Austin is 3 years old!!!!

Three.

He’s THREE guys… It happened. I blinked.

I can’t call him my baby anymore. I can’t even really call him my toddler anymore.

He’s my KID. Wow.

I have to admit, I’m a little sad to see this past year go. I know there is that stigma surrounding toddlers that are 2 years old… you know, the Terrible Twos… but that didn’t happen with Austin. I loved him at 2.

He started talking really well and all the time.. we had conversations together.. he started to think and analyze and question things… he pieced together events and situations in his head and the funniest things would come out of his mouth.

He was also sweet and rambunctious and animated and he just fills up a room. Mostly because he’s loud.. but this kid is just an ENERGY like I’ve never seen.

Sure we had some tough moments. Tantrums, arguments, time-outs, stomping feet… but overall he was a really awesome 2-year-old and I’m going to miss that age.

Here’s are some of the highlights of Austin:

-Weighs 37lbs

-Height is 3.5' feet

-Has really gotten into cooking. If I’m in the kitchen he has to stand on a chair to watch me or help. He asks a million questions about what things are, wants to taste things… I enrolled him in the Cooking Adventures class at daycare too so he gets to make new dishes with his friends and try things like tziki sauce and edamame! He’s still a bit picky about eating, but he eats what we eat for dinner now and loves almost all fruits and veggies. He won’t try spinach, lettuce, or squash.. but everthing else he eats and likes.

-His imagination is wild. Here are some of his games:

            -Batman: he wears his cape and I’m Catwoman and we have to chase him up and down the hall and hide from him and then jump out at him and let him screech in delight.

            -Café: he stands at the end table by the couch and asks “what can I get you, man?” then we tell him some food and he ducks down under the table and produces our imaginary dish that we have to gobble down.

            -Various games of hide: from a bear, from a wild animal, from Grogg (a troll thing from a cartoon he likes), etc.

-He likes to brush my hair and pretend there is a bee or a ladybug in my ear that he has to swipe out.

-Asks a ton of questions… but not the typical “why” questions. His are “what” or “where” type questions. Like below:

            -What is October?

            -October is a month. It’s part of how we tell time.

            -oh. Where is time?

            -Ummm…..let's not get into that discussion...

            -Mom, what is that thing?

            -what thing?

            -that thing.

            -this?

            -yeah

            -the steering wheel.

            -oh. What’s this thing?

            -what?

            -this.

            -that gray thing?

            -yes.

            -its part of your carseat

-my commute home is full of non-stop chatter and questions like the one above. He likes to know directions of things and wants to be reassured that he is right. “straight is to home, and dat way is to the store, and dat way is to Daddy’s work.”

-He likes to state how things are done, or certain ways things are done so we can agree with him.. ."we don play drum on my bucket when Baby Owen is in da car because he’s sleeping.” Or “we don’t like snakes. Dey bite you on your hand and it hurts and we don touch dem.” If you try and tell him he isn’t correct about something, he will get mad and “argue” with you about it.

-he scrunches up his nose when he is reiterating a point. Especially about something we “don’t” do. Or he gets loud and dramatic to drive his point home.. “Mommy, see those clouds? Dose mean there’s THUNDER!!” (he thinks any and all clouds in the sky means there is going to be a thunder storm.

-Asks “permission” about EVERYTHING and sometimes it drives me batty. “Mommy?  I want to take my shoes off”…. “Ok, take your shoes off.” …. “Mommy… I want to go sit on the couch.” “Mommy? I want to play with my Jake puzzle.” “Mommy? I want to take my shirt off.” It’s kinda cute but at the same time, I have to constantly respond to him and that gets hard when I’m doing something with Owen, or talking on the phone or making dinner.

-Potty training is spotty. He’s starting to go on the potty every morning when he wakes up and every night before bed. He isn’t waking up dry every morning though, and during the day he’ll go a few times on the potty. Sometimes he is really interested, sometimes not.

-he is weird about temperature and wants to take baths in cold water, and won’t eat hot (or even warm) food. Sometimes this is awesome because he’s happy as a clam eating leftover chicken straight out of the cold fridge, or cold mac-n-cheese.

-He falls into his bed every night and tells Neal “oh buddy what a day!!!” like he is just soooo tired from the trials of the day. Ha. And he likes to have his back rubbed before going to sleep. After I put Owen down I have to go in there and say good night and give him a backrub. After he gets a backrub and stories from Neal. Kid gets two backrubs a night. I’m jealous.

-Can turn on, put in and operate the DVD player. To our surprise when one day Neal and I look over from the kitchen and he’s got a movie started. He loves Finding Nemo, Cars, Wall-E and Scooby-Doo.

-Sings constantly and picks up on new songs really fast. He’ll sing to himself in bed before falling asleep, or while he is playing. One day he kept singing this weird song “soy yo, soy yo, pickanesa…” and on it went. We found out he learned it at school and it’s Isty Bitsy Spider in Spanish.

-When he sleeps in on the weekends (until about 6am) he knocks on his door and waits for a bit before coming out. I think he thinks he has to knock on the door to be let out.

-he is so Neal’s child in that most of what he wants to play all the time is physical- baseball, basketball, tennis, football, running, riding bikes, tackling.

-he is also so my child in that he is passionate, frustrated easily, and easily affected by the moods around him. He is aware of feelings and emotions and will ask me if I’m frustrated or mad when he thinks I’m acting that way.

-He is a big puppy sometimes and plays too rough… he doesn’t understand sometimes that he is bigger than every kid in his class, and maybe it’s not a good idea to run up to poor little 18-month old Harriet on the playground and give her a huge hug and knock her over.

-he also is very sweet. Randomly (mostly in the car) he’ll say.. “Mommy, I MISSED you today.” Or “Mommy? I love you.” One night I was sitting at the kitchen table and was upset because Owen was sick and not sleeping and I was exhausted and Austin started pushing his stool over to me and when I asked him what he was doing he said “I’m getting my stool so I can give you a kiss.” And he stood on his stool and kissed my face.

-He is a very loud kid and we are always telling him to use indoor voices or to be quiet while Owen sleeps. He loves to yell “BLASTED!!” (like saying “darn it”) and it took us awhile to figure out where he got that from. Thank you, Jake and the Neverland Pirates show…

-He still really likes to be played with and entertained, but he is much better about playing on his own now. He'll get a puzzle out, or his Batman toys, or a book and entertain himself. 

-He has natural curiosity and such a sense of adventure. I love that about him. He wants to go everywhere... "Mommy, will you take me to downtown Portland sometime? Mommy, will you take me on an airplane sometime? Mommy, will you take me to see a police car sometime?" We have a lot on our to-do list!!!

-he loves school and his friends and teachers and delights in telling me he "had a GOOD DAY!!!" when I go and pick him up.. as he runs to my arms. By far, the best part of my day, right there. I will miss those daycare pick-up moments some day. He's a natural leader and the other kids follow him around, get influenced by him (sometimes to do naughty things)... 

Austin, we had such a great year with you being 2!! You grew so much, started talking and thinking so much and made us laugh so much! You are a strong-willed, outgoing, passionate little hurricane and you turn our lives upside-down all the time. Keep being you, little man... you are amazing and perfect just as you are!!