the cars and dinos. the playroom floor is often littered with magna-tiles! you just had your first sleepover at grandma&grandpa's house and Zeke spent so much time playing with the magna-tiles because you are so possessive over them and knock down whatever he makes haha. but we have ones to make a marble run and ones to connect with legos.. I am so excited to see you grow into the more advanced building opportunities with them! hopefully they'll stay your favorite for years and years! these are a toy i plan to keep for my grandkids too, so it would be so fun to tell your kids all about your creations! you are also very into the inter-connecting math cubes. zeke used to love those as well. you build all sorts of things and tell me they are robots mostly ;) we also used some as eggs for a tetradactyl nest yesterday. endless possibilities! you also enjoy pushing stuffies around in the doll stroller, reading books with someone, coloring, and especially play-doh! you love play-doh. it is oh so messy, but I try to let you whenever you ask to play it! for your bday, I asked for more of those circles that you can launch up in the air because you loved those, but your siblings launched them too hard and lost them all ha. and we asked for more stomp rockets! so fun. you spend a lot of time on the trampoline! and we asked Ita to get you a little kid pool for the porch. the other kids all spent countless hours playing in the pool and we hadn't had one yet in your life- I said no more when I was pregnant because they're kind of a lot of work to keep clean and just hadn't gotten one for you, but you've been thoroughly enjoying that this summer!
you are a pretty good eater- you like most things! you just don't eat a lot. you love sugar and ask for candy and applesauces and granola bars a lot ;) you know where the snack drawer is! it actually used to be the candy drawer, but we switched the candy up high hahaha. a lot of meals, we have to hand feed you like a baby or you just don't eat. i know it is on me... i don't enforce you guys sitting through a whole meal like I should. we often have kids still sleeping in during breakfast, so people are just coming and going in the mornings. lunches are very often outside or at parks or on the go. and then your dad works so many evenings right during our dinner time, that we only have a family dinner like 2x a week and by that time of day, I am usually feeling tired and I like to take my meal outside or in a quiet room and listen to an audio book while I eat haha. I know it would be best for everyone if I sat and asked about your days, etc. but as a homeschool mom I literally am with you guys all day every day and know everything already and am ready for a bit of alone time hahaha. so we usually turn the tv on during dinner if dad isn't home. bad habits. I think in September Zeke will be starting school and we are hoping to overhaul our schedule and create so much more routine. we surely need it! anyway, you love to be hand fed and you love snacks and we let you get away with way too much because we are overwhelmed and because you are the baby of the family ha. you love meat and bread and fruit and cheese and yogurt and eggs. you're a great eater- not picky at all!
you are having so much trouble with POOP. It is my nightmare. i feel like you're chronically constipated. you will do the tiniest poop or even just a smudge of poop in your diaper and then refuse to go on the toilet. often you'll do 3 or 4 of those smudgy poops in a day. but no real substance, you know? and then like last night out of nowhere just the most giant turd ever that totally clogs our toilet. i had to cut it in half to get it to flush... tmi i know ;) i am certainly going to chat with the dr at your 3 year appt! a friend just recommended magnesium, so we will try that right away too! we have already been doing fiber and prunes, etc. sheesh! you also refuse to potty train which is so surprising considering how quickly you stopped sucking your thumb. you just don't care at all. like i leave you full on naked and you just pee on the carpet and don't even come tell me. you don't have any remorse. i leave you in undies and you pee in them and don't even come tell me... you just walk around in wet undies until i notice. like...how uncomfortable? i have tried it all and twice have decided it just isn't worth the amount of work it is making for me cleaning up your accidents, so have given up. but you're three and not even trying to potty train, so I am certainly feeling anxious. i think as soon as we settle into the new school year routine, that will be top priority! we have such cute little training undies for you and everything ready to go. now the question is how to motivate you?
You are so fun with your siblings. the way you love them and watching them adore you is probably one of my favorite parts about life in this season. you all are so lucky to have each other...I pray often for your relationships and that you'll all be so close as adults and do life together and raise your babies together (cousins!) and just lean on each other through it all. You play soooo much with Eleanor. I am so thankful she will be home with you next year so you two can entertain each other while I homeschool ;) You guys are just precious together. You follow the big kids all over the backyard and mimic everything they do. Today at lunch, Ellie decided it was cold (95 outside, but A/C inside) and grabbed a blanket. you hopped right off the table and said "brrr i'm so cold i need a blanket" in your cute little toddler voice. the best. you and Zeke are really trying to play and you do often, but you fight more with him. give it a year or so and I think you two will be so close! Johanna acts like she is your little mama and just coddles you and is honestly so precious with you. Jo is always in your Sunday school class with you too. and you often sleep with her. June is trying to hard to get out of Johanna's shadow and be your favorite too. but Jo will often swoop in and take you away by reminding you that you like her best, etc. it isn't fair at all and I am working on making sure June and you have alone time too!
last thing to mention is that you're all of a sudden talking so much more! at your 2.5 year dr. appt we were thinking you may need to start speech therapy, but you've just taken off! You still very much sound like a toddler and mispronounce things and say things wrong all the time. your siblings just say things to you in your toddler way hahah which i tell them not to so you can learn, but how can they help it when it is so cute? "You help I?" "You snugga me" "Her took my toy" "I go with Ita" "I no want eat num num" and on and on... I am going to miss having a toddler around soon enough- I am enjoying every little bit of you!
happy 3rd birthday, little dude. you are my favorite little guy in the whole world. I am quite honestly obsessed with you. I am loving how you're getting more independent and going off to play alone more and more so I can get lots of things done, but I also miss you when you're not around. any time you see me, you'll invite me into play with you or cuddle you or watch tv with you. you are such a people person. I adore your little tantrums and your little butt when you take a bath and I adore your hair that is always matted in the back and the way you let me brush your tiny teeth. I adore the way you kiss me and how you always want to "ni" first thing in the morning. Most of all, I am so thankful that I get to be your mama and the one who you run to (ok or Nanny) and the one you love most...at least for now! I am cherishing the way your little body feels in my arms when I carry you. I am cherishing getting to watch you learn new things and feeling kind of ridiculously proud of you. you are so special to me. Never grow up, sweet boy! I love you so so much.
Comments
Post a Comment