By far the biggest of all of these events over the last few weeks is Dylan's birthday. Last week my baby turned 3 years old. I guess I can't really call him a baby anymore or even a toddler...Dylan is officially a preschooler in age and, very soon, in school attendance. And what an awesome preschooler he is. Watching him develop into the little person he is today has been nothing short of amazing. He surprises us, challenges us and makes us laugh constantly. He sure keeps life interesting.
To write this post, I looked back to what I wrote when he turned 2. My boy has changed quite a lot since then. Mike and I found it very difficult to try and describe in a nutshell who Dylan is at 3 years old. Tough because he's already a pretty complex individual. We did come up with some of his main personality traits we'd like to share.
Like any little boy, Dylan loves to play. Toys seem to be his favorite thing about any place we go. The last time we went to the zoo, he said his favorite part was the toys (walking through the gift shop) and I asked him the other day what some of his favorite parts of nature were and he said toys. At least he's consistent in what he loves! Lately, his new favorite obsession is Star Wars and he plays with those figures a lot (it was also his birthday party theme which I'll blog about later). While last year I blogged about him starting imaginative play and recreating scenes from movies with his toys. Now he imagines his own scenes and makes up his own stories.
Some of his favorite things to do are to swing and watch movies. He would be pretty happy doing those two things all day long. After riding his first roller coaster this year, he's also decided he really likes amusement park rides too. As has been noted before, Dylan loves being around other kids. Now more than ever, he enjoys having play dates and interacts with other kids more than co plays (playing side by side without really interacting). He's definitely a social being. But, like his Mom, he's also a social being that doesn't necessarily like being the center of attention. We can tell it makes him uncomfortable sometimes.
Last year I wrote that Dylan didn't eat much but when he did it tends to be pretty healthy. Well, that's changed. He still doesn't eat much but it's now tough to get him to eat anything but pasta and meatballs. That's always his meal of choice. He's still a great sleeper though. He normally sleeps about 11 hours at night and still naps 2-3 hours. (We keep hoping he'll rub off on his brother eventually!) I can't say we really got to experience the terrible twos. There was a period of a few weeks recently that he was kind of a whiny tantrum throwing nightmare, but we presume it must have been due to a growth spurt or something because it hasn't continued (thank goodness). Dylan's impressed me with his manners lately. He's great with his pleases and thank yous.....even no thank yous. He'll always ask me what I'm eating and I often offer to share with him to which he'll usually respond "No thank you Mommy." Cute.
Of course, this last year brought some pretty big changes to Dylan's life. We moved to our new house and Dylan handled it better than anyone. And soon after the move, along came baby Cade. Dylan has never been anything but accepting, loving and excited about his little brother. A kid's ability to adapt to change is truly remarkable.
Before a baby's arrival, it's easy to stress over how your existing kid is going to handle it. Dylan is such a fabulous big brother that I feel silly every worrying about it. He always wants Cade around, loves to make him smile and laugh, shows him how to play with toys and teaches him all kinds of valuable stuff. His favorite thing to tell him lately is "Cade, when you get older, you can eat cookies!"
Some pretty good mental\physical developments are that Dylan is more interested in puzzles and crafts, climbs ladders with ease and he's also become pretty adept at throwing and kicking a ball. We're still working on catching one though.
He's always been a pretty advanced talker. Now he likes to have "conversations." His conversations can go something like this: "Mommy, I'm so happy to see you. I had a good nap. And bunnies. Watch movies. And crackers....." He'll get a few sentences in about his day and then start listing random tidbits of his day or his thoughts. It's pretty adorable to hear. Some of the things he likes to say are very cute. Here are some examples:
Me: Dylan, have you eaten your carrots?
Dylan: Soon Mommy, soon. (It always cracks me up when he uses "soon" on us.)
Me: Is that Darth Maul in your hand?
Dylan: Yes. No. Actually, it's Darth Vader. (Actually is a very new one as of the last couple of weeks.)
Me: Can I come sit with you?
Dylan: Of course! (He says this all the time.....in a very Bostonian way.)
Me: What is that?
Dylan: OH! It's a horse. (Some days it seems like he starts every sentence with "Oh."
My little guy really looks like a little guy now. He's really lost that baby face. Somewhere around early spring I noticed that he looked very different from the little guy pictured on our Christmas card just a few months earlier. He's such the little boy!
As for potty training, he is showing no interest. After being interested in it for a while at the beginning of the year, we can't get him back to using the potty. Nothing seems to work, not even bribery. While Mike is determined to figure out how to get him potty trained, I'm pretty content with letting him take his time. Changing diapers is more preferable to me than sprinting to try and find a public restroom while we're out or having him (gulp) touch the seats of public toilets. Having said that, Mike is the one that will be changing most of the diapers from here on out so he should have the majority rule. I have a feeling preschool might be the catalyst for potty change.
One of the things I really love is that Dylan still loves being with his parents a lot. He just loves snuggling with us and very often will request we come snuggle with him while he's watching a movie. I know these days will end long before I want them to so I try to relish them as much as possible.
On Thursday, we went for Dylan's 3 year check up. It was very different than previous check ups for many reasons. One because we went to a new pediatrician for the first time. (Ours moved to a practice further from our house so we made the tough decision to find a new one.) Two because there were no vaccinations (shots), only a finger prick which Dylan didn't seem bothered by in the least...just watched what the nurse was doing with interest. Three because this was the first time he did an eye test. He was reluctant to put on the glasses for this at first (with one eye blocked then the other) but then he really got into it and thought it was a fun game to name the shapes on the card on the other side of the room. His stats were: height - 38.5", 76% (obviously takes after me...haha), weight - 32.5 lbs, 58% (I guess he doesn't need any food to grow).
Dylan is such a great kid and it's amazing that he's already three years old. I feel like someone hit the fast forward button over the last year. We can't wait to see what the next year of his amazing life brings! Love you Dylan! Happy 3rd birthday!
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