My big guys is THREE years old!

Happy third birthday bud!

    So I guess this means we are out of the "toddler" phase, yes? He's now considered a "preschooler" I think. Well any who, he's big and some days he says things that remind me of a teenager (If you are my Facebook friend then you know what I'm talking about.) Needless to say, he sure is FUN right now! I get such a kick out of him when we are out in public. Little Mr. Extrovert (takes after his daddy), has now made it his life's mission to find out everyone's name and occupation (and if this person is extra interesting, he'll even ask them what their hair color is.) My most FAVORITE thing EVER is when he asks them their name (which is always followed by "and what's YOUR name?") and he'll go "I'm Eli, and this is my (cousin) mommy!" (I finally got him to drop the "cousin" part--awkward! No idea where he got that from) with a big elaborate hand gesture like Vanna White pointing out a letter. It's hilarious, and not to mention the total pride in his voice when he says it, just makes my heart swell! I freakin' LOVE that kid! 

   Here are his 3 year stats:

Size: Right now he is wearing 3T but the length is almost too short and the waist is too big. Thank God for those inner elastic waist cinchers that save the day. At his doc visit he was 40 inches tall (34 ¼ inches last year) and weighed in at 32lbs (28 lbs last year). So he is pretty tall as everyone points out to me.

Likes: Oh man, this kid definitely knows what he likes and doesn't like. He's BIG into legos at the moment. Mainly the little lego guys where he loves to take them apart and rearrange them a thousand times into "super cool guys." Other loves, in no particular order: Playing with papa, being a super hero, going to the park/pool, being around airplanes and pointing them out in the sky, doing puzzles (especially the giant floor puzzles), eating ice-cream, golfing, running through the sprinkler, helping me cook (and do laundry for that matter. I'm telling you, he will be an awesome husband some day!), meeting new friends, and watching his "shows".

Some of his favorite things

More of his favorite activities

Dislikes: And just as he knows what he likes, he knows exactly what he doesn't like as well. Things such as sleeping. Every day before nap and bedtime I hear "but I don't like sleeping." Now I'll just say "that's ok, you still need rest. If you don't want to sleep, you can just play quietly in your bed." This has worked like a charm because he always passes out, even if he does play for just a little bit before laying down. Other dislikes, leaving the pool/park/friends house. I recently was getting a lot of defiance and tantrums at this point but since I've started saying, "ok bud, 5 more minutes until we leave.... and 2 more minutes and then we go...etc." Now he doesn't fight me at all. 

Eating: He still eats pretty well while at home but now when we are out and about for play dates, or parties etc, he is more vocal about saying " I don't like that" before even taking a bite. Now I'll just focus on making sure he eats well prior to going out, knowing he will choose junk food be very picky elsewhere. It's reeeeally frustrating and something we're working on. He could still eat his weight in fruit and bread though. Things haven't changed there. I no longer make separate meals like I did when he was a baby/young toddler. He eats what we eat, or goes to bed hungry (or doesn't get dessert, both of these do pretty well motivating him to eat.) He's not really fond of meat yet. This is still hit or miss as far as if he'll eat it. He mainly does the veggie sides at dinner in this case. When Aaron and I take him out to dinner, I don't bother ordering him a meal because he'll eat our salads, the bread at the table, and then I happily give him my veggies! Ha ha. He's better than having a puppy at my feet!

Sleeping: He still takes a nap each day (Halleluia!) from 11-1pm. His bedtime ranges based on our summer activities but basically 7pm and he wakes up consistently between 6:15am-6:45am, which I loathe. There was a short time recently when he flat out refused naps or sleeping at night (especially if Aaron was out of town to put him to bed) unless he was in our bed. That also was a very frustrating time. But that phase passed and he now is back to going pretty willingly into his own bed.

This sleeping position never gets old to me.

Milestones: Potty training! He's all done with diapers including at night and bedtime. He spelled his name the other day (just verbally, and only the first name. No writing it yet and he just learned how to pronounce his last name! Ha! Welcome to the club buddy. You weren't the only one to struggle with that.) He can hit a baseball with me tossing the ball to him and he swims independently with his floaty on.

His cool new skivvies to celebrate being potty trained

Thats my three year old preschooler in a nutshell! Toodles!

-Linds