Three and a half!

3&1/2 year stats

Height: 40" (60th percentile)
Weight: 35lbs (50th percentile)

We haven’t noticed too many drastic changes since his birthday, just gradual development. He definitely recognizes numbers now and most of the letters when he’s focusing. “The ABC Song” is the song we sing every time we wash our hands. (Can you imagine how tired I am of that song?!) He was talking to my mom the other night and Peter and I both noticed how in such a short amount of time (it seemed) he went from just chatting at Nonna without her really understanding, to having a full conversation. And she said she could understand all but one thing he was trying to say!

He doesn’t watch Dinosaur Train as much anymore, he kind of jumps around a lot for his before bed "episode." But he’s recently gotten into Richard Scarry and a lot of the LeapFrog shows. He recently brought over both Where the Wild Things Are and Love You Forever  to read for the first time since I forced them on him as a baby. So those are the two new book obsessions. I’m thinking of having him dress up like Max (or a Wild Thing) for Halloween. He still loves his trips to the library with Peter and comes home with a huge pile of books each time! I need to check how old he has to be to get his own card! We’ve also recently started checking out CDs from the library, and right now he’s listening to a Halloween CD. His favorite song is their version of “Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead” from The Wizard of Oz. He’s also just recently become more interested in music in general, which is very fun.

He started “school” (half day preschool three times a week) a few weeks ago and seems to really like it! He doesn't usually tell me much about it, but today he told me all about their Camping themed day including how they got to go in the tent and play with flashlights. That was the most I’ve ever gotten out of him beyond, “we went outside” when I’ve asked him what they did at school. They told us the first week how polite he is because he said "Please" and "Thank you" when asking for more water, but today he had his handkerchief taken away for throwing…. Highs and lows!

Here’s where we stand on things we needed to work on at three:

Potty training: Mostly done! We were all done, but then he started having night time accidents for some reason, sleeping too hard I think. So, now we have him in Easy-Ups only at night. He has had a couple of daytime accidents here and there, but that’s to be expected.

Dressing himself: He has definitely gotten better! He can put his clothes ON no problem, well sometimes he does put them on backwards, but whatever. And he can get off most of his clothes, but still has some trouble with his shirt. He has recently seemed to grasp this a little better. But he does pretty well brushing his teeth, and loves brushing his hair! He always asks, "how do I look?" But the way he says look sounds like nook, so it's kind of cute.

Somehow the sleeves always end up front and back instead of side to side...

Putting toys away: Well, he’s gotten better, but not by choice. I’ve enforced a new rule that he has to put away one thing before he can start playing with another instead of letting him just trash it to clean up on Sunday. This makes ME a little less crazy, at least. We’ve started giving him an allowance for helping clean up his play area and put his laundry away, and he has bought a couple of toys for himself, so that is some incentive!

Fine motor skills: He can put beads on pipe cleaners, but he’s not really super great at coloring. He doesn't seem to care whether or not he actually makes something with the crayons, paint, markers, etc. He has recently started trying to write the letter “N” and he does it, but backwards, and definitely kind of scraggly and all over the place. But, I guess that’s better than nothing. I got him a workbook to practice. We need to get him to hold the writing utensil the right way. BUT, in typical boy fashion he does very well in gross motor skills and has recently learned how to pump on a swing!

Things to continue working on: Fine motor skills, tantrums, recognizing letters and remembering their sounds, using utensils instead of hands

Next stop: 4!!!