Huston - February 2013

Baby boy, you are 3 and a 1/2!  I'm so proud of the boy that you are becoming.  You want to help with your little brother so much and you can even be helpful around the house...if you are in the mood.  You are sweet and polite and so funny.  You are a bit of a handful lately, if you get frustrated you yell at the inanimate object that won't work or you ran into (i.e. the corner of a table or a remote controlled toy).  You are also very stubborn and it usually takes a bit of a negotiation to get you to do what we need you to do if you don't feel like it.  I know it comes in the toddler package, but it still can make for a very long day sometimes :)

You are definitely a creature of habit and maybe a little OCD like me and your dad and once we establish a routine or explain something to you, you aren't about to let us change it.  An example of this is that we started eating dinner at the table with the TV off and phones down.  I had no idea how much you would enjoy this.  You tell us all kinds of stories and are doing a pretty good job eating.  But on the occasion that we are tired and don't want to do a "real" dinner, you will not let that happen....you insist we eat dinner at the table as a "fambily".

You are also very independent now, which comes in handy when I'm constantly feeding and changing your brother.  You will announce that you are "going to your room" and will play for quite awhile before coming back out.  If we aren't watching what you want to watch, you get out your portable DVD player and put your own movie and headphones in.  Your favorite way to watch "your shows" is to get under a blanket with your iTouch. 

You also loooooove bath time.  You take a zillion toys in there and want to play in there for hours.  Now that your little brother can join you are super excited.

You are so ready for him to be able to play.  All day long you tell me, "I want to see Nolan", "He's laughing", "Him eyes open".  Each morning when you crawl in bed with us, we play your favorite game.  Nolan is at the stage where he wants everything in his mouth so when he hugs you he will suck on your cheek.  Each morning he wakes you up by "eating your face" and you love every minute of it.  Instead of little brother, you call him your "tiny" brother.  You will also announce "GRRRRROUP HUG" and want all four of us to hug.  You are also a big fan of photo bombing.

You love Popsicles (and always announce that Papa Lowery likes the orange ones) and Skittles (and always give me the purple ones because I like those), lunchables (but won't eat the desert until last because I mentioned it once, you make a whole production out of it), gogurt, goldfish and any fruit.  We had a fort picnic the other day under the table and you didn't ever want to come out.  Anything that you don't want to eat or has things you don't like you say "It's got dirty things on it."

You have found a new show, Doc McStuffins.  Your other favorites are Imagination Movers, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and Special Agent Oso.  You are paying attention to everything we watch now too, so we are having to get sneaky with our shows.  You are obsessed with Big Bang Theory and call Penny your "girlfriend".  You love quoting commercials and anything with music stand up and dance.  There is a V8 commercial where they pop the guy on the head every time he makes a bad food choice and say "You should have had a V8".  I bought some V8 juice and you said, "That juice not nice, she him head when she drinks it."

Your vocabulary is expanding and some of the funniest words are disgusting, delicious, important, nervous and accident.  You occasionally slip out an "oopsie daisy", but I'm trying to stop that so you won't get beat up when you are older.  If you don't want to do something you say, "Um, that sounds like a bad idea."  You also love the poop and fart jokes already.  Ugh.

My favorite new tradition is at bedtime.  Instead of reading, we have started telling bedtime stories.  You start each paragraph with "Once upon a time" rather than each story.  We take turns telling them and they range from shows you've seen on TV to potty training to sharing to super heros.

You got a big kick of Valentines Day and I really dropped the ball this year.  I forgot how much you liked your party at school last year and didn't think about you missing it now that you stay at home with me.  After seeing a few parties on your shows you asked where your party was.  I ran and got a balloon, cupcakes and pizza and you were a happy boy.

We've really been trying to get out of the house and do fun things.  You love the play area at the YMCA, we go to the rec center and story time.  We've also been taking the ferry and exploring and you love the water and birds and crabs.

I'm a very lucky momma to have you in my life and I'm so proud of you every day.  We have so much fun and it is so special to watch the relationship growing between you and your tiny brother.