3 Years Old

This is WAAAY overdue, but since being on bed rest, then having the babies, I'm just way behind on all things blogging and about 90% of the rest of my life:)

I took Reid for his 3 year old check up and he has seriously jumped in the charts!  He was always on the smaller side as a baby and now he's in the 50th percentile for weight and the 75th percentile for height!  He's honestly, such a sweet little soul.  He's still 3, and we definitely have age appropriate battles on a regular basis, but I'm constantly in awe of what a tender little guy he is.

He's always concerned about our well being and what he can do to make us happy.  He's become quite the negotiator and everything is about how many more minutes or how many more times.  It's almost always "5 more times", though on the rare occasion, he aims for 10 or even 1 (if it's not something he wants to do).  Same with minutes - "How about 5 more minutes, Mom? Okay?"  My favorite one though is that when he comes to give me a kiss, he usually asks for 5 more kisses or 10 more kisses.

He hasn't quite figured out bed time negotiations yet.  They tend to go something like this...
M: Okay Reid.  Bed time is in 5 minutes.
R: How about 10 more minutes, Mom?
M: 5 minutes, Buddy:)
R: Mom, 2 minutes.
M: Okay, you win.  2 minutes.
R: Thanks Mom.

When he talks, he almost always replaces his 'L's with a W.  I wove you (love).  It's too woud (loud).  Chocolate is "Choc-o-wit" and he still calls Cheerios "Treehouse", which I adore.  You can't tell him he's anything other than Reid or he'll very sternly correct you.  Sometimes he'll take a compliment though and he's wonderfully polite about it.  "Thanks Mom!"

When I was putting him to bed the other night, I told him that I loved him and that he was such a sweet boy.  He thanked me and told me I was a sweet boy too...haha.

At night, he always asks for either Jake or I "get coze (cozy) with me?"  Especially since the babies came.  We don't mind.  It's a great chance for some one on one time and I love asking him about his day as he settles into bed.

We took him to Wally's beach in Magrath a few weeks ago and his ideal plans for the following day usually include a trip to the beach.

 I decided to do a little interview with him to remember what his favorite things are at age 3.
Favorite Color: Bright & White (this changes quite frequently)
Favorite Number: 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 13
Favorite Food: Rice and Pickles (That one's pretty accurate.  Some mornings he'll wander downstairs for a pickle before I even get up.  I wake up to find him holding the pickle jar next to my bed!)
Favorite Treat: Candy - Special Candy (He does have a sweet tooth!)
Favorite Toy: Dump Truck (He also loves his Monster Truck, his Lion and his "Tigress")
What does it do?:  Er Er and dumping my toys!
Favorite Animal: My Giraffe and Elephant and Hippo and all the Animals
Favorite place to play: Outside with my "bumbrella" and the grass, but I don't throw rocks.  When I throw rocks I get a time out and it's very bad. (true story!)
My Friends: Owie and Wale (his cousin Will) and Ry and Court.  My friends are Owie's teeth and Ry's teeth and Court's teeth. (huh?!)  (He also has a lot of little friends from church who he loves - Kalia, Jaxon & Bria, Cruz, Mae Lynn, Ben, Roger & Oz)
Favorite Game to Play: Angry Birds
Favorite Song: Popcorn Popping on the "Cot Tree"
Favorite Show: Lots of shows.  Five Shows or 13.  Umi Zoomi, Kung Dinosaur Posse, Race Car Shows, Guppies, Mickey Mouse and Dora.
Favorite Movie: Wreck It Ralph (He also loves Wall-E, Kung Fu Panda, The Incredibles, Despicable Me 1 (Gru) & 2 (Purple), The Croods.

When he asks me a question about something, he usually says, "Oh right! It's a [insert answer here]!"  Like he knew all along, just forgot momentarily.  It's the cutest thing.  He's a little parrot.  He repeats everything you say like a confirmation just to be clear:)

He calls Mosquitos "Bosquitos" and all bees are "Honey Bees".  He managed to get Pink Eye last month and so we had to take him to the doctor to get some drops.  Court described it best by calling getting drops into a toddler a Cage Match.  It really was.  I told him that there were bugs in his eyes that we had to get out with the drops.  5 days, every 3 hours was brutal.  By the end of it, when I would tell him that it was time for his drops, he would tell me that he needed to get all the honey bees out of his eyes...haha.

He's also come up with his own dance move.  I have yet to get it on video, but I will!  He's quite proud of it and tries to teach anyone who is willing:)

He calls the remote for the TV "the ma-rote". It makes my heart happy.  He's also finally potty trained at 3.5 and it took some massive patience, a pinata and me cheering and dancing around like a weirdo, but we did it!  Turns out, celebrating that he was still dry was WAY more effective than asking if he had to go!  Hallelujah!!!!!

He's learned to be dramatic too.  It's hard to keep from laughing:)
R: Mom, can I have a cookie?
M: It's just about dinner time, Buddy.  How about after dinner?
R: (Sighs, drops shoulders and head) I'll just NEVER get to have a cookie. (walks away defeated)
M: I said you can have one after dinner.  It's okay.
R: Okay, Mom. Thanks, but I never have a cookie.

This little boy is amazing.  He's one of a kind and so kind that it moves me to tears on a regular basis.  I wonder just how I got so lucky to be his Mom.  It's such a privilege and each day (even the frustrating ones where we butt heads), I just about burst because I just love him so much.  I wish I could video all the wonderful things that happen every day with him so that I would never forget.  He's growing up so fast and the line from "Meet Joe Black" comes to mind all the time. "Don't they go by in a blink."  It's true.  Stay little.  Always call me your friend and ask for hugs and kisses and to hold my hand.  At least for a little while longer.