Around 8am this morning I sat at the table feeding Parker his breakfast, and Drew was in the living room watching Curious George and I was thinking that at this exact moment 3 years ago I was strapped to the table in the OR getting a c-section. I was VERY happy to be sitting right where I was. Then I went in the living room and held Drew for a minute and got all weepy. Sweet memories, but I'm so glad those days are long behind us.
Since Drew's party isn't for a couple of weeks, I still had to get him his own cupcake. He doesn't understand anything about a birthday, all he knows is that it means birthday cake. In recent weeks we've been to two birthday parties (one of which was Parker's) and they had cake, so that's what a birthday is, right? I told him that he was now THREE, and held up three fingers. And he did the same, but kept on counting. "three minutes, four minutes, five minutes, six minutes!!" I let him have it.
His present this year is a sandbox! Big fun! It was an instant hit. It actually keeps him interested for almost an hour or more at a time. It's one place where he can dig freely instead of in mom's garden. Dave got him some little miniature dogs and he LOVED that, kept placing them around in the sandbox and saying "Dog show day!" like the episode of Curious George. He loves him some dogs. He would cuddle them in his hands and say "ooohhhhh it's so cute!"
His actual birthday day was kind of lame, but we're going to have a cool party for him later so he'll have additional birthday fun.
Where do I begin to describe this little guy and who he is becoming?
He has an amazing memory and can remember the tiniest little details. Anytime we go to Target he still always asks me "go see two dogs?" because that's where we were when I first told him we were going to visit Karen's dogs. So now he thinks that first we go to Target, and then we go to Karen's. LOL.
One time we went to BJ's and as we went in I told him (mostly talking to myself) that we were here to get baby wipes and sausages. So we picked up the baby wipes, and then he goes "sausage!!" And pointed to the other side of the store where they keep them. Which was very helpful to me because I get amnesia the second I step into a store and forget why I'm there. And we can never leave a store without him reminding me to get Pepsi, which Dad is very thankful about.
He's getting easier to take places because he's more flexible about doing things. I used to never take him to the grocery store for the longest time because he would scream about wanting to go look at this or that, and nothing else. But now as long as I give him enough time to look at the lobster tank, and go around and look at all the fruits & veggies, he's fairly well content to ride around the rest of the store and let me do my thing.
One thing is for sure: he is obedient. He may not LIKE it, and he may whine and fling himself on the floor for a second or two, but that kid will do whatever we ask him to do. Like I always tell him, "you don't have to like it, you just have to DO it." He knows when he does something wrong, knows when he's gotten caught, and a couple of times even put himself in time out, which is soooo funny and all we can do not to laugh or let him see us giggling.
We've started an unhurried potty training routine, and ever since early April he goes to pee in the potty right before bed, and before he gets in the bathtub. A few times he's actually asked us "go pee!" and he runs over and goes on his own. But it's pretty sporadic and inconsistent. I guess we'll get there eventually. :) This summer I suppose we should start getting serious about it, but we're perfectly happy with him in diapers. LOL So much easier.
Another thing we may as well get around to is getting him out of his crib! He's still in his crib, and doesn't know any differently. We have the toddler rail ready to put on his bed and convert it into the toddler bed. But MAN do we not want to do that. I dread having him wandering around his room all night. Hopefully that obedience thing I mentioned will come into play and he'll stay in bed. I have just been enjoying sleeping through the night for a while now and am NOT ready to give it up again!
He's still pretty good with Parker although he doesn't really interact with him much at all. They fight over toys a lot of times, but that's about it. I think Drew has adopted a "you leave me alone, I'll leave you alone" policy with him.
We're so excited for him to start preschool! It's really going to help his socialization more than anything else. He knows all his letters (and their sounds), numbers, colors, shapes, body parts, animals, foods, etc. I think once he gets used to it, he's going to have a blast. Can't wait to shop for a little backpack for him!
Happy Birthday Drew!
Posted by: Christina | June 17, 2010 at 09:09 PM
Drew is welcome to come by any time, even if you are at Target and he just feels like it that day! Just give us a call and make sure we are home!
Posted by: Karen | June 16, 2010 at 09:36 PM
Awww.. it sounds like he's doing awesome!! Happy birthday little guy. I'm really loving the toddler stages. I was just looking at my twins today thinking how "old" they are now acting. It's really fun to learn with them. Sandbox! That's what we need!!!
Posted by: deb | June 15, 2010 at 07:55 PM
Happy Birthday Drew! I'm going to borrow the "you don't have to like it..." like for school AND home- that's awesome! Wish my kid was obedient!
Posted by: Sara | June 15, 2010 at 05:44 PM