And Update on Ben at 3 and 1/3!!!

What did I ever do to deserve this absolute angel! And here we are at 3 and 1/3 years already... and I've loved every second of it! Every diaper changing, late night feeding, runny nose dabbing, bottom wiping, snack fetching, timeout sending, mess cleaning, worry-filled second... because that means we've also had thousands of smiles, hugs, kisses, "I really love you mommy/daddy"s, excuses to act and play like kids again, chances to rediscover the world all over (I'd forgotten how fascinating a snail can be), reasons to celebrate ("look, he's walking/sharing/using the potty/praying... all by himself), and giggles... OH how I love his laugh!

This kid is just too cool! I know I say that every month... but it's true!!! Even in the current phase where he occasionally tests his independence and my follow through :) He really is such a good boy though... so thoughtful and considerate, compassionate and kind, happy and joy-filled. Still so loving, although his baby brother gets most of his hugs and kisses now... it's hard to compete with a cute baby :) Luckily he reserves just enough for mommy and daddy.

Here are some of the ins and outs of life with this precious big guy right now:

- Everything is a competition... and we're learning to win and lose gracefully AND how not to change the rules so only you win :) I totally understand that he wants to win all the time, who doesn't. But we're working on coping with our emotions when we don't win, because although it can be sad, it's a fact of life... you just can't win all the time, nobody does. Oh, and there's a little anger management mixed in here too. If I had a dime for every time I've said, "it's OK to feel angry, but it's not OK to act on it"... He's so darn cute when he's holding his anger back from a friend who did him wrong... I can just see the self control holding him back while his face twists into a grimace, his arms tense up and he tries so very hard to use his words! I really am quite impressed with how he handles himself. But we do spend a lot of time talking about how even when he chooses the right response, that doesn't mean that the other child/children will change their behavior. Oh life lessons, fun fun!

- Rescue heroes and super heroes are still his favorite role play characters. We all get character assignments and take turns getting and being the bad guy. He's still really into bad vs good. We come up with all sorts of scenarios that I use, of course, to teach lessons on character, morals, good and bad consequences and even safety... just can't let the opportunities pass us by! He regularly is "rescuing" one of his friends in detailed possible scenarios he narrates for me.

-He's also really into rhyming and really good at it now... we've been discussing real verses made up words as he can get a little overzealous with "cat, hat, bad, DAT, ZAT"! We encourage the creativity nonetheless. EXCEPT when he uses it to say bad words without really saying them... like "that's nupid" or "I said boop mommy, not poop"! My constant mantra, "use your (verbal)powers for good and not evil buddy"!

- His problem solving skills are very advanced. And that, mixed together with a little more time to himself and not as much supervision, as mommy is busy with baby Liam, can lead to some special experiments (like when he made a gallon sized pulp mixture from a stack of napkins and tap water, when he tested the magnetic properties of everything he could find to pull out of my cabinets and drawers or experimented with the translucency of each liquid-like substance in the fridge). In addition, he doesn't mind that I can't always help him with things right away... because it's pretty fun to figure out ways to do things himself. I do get a little nervous when he walks by the nursery on his way to the kitchen with various "tools" to help him "do something mommy, just something, don't worry, I'll show you, I'll be right back." Thank goodness he's pretty safety conscience and very honest.

- He's very, um, creative with his play. The good thing is that he is never bored, but sometimes our ideas of good times don't match up. Like when he thought it would be fun to go fishing in the toilet. I understand we have to make due with our cold weather lately, and thankfully there wasn't anything in the toilet but still - YUCK! I'm also amazed about the detailed characters, scenes and scenarios he sets up by himself. I'm still surprised to find him independently engrossed in play while I'm doing household chores or taking care of the baby. I didn't realize how quickly that would happen. Good thing I still get invited to join.

- We have so much fun during our learning time together and he continues to amaze me with how quickly he learns. He's big into learning the definition of new words. And, he's getting especially good at mazes and putting letters and sounds together to make basic words. He loves basic mind games like finding what's wrong or missing in a picture, building patterns and guessing games. His athletic skills have taken a jump ahead too as he can now jump over moving targets, accurately catch, throw, kick and hit balls and do lots of new gymnastics tricks (bridges, straddle rolls, handstands and some tricks on the bar). One of our favorite activities right now is making up stories together. I've saved a couple I had him help me illustrate too, they're a hoot.

- I try to keep him away from the garbage because I don't want to have to convince him why I've thrown said item away nor convince him that the "treasure" should remain there. I did not anticipate this one :)

Here are some more fun little tidbits with pictures!

Ben loves making silly faces and crazy gestures. He likes playgrounds and sports and games and running and jumping and climbing and wrestling and especially playing superheros or just good guy/bad guy. With ALL his crazy energy, it's so nice to have him still slow down and curl up on your lap for a good snuggle or nap. This was at Applebees... I do miss being able to take a nap where ever and whenever I want, a definite bonus about being 3.

A great way to channel some of the energy and get in a lot of appropriate hitting and kicking... a new tether ball. We've had so much fun playing with it, all of us!

Our children get all sorts of wonderful things from us... like my crazy bed-head hair that looks all wild in the morning. Not only did he get mommy's color, but he got the texture and wave too! This is how I gage when he needs another haircut :)

He's a great eater. He still loves veggies and fruit... and meat and cheese and bread and select sweets, etc, etc. He'll try most anything. I'm pretty amazed at my sister-in-law's "intuitive eating" info... it's really worked for us. His favorites right now are pizza, spinach, tacos, tomato soup, pears, marshmallows, apples, Popsicles and guacamole.

Lots of these pictures have been taken because I just have to take one of Ben every time I'm taking one of baby Liam. Otherwise he'll be in the corner of every Liam photo we have doing his precious but silly cheesy grin.

He still really digs staying in his jammies all day long and playing together... heck, who doesn't.
We've had to have a couple pj interventions over the past few months, but he's been doing much better at keeping things under control. He has an understanding sponsor who was once an addict herself and he's about 1/2 way through the 12 steps :)

His biggest temptation is superhero jammies, they're just to cool! Wow does he love his baby brother! I thought it would start to wear off some, the newness of having a cute baby around... and with all the attention Liam gets... but it hasn't one bit. If anything, his devotion and love just grows and grows! He makes us laugh all the time... such a great comic relief! He just brings so much joy and happiness to our house! Here he models his latest hairdo transformations.
He's a great helper! He actually has his own chores now: setting the table, picking up his toys, placing the clothes in the hamper and feeding the dogs and fish. But that's definitely not the limit to his assistance! He loves to help out in the kitchen (especially when making rice crispy treats) and to sort and fold the laundry (if by sorting and folding I really mean wearing and hiding in)!

He's such a good sleeper, almost :). Always doing 11-12 hours in a 24 hour period. Which either means a good nap and about 10 more hours at night or one really long night sleep. We're rarely up before 7-7:30am. But, I never expected the middle of the night wake-up screaming for no real reason and then quickly settling back down to sleep which is great except mommy is all frazzled then! And illnesses, man that's tough. And we're fortunate that he's hardly ever sick. I know I'm sharing some really gross info right now, but I'm just so excited that he's at the age where you can give him something to throw up in when he's got a stomach bug, and he actually does... that's a milestone you won't see in any baby book, but is so great! I still laugh at the stuff I read about how your child will start sleeping through the night sometime during their first 6 months without any other issues! I could go on and on and on... and I will, just in another post! I love this little boy of mine!