THREE

It's happened. My baby boy is three. I didn't mind him turning one so much, or even two - but three?? He's not a baby anymore - more like a kid. And it makes my heart hurt a little. Because even though this is what's supposed to happen, and it's a good thing, I still watch little things slipping away day by day. Like the way his word pronunciation becomes more and more accurate and less and less babyish. Or the way he tells me he doesn't need my help because he can do it by himself. Or even the little things, like his ability to wash his hands or pull his shoes and socks off without me.

I miss my baby Bennett. Having Jasper on my hip helps a bit, but I'm beginning to understand what parents mean when they say it goes by so fast, and that you need to soak in the baby times.

All that aside, to get down to the statistics rather than the emotional gushing, for his birthday this year, we had a small family party on Saturday, then on his actual birthday on Sunday, we went to church, had pizza with pepperoni and olives (at his request), and went on a walk at night to see all of the blown up snow globes and lights around the neighborhood.




Things he's up to and can do:

1. He's obsessed with the movie Cars and has a ton of the little toys. We make up games and play with them all day long.

2. This kid is going to be an athlete, I'm thinking. He kicks, throws, and runs pretty well for a three year old. We had to outlaw balls in the house a LONG time ago because of his arm.

3. He's started saying his /l/ blends, which is pretty impressive for his age. The two sounds he still mixes up when he talks are /c/ and /g/. Other than that, he talks more like a five year old than a kid who's three. This boy LOVES to talk, especially when he's excited about something. The things he says these days cracks me up. Example from today: he was upset about something, and kind of half-crying. I said, "What's the prob, Bob?" and mid-wail, he told me, "My name is Bennett, not Bo-ob!"

4. We had to put a knob safety thingy on the door to his room because the kid will NOT stay in his room at night. Before this, we found him out in the living room playing with toys in the middle of the night several times.

5. We've also had to take out his night light, his lamp, and his humidifier, and we've had to hang his space heater up high on the wall, because the kid loves to make a mess and likes to turn switches, press buttons, and take things apart.

6. He LOVES the big blow-up snow globes and lights in our neighborhood. We take walks everyday to look at all of them.

7. For his birthday this year, he asked for a blue flag cake with sprinkles. I made it myself - it turned out...interesting. Luckily, he's three and doesn't know any better :)

8. Bennett LOVES his brother. He's so protective of him. He still takes toys away and agitates him just for the sake of it (like all siblings), but he adores Jasper. When we drop him off at Mimi's house on the way to school two days a week, he always says (about 10 seconds down the road), "I miss Jasper. I want him back." Precious boys.

9. He LOVES puzzles these days. It's the latest craze around our house. We probably spend 30 minutes to an hour doing 25-piece puzzles every day. And he's gotten to where he's figuring out how to rotate the pieces just right and how the pictures go together.

10. He thinks it's really funny to climb up on furniture and turn his lights on and off when he's supposed to be sleeping.

11. We've developed a reward-incentive system for him to go along with the time-outs and spankings we encounter each day. He fills a cup up with "happy frogs" and when the cup is full, he gets to go out with Daddy or Mommy to pick a prize from the dollar store, or the dollar aisle at Target. So far, he's gone straight for the candy every time.

12. His closest friends are Sage, Foy, Cason, and Taylor and Little David.

13. His favorite foods are chicken nuggets, cheese, black olives, rice, and any kind of fruit.

14. He loves to "fix" things with his little tools, especially when his daddy is already working on something.

15. Some of his favorite games are hide-and-seek (his version, where he hides under the covers on our bed with Daddy, then he roars at Mommy, and Mommy comes and tickles him until he gets the hiccups), turning off the lights and playing with the flashlight, making Lamby talk, etc.