Happy 3rd Birthday, Will!

Dear Will,

Will! Slow it down, Buddy! You are growing up way too fast. I'm not ready for this. You are supposed to be my baby. You are supposed to stay small forever and always need me. Yet, here we are. Celebrating your third birthday! Third!! That's just nuts.

To start, you are getting tall. We are going to the doctor in a few days to get a formal height and weight but for now we have the measurements we take. We think you are somewhere around 38.75 inches. That puts you around the 82nd percentile. If those calculations are correct, you will officially be taller than your sister was at the same age for the first time in over a year and a half; however, your percentile is still slightly lower because of that whole boy vs girl thing. The doctor said eventually you would start to catch up to her growth and eventually pass her so this could be that or maybe you just hit a growth spurt earlier than she did. Granted, we could also be off some so your formal height measurements will be in your baby book. =) You weigh right around 31.2 pounds which puts you around the 46th percentile. You are tall and skinny. Sounds like a few other people in this house that I know. Spoiler alert... it isn't me. You are looking more and more like your daddy every single day, it seems. You wear 4T to 5T shirts at this point and even sometimes wear a boy's extra small or even small depending on the style and who makes it. For shorts, you are still wearing mostly 3T but  you own a few 4T and 5T. The only reason we are still putting you into 3T is that boys' shorts are super long and you are super skinny so we are able to take advantage of the thinner waists since the lengths are so much longer than girls' shorts. Though we aren't really into pants season yet, you do wear them to church sometimes and you are mostly wearing 4T pants. You are turning into another long legged Young. You are lengthening and most of it seems to be occurring in your legs. You wear a size 9 to 10 in shoes depending on the style. You require a hair cut every 4-6 weeks and are seriously a pro at it now. You actually ask to get your hair cut most of the time. I think it could be because of the lollipop they usually give you at the end but you also just like haircuts. You also love to brush your teeth still which is super helpful. And baths. You LOVE baths. If you don't get a bath for any given reason, you get upset. Your evening revolves around taking a bath. Then you argue when we try to get you out. You have now been potty trained for just over a year. You totally have that whole pee in the potty thing down and just recently you started standing up to go which makes you super excited. You only sometimes try to pee on walls on purpose. You continue to have a bit of an issue with telling us when you have to poop though. It is an off and on type thing. Sometimes you make it to the potty and sometimes you don't. We are working on it and after discussing it with the doc, we were told to just wait you out and you will figure it out. We have faith. She told us that boys are often more difficult so that was a mental shift for us but we are making it work and overall, you have done really well for the last year. You have gotten better over the last few weeks so we see the light at the end of the tunnel. You have started going potty without telling us and making us go with you more lately and that is actually helping with the poop thing. You are going and then calling us to help you wipe if you need it so maybe you are finding more independence with it (thank you, preschool!) and you are getting better with that whole poop thing since you like being in charge of yourself. You also downright refuse pull ups now unless you are going to bed but we are okay with that. You do really well. Thank goodness we still carry our portable potty around. You use it almost daily while we wait in the car line to pick up Sissy from school and you are very good at telling us when we are out and you need to use it (or go into a place to use their potty). We have even stopped putting pull-ups on you most of the time when we drive longer distances.  99.9% of the time, you are dry when we get to our location, even if you fall asleep. You aren't night time trained yet, but I think we have a while before that happens. You are just not developmentally ready yet but we will see how the next year goes. You still have the most amazing blue eyes that are so expressive. I seriously feel like they get more and more blue by the day sometimes. You continue to have the best smile that is going to melt a million hearts one day. You have kept those fun cheeks that everyone notices but they help to make your smile even better. (Bonus: They still bounce some when you run which is hilarious and adorable.)

Your language is still pretty impressive. Your speech is still sometimes difficult to understand but even that is coming along nicely. We have noticed a substantial improvement in your speech in just the last couple of months. We definitely think not only age but also being in school is helping. Even though you are still sometimes hard to understand (specifically when you get upset and whine or cry while talking), we still aren't worried. You are little and a lot of what you say is understandable by outsiders. As for language though... holy cow! Just the other day you had some issues pulling up your pants after going potty and called me in to say, "Help! My pants are on awkward." It was so funny and I was amazed you knew the word awkward. You continue to be super verbal and you love to talk. People outside of our home don't always realize how much you love to talk but it is rarely quiet around here. You have started to say some really funny things too... on purpose. You will sometimes "talk" with your Sissy in a made up language. You two sound like you are having a real conversation with entirely made up words. Maybe you actually are.

Your personality is seriously hilarious. You seem to have your Daddy's personality. You are ridiculously funny. You know it, too. You will do something silly just to get a laugh out of someone and once you have it, you will often continue to do whatever silly thing got you the laugh until the novelty wears off... and even sometimes after. One of our favorite things right now is that you randomly stop and say "Hello!" to us in this little British accent basically before you continue on about your day as if nothing was out of the ordinary. So cute! You also do funny dances and make silly faces and noises. One noise you make constantly is this throat chirping noise that your Daddy can also make. I can't figure out how you do it but you know it irritates me so you do it at silly times and then laugh about it.

In big kid news, we have officially transitioned you to a toddler bed. Initially we thought about leaving you in your crib forever and a day. You have never even considered climbing out and you rarely would even stand up in it (thankful for laziness sometimes) but we decided that at almost 3, it was time to let you grow up just a bit and moving you to a toddler bed was one way to do that. Eventually we will have to night time potty train you too (though like I said... long way off) so you need to start getting used to a bed you can get in and out of. You knew Sissy loved her toddler bed so you were super excited. You have taken to it really well. We got you a clock that lights up at a specific time, similar to Kenzie's so you know when you can get out of your bed and you are really good about calling us if you want to get out of your bed earlier or want something like your water. You still go to bed by about 7:30 most nights and you are awake by 6:30am most days. We had to set your light up clock for 6:30 initially so you would find success with it and want to use it. Our plan is to increase its time by 5 minutes every week until we get you to 7am and we are currently on 6:40. It may or may not work because you still just like getting up early.  Some days you surprise us and I have to wake you up for school or to take Sissy to school. We never really know what we will get with you. As for other sleeping, aka naps, you have pretty much nixed them all together. You've been working that way for about 4 or 5 months now. Sometimes you will take one on a weekend or if we are driving a lot in the car, but you rarely take them during the week anymore. Honestly, our new schedule sort of makes it hard for a nap anyway so we don't push them. You do remarkably well though without the nap so it isn't a big deal and just like when Kenzie dropped naps, not needing to work around nap times opens up an entirely new world for us. We also luck out that you remain the type of kid that sleeps when he is tired and we don't have to worry about you. We have moved on to allowing you "rest time" most days in lieu of naps which just means you spend some time alone in your room playing as a decompress time. It works though and you seem to be enjoying it. Lately you will sometimes fall asleep in the car when we go to get Kenzie from school but those are just cat naps as you wake up when we get home. They are enough to refresh you just though and don't hurt going to bed too much. Any longer and bedtime is harder for you.

You love music. We think you might even be more musically inclined than we once thought. We won't know for sure for a while if you actually have an ear for it but you have this uncanny ability to name a song you know after the first couple of notes. You can even do it for some songs you don't know as well. That definitely seems like a skill that came from Daddy, too. You sing along to the radio all the time and have this need to know the name of all the songs played. That's part of the reason that you can name so many songs after a couple notes. You love to play music too with the toy band instruments we have in the house. You love to make a "band" with Sissy and are often walking around singing or playing an instrument. Your favorite part of school seems to be when you sing and you come home singing Jesus Loves Me almost every day. On a similar note as it relates to memory, we have noticed that you have a great one. You can remember things you hear after hearing them only a couple of times. For instance, you learn a new Bible verse monthly in school and you come home the first day you learn it, able to state it aloud without help.

I like to think that I am your favorite person and while you are really attached to me, I think your favorite person is actually your sister. She hangs the moon for you. You get so upset when she doesn't want to play with you and if she does give you attention, you bask in it. Like I said, you are also really attached to me. I am still the one that has to put you in your bed at night most nights and who you run to for comfort. However, if I am not around, you are fine with someone else picking up the responsibilities. You love your Daddy and want to do everything like him but you just love a Mommy hug. However, if you want to play or rough house, you know who to go to. Daddy, for sure. You play pretty rough but nothing really seems to bother you. He can swing you around or tackle you to the floor and you laugh and laugh. This, in turn, makes you think rough housing with Sissy is all the rage. The two of you can wrestle on the floor for quite a while. Usually it ends in tears (and they are rarely yours). You also love to just lay on top of her randomly. You seem to think it's funny but she doesn't always appreciate it. You also have started biting her randomly which is something we are working on. Thankfully you don't do it to anyone else and we really hope it stays that way. You usually don't do it very hard (though you have a few times) and it often happens when you guys are already playing rough but it isn't okay so we are working on that. All that being said, when you hurt someone on accident,  you apologize quickly. You are so sweet and although you want to have fun, you don't want anyone hurt. You have a really kind heart.

Speaking of your kind heart,  you often think of others, we have noticed. You are concerned with others being comfortable and happy. You will bring things to people to make them happy and you love hugs and kisses. We have to keep you from kissing the girl across the street though. We sometimes call you two Frick and Frack and (other than your Sissy) I think we can refer to her as your best friend right now. You two are trouble with a capital T. Always conspiring about something it seems. All in good fun and nothing that is seriously bad, but you two are always up to something. You go from BFFs to hilarious sibling-like enemies. You argue like you are related and you have spent so much time together over the last two plus years, that you are really comfortable around one another.

You are a stellar helper. You are the first to volunteer to help someone clean up something and you love to help with whatever we let you help with. It sometimes bothers your sister because she wants to do things on her own when we ask/tell her to do them but you just want to be a part of it and help her out. I know it's always going to be easier to get you to clean your room than it is her and if we ask for help cleaning the playroom, you are there immediately to do your part. When I ask you about school, one of the first things you usually tell me is that you helped clean up and sang the clean up song. I know better than to hope that lasts forever, but we are going to capitalize on it while we can.

Speaking of school, you are doing really well. We still have some issues with you going into the room and crying for just a minute. However, despite crying, you walk right in and do what you are told. I am always assured that you calm down within minutes and you are fine the rest of the day. Until pick up. Then it is like all the excitement of the day hits you and you cry some when I  pick you up or other parents pick up their own kids. During the school day, I am told that you are a helper, happy, and smart. You are a good listener and always want to do what you can to help out. I love watching you interact with your classmates some and play on the playground. You have been working hard on learning new things too. You can count to about 21 though you almost always forget 17. No idea what the mental block is on that one, but it is there. Daddy even said you counted to 23 for him earlier this week but you missed a number or two along the way. I bet it was 17. You also get distracted easily when you could so we have to reign you back in, but with some redirection back to what you are doing, you can usually go to 20 or 21. You also have full one-to-one correspondence now so that is a big step for you. You know your ABC's but we haven't started on learning to write them yet. I hope to have you writing your name in the next few months. Especially since it is such as easy one. You understand that we use letters to spell words, though if I ask you to "spell" a word, you almost always say something like "A-C-E-I". I guess those are your favorite letters right now. You know most colors receptively though you have some trouble giving them expressively to us. You can usually do blue, red, yellow, and white with no issues but the others throw you off at times. You know most shapes and can tell them to us without help. You really like the big chunky wood puzzles right now. You want to do more difficult jigsaw ones sometimes but we are still working on learning to match pieces. You usually try to help Sissy if she is doing one though. You aren't really into coloring but you like to paint. You LOVE to be read to. You will sit all day if we keep reading.

Your favorite toys right now are all cars. Anything with wheels is a favorite. You love to ask us to play in your room and often ask us to play "car wash" with some of your cars and the little town type toys that they drive on. Funny enough though, if you decide that we aren't using the cars appropriately, you decide we have to remain in your room to watch you play but we aren't allowed to be a part of the action anymore. Speaking of playing in your room, you do it alone a lot more often now. It's nice that you can entertain yourself and that you enjoy having your own space. You LOVE to play outside and would likely spend all day out there if we let you. We have painted Kenzie's old balance bike for you and you have been trying that some lately. You like to use sidewalk chalk and play teeball or kick around the big bouncy ball we have out there. You also love a good playground. You will go up and down slides all day. You are still iffy on the swing but you have your moments when you want to get on it and then won't let us take you out. You haven't worked up the nerve to try the big kid swing yet but I don't think it will be too long. You love going to the beach and Disney. By the end of the summer, you had no fear of the rough waves and would beg anyone around to take you into the "deep end" to "jump waves" which basically involves us holding you and jumping when the waves come. You would also dig in the sand all day if allowed. Your favorite ride at Disney is the Speedway but you haven't met a ride you don't like. Your favorites also seem to be ones that you know your sister doesn't want to do often, like Haunted Mansion and Barnstormer. Just to annoy her. Hilarious. You also love the fireworks when we go to Disney at night and love to tell us about how loud they are and how they say, "Boom!!"

You are always up for trying something new as far as going places goes. You loved going on the trip to the Keys this year and I think you will enjoy what we have planned for the upcoming summer. You are an expert traveler because you are the kind of kid that will go with the flow and do whatever it is we are doing without much complaint. As long as there is food nearby and you aren't overheated... you are set. You are our easy going one and it's so nice to have that ease compared to your sister and myself in this family. We are uppity enough for everyone so you help to balance all that out. As you get older, you have more opinions but you remain the easy going one. Your independence is becoming more and more apparent, too. You want to do everything on your own as is typical in the 3-year-old world. Sometimes I miss you needing us to do everything for you but it is actually really nice to have both of our kids able to do what they often need to do without help.

You are such a ham and you continue to be the piece that made our family puzzle whole. Our little family would not be complete without you. We love you to pieces, Buddy! Happy 3rd birthday! And welcome to the preschool years!!

XOXO,
Mommy