Picking Food Up Off The Floor

Turning 3!

The boys turned 3-years old May 22, 2008. The time has gone by so fast. It’s amazing to me how much the boys have learned over the past 3 years. It’s been hard work, but so much fun to watch them turn into these adorable little boys. Here’s an overview of what they’re up to now.

ANDREW a.k.a. Drew: 28lbs, 3 Feet

A common theme that runs through Drew’s life, is that he is very intense. He is either bubbly happy or throwing a fit because he’s not getting his way or something is bothering him. He’s a little bit shy, especially at first, but once he warms up he’ll talk your ear off. He likes to talk and has lots to say. Sometimes he’ll tell you the craziest stories that he’s made up. At his birthday party he happily sang a round of songs to everyone present. He’s also our cuddler. He’s often happiest sitting in someone’s lap. He comes into our bed from time to time and just snuggles right in. But…if his socks get bunched up or his hands get dirty he gets quite anxious, and it must be fixed immediately. He’s also very silly and will twirl around the room or come and tickle you. He loves music and playing the recorder or his drums. He especially loves Dan’s violin and Joel’s guitars. He’ll often ask me to put on music in whatever room he’s currently in. Drew loves interpretive dance, at least that’s what it looks like to us, and will often dance when the music comes on. Going to Kindermusik class is the best part of his week. He’s also very good at batting the ball and regularly is hitting the ball at the fence. He got a ball glove, and a new bat and balls for his birthday. He’s our early riser. It doesn’t seem to matter what time he goes to bed, he’s almost always up between 7 and 7:15 am. At one point we had to impose a rule that we weren’t getting out of bed until 7, so he had to stay in his room at least until 7:00. But more recently it’s been after 7:00 before he gets up. Whew! Which means that he’s usually ready for bed at 8, and goes to sleep pretty well. He’ll also take about a 1-hour nap. His favorite thing to watch is the Backyardigans and I think he can recite the lines for every episode. Except for Super Spy because he is afraid of the ‘tickle table’ and won’t watch that episode. But he and Bran love to recreate the tickle table scene with their animals. He also tends to get scared at night. And it’s always that he’s afraid of the wall. Not sure what the deal is about the wall, but it’s scary sometimes. He can also be very ornery. Often when he knows he’s not allowed to do something he’ll look at you sideways and very slowly do it waiting to see how you will respond. He’ll regularly get out of his timeout and I’ll find him playing in another room. He’s good at pushing your buttons and seems to get enjoyment from that. He absolutely doesn’t like to help clean up and will do whatever he can to get out of it including standing and watching as Bran cleans up for him. Ironically, he likes order and put everything in lines. Trucks and cars get lined up all over the house. He enjoys preschool and goes Wednesdays and Fridays for 2.5 hours. He also really likes going to the class at my mom’s group on Thursdays and spending the morning with Miss Karen, Ruby and the other kids, and going to Sunday School. His favorite foods are broccoli and rice and sugar snap peas dipped in humus. He won’t eat a potato to save his life unless it’s a French fry and not the baked ones I make at home. His favorite music used to be music by Aaron Copeland, now he’s branching out, but mostly likes music with a prominent violin. His favorite games are Go Away Monster, Carcassonne, and Memory. But he only has enough patience for about one round of games. He likes books, but doesn’t have a favorite. Both of them have most of the lines memorized from some Robert Munsch books, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (which is a letter book), and any book with diggers in it. Andrew really likes food. Sometimes it seems like his whole life revolves around food; when each meal and snack will be. He’s pretty good about eating healthy foods like fruits and veggies and cheese, but also loves his crackers, the favorite cracker being multigrain rice crackers.

BRANDON a.k.a. Bran: 31 3/4 lbs, 3 Feet, 1.25 Inches

Bran is my ball of energy, sometimes I just don’t know what to do with him, he’s bouncing off the walls! He is also quite shy and usually needs more time to warm up than Drew. He surprised us this week by actually saying ‘goodnight’ and ‘thanks for coming to my party’ to a room full of people at the house. He even gets the head down shy expression whenever he’s asked a question or put on the spot in public. But after he warms up his smiling face is back and he’s right in the middle of things. He goes to Kindermusic, pre-school, a class at my mom’s group, and Sunday School. In the fall we will swap Kindermusik with swimming lessons again. The first month or so of pre-school he had a really hard time and was often upset with my leaving. Now we have a saying, ‘mommy always comes back’ and that seems to have helped both of them when they are anxious when I’m away (or Mike too-daddy comes back too! ) We try and get to Kindermusik early so he has time to warm up a bit with the teacher, the room and a couple of other kids with the same issue. But then he’s able to engage a lot better and not be so shy around the others. He loves cars and trains and diggers and could spend all day digging in the dirt or sandbox. He got a big dump truck and digger for his birthday and has found a spot in the backyard, not the sandbox unfortunately, where he loves to dig and dig and dig. He also loves to help out and will sometimes do Drew’s jobs for him. Helps me vacuum and sweep, he likes to help make his bed and clean up toys. He also helps make cooked spinach (which he loves) and clean the counter and cupboards. Every time I’m doing something at the counter or stove he’s pulling a chair over to watch or help. Bran can be very emotionally sensitive and his feelings are easily hurt. But he tends to get over it pretty quickly, after a cuddle or taking time out to read a story together, or just having a brief break. Brandon also likes music and turns everything in the house into a guitar, hockey sticks are the favorite, but he also often uses a block of cheese when he’s in the grocery cart. He also sings a mean Blues with his hockey stick guitar while sitting on a box. He loves being outside and never wants to come in. The sandbox/dirt pile and swinging keep him busy most days and he has learned to pull himself up onto the swing. Michael is teaching the boys to swing by themselves so everyday we practice. Bran gets a little more frustrated than Drew at this. Drew is quick to pull himself up on the swing and practice. He just wants to swing high and ‘scratch the sky’ (a phrase from one of their books). Bran is very interested in playing board games and doesn’t seem to get bored with them. His favorites are also Carcassonne, Orchard, and Go Away Monster, (he also likes playing memory with a deck of cards). Drew is happy to play one game then he’s done. Bran seems to have more patience. Bran really likes to figure out how things work and build things. The other day at the grocery store I found him laying on the ground looking at the wheels of the cart. He had figured out that one of the wheels didn’t entirely touch the ground and it really bothered him. He kept spinning it, telling me that it wasn’t touching the ground. Every aisle or so I’d find him back on the ground spinning the wheel and telling me about it not touching the ground. Bran has a very vivid imagination. He uses his fists and thumbs as people and is often making up adventures with his cars, animals and trains. He’s our late to bed, late to rise boy and is usually grumpy when he wakes up. That’s half Mike, half me there. He’ll go a couple of days without a nap, which makes bedtime so much easier, and then crash in the morning or afternoon of about the 3rd day of no naps. Bran could care less about food. He eats when he’s hungry, but sometimes playing outweighs hunger and he won’t want to stop to come to the table. His favorite foods are yogurt, apples, bread & butter, cucumbers and rice crackers.

TOGETHER a.k.a Brandrew

Both boys are learning to use the potty. They rarely say when they have to go, but aren’t fighting quite so much about going. Although they do hate to take out time from playing. We have several potties so they don’t have to go very far to stop and make a pee. One outside, one in the main bath, one downstairs and one in their room (upstairs)! We’ve also gone from stickers, to small toys, to chocolate, to money, back to chocolate, to stickers. Every few weeks they get tired of the reward and won’t go any more. Although I think we’ve passed that hurdle and they’re kind of getting on a schedule so usually when we tell them it’s time to go, they actually have to go. The hardest part is training me to get them moving to the potty, especially when they don’t want to go and I’m tired from doing it all day. They are still using their soothers at nap and bedtime and I’m hoping to work on that soon. Bran is so attached though so I think it’s going to be difficult, it’s pretty much the one thing that helps him sleep, though most of the time he just chews on it. Drew often substitutes fingers during the day when he’s in need of comfort. Good or bad? Oh well. Both of them have favorite teddies, but they are not so attached that they need them every night, nor do they pay much attention to them during the day.

They both love climbing although Drew is a little bit better. He seems to have stronger arm muscles (he also better at pulling himself up on the swing, even though he’s shorter). Jumping is a another favorite they do together. Here are two recent jumping games. One stands on the chair ready to jump. The leans over the chair and puts their head on the chair. The first one jumps over the one with their head on the chair, then they swap. The other game is to keep putting things on the floor in front of the couch further and further back from the couch. Each time they jump off the couch and see if they can clear the ‘obstacles’.

MORE

You can read about the crazy things the boys say using the “What’s That You Say” tab at the top of this page.

You can also see pictures of them here, http://www.bowlingpages.net/gallery/v/Home-Sweet-Home/

That’s our boys in a really big nutshell! We’re looking forward to this year and all that being “3″ brings with it!

Posted under: Drew & Bran