Eddie at 36 Months

I think we've hit a milestone in parenting: we definitely have a kid because now we (and the medical community) changed from referring to his age in months to years.  Three years old.  Wow.  Three years!

This birthday was special to me for the obvious reasons: we got to celebrate having Eddie in our lives for 3 years, we got to celebrate in Gualala with his Grammy and Papa, we got to have his first big kid themed party, etc.  It was also special to me (in a bitter sweet sort of way actually) because it meant that I've been a "single" parent graduate student now for as long as I was a childless graduate student.  Crazy.  I got pregnant in my third year of school, only a month or so after Dave left home to work for his dad.  Thankfully, my tenures as a "single" parent and a gradate student are both nearly complete.  (Not soon enough!)

I didn't take any pictures of Eddie during his 36 month well child appointment because it was a quick, no shots visit.  It was particularly short because he's absolutely perfect in every way and there were no concerns at all.

Here are his stats:

Height: 40" (4" taller than last year)
Weight: 33 pounds (only 3 pounds more than last year!)
Body mass index: 9th percentile (who knew they ranked that?)
Blood pressure: 92/52

Clearly, he's a tall, thin kid for his age.

This kid loves dirt.

At 3 years old Eddie:

• Has a basic understanding of time. He says "last day" for yesterday or any day that isn't today or tomorrow when recalling things that happened. He says "morrow" for tomorrow. And nearly every morning he asks me if it's the weekend since he knows that Daddy's only home on weekends.  When I talk to him about things that are going to happen I rattle off the next days until a particular event using my fingers so he can see how many days I'm talking about.  And if it is weeks or months away I'll use major events as markers ("It will be your birthday soon buddy...we'll celebrate when it is hot summer time when we go swimming a lot. And then after your birthday when we're not going swimming anymore it will be Leila's birthday.")
• Still eats 1-2 eggs every morning for breakfast and only 1/2 of whatever carb I serve (oatmeal, toast with jam, banana or zucchini bread, bagel).
• Would love to be eating a snack every single moment of the day.
• Still can't or won't sit through a whole meal.  Lately I've been bribing him with getting to go out to eat at fun new restaurants with Mama and Daddy--but first he needs to practice sitting down in his chair on his bottom during the whole meal.  He can chew with his mouth closed and not speak with food in his mouth but darnit the kid won't sit still.  It drives me crazy.
• Can reliably draw a circle (and I mean circle-ish shape) and sometimes can do a triangle and a square.  His drawings are more and more realistic--meaning that I can tell what they are (cat vs. truck vs. monster).
• Has lost interest in riding his pedal-less bike and only wants to ride my old trike around.  I think this is because our 3 and 5 year old neighbors ride pedal bikes around the court and park and Eddie wants to go fast with them.
• Has learned to express his feelings with the (nearly) appropriate words: I'm feeling shy, I'm feeling mad, I'm feeling sad.
• Whines a lot when he's over tired (or just being annoying...at least that's how it seems).  I've started giving him 2 M&Ms each night if he didn't whine at school and 2 more if he doesn't whine too much for me at home.  So far, it's totally working!
• Can accurately identify any type of heavy equipment (grader, scraper, loader, fork lift, skid steer loader, excavator, etc.).  Hearing him say "skid steer loader" and "excavator" so precisely is hilarious.  Every single time he sees any type of heavy equipment he tells me, "I want to drive that one with my Dadda.  Not with Mama cause Mama only drives the backhoe tractor."  Heehee!  I don't know how to operate the excavator up in Gualala so I only take him on rides in the backhoe.  I'm sure I could figure out any of the equipment but I like "not knowing how" so I don't have to take him on endless rides.  Shhhh, don't give away my secret!  I don't think he knows what the number 8 really means, but I told him he can drive all the equipment by himself when he's that age (since that's the age when Dave started doing it alone).  He tells me often, "I can do it all by myself when I'm 8, right Mama?"
• Alternates sleeping between the top and bottom bunks of his bed.
• Takes a bath or a shower every single night before putting on jammies (always unmatched top and bottoms because he insists on choosing a shirt and pants that never match), "brushes" his teeth using a dab of fluoride toothpaste, lets me actually brush his teeth, and then listens to me read him 2-4 books before getting into bed.  
• Gives me (or Dave) a zillion hugs and kisses on the cheek throughout the day, and especially before bed when we're tucking him in.  
• Refers to everyone he loves as "my friend so-and-so."  As in, "that's my friend Mama."
• Loves monster trucks. Dave let him have an old RC Hummer he got in college and Eddie pushes it around the house really fast.  The sound of the motor turning drives me bonkers and I try to make him play with it in the opposite end of the house from where I am.  Ruby hates it too and tries to herd (and nip) him so I usually put her in my room with the door closed to keep us all sane.  A couple of weeks ago Eddie was running that stupid truck into chairs, my feet, his toys, etc. and I kept telling him to knock it off or he was going to lose it for a day.  He says in a serious voice, "I'm DESTRUCTION!  Cause....cause...cause I'm a MAN!"  It was probably the funniest thing he's ever said.  What a boy.
• Favorite colors are blue and pink.
• Doesn't wear underpants.  This started as a potty training tactic since the sensation of the briefs confused him and he'd have poop accidents since it felt like he was wearing a diaper.  So let him go commando and he trained in a snap.  I figured he'd wear them eventually since I got him super cool Spiderman and Thomas ones.  But he found out that his friend Seth (and his dad...) don't wear underpants so he decided he didn't want to wear them either.  Fine with us, less laundry!
• Is day trained for the most part.  He still pees his pants when he's too busy to stop play but I don't care so in my book, he's trained.  
• Takes a nap from 12:30-2:30pm at school but rarely on weekends since it sort of messes up our plans and he fights it too much.  
• Sleeps from about 8pm-8am.  
• Enjoys going to the library with me every 3rd Tuesday after nap so we can check out a few books.  We read them every night until they are due and then we start with a new set.
• Hasn't been on an airplane since November of 2010.
• Has been to 8 states (CA, OR, WA, PA, NY, GA, TN, NV) and 2 countries (USA and France).
• Is able to undo all my baby proofing devices (cabinet and drawer locks and my favorite front door flip lock) but doesn't most of the time.
• Can cut food with a chef's or serrated knife but still needs practice using a table knife while eating.
• Has been in parent-participation gymnastics classes for the last 6 months and loves it.  In a week he'll start his first no-parent-participation classes.
• Finally started blowing boogers "out" his nose instead of just breathing in deeper when I wipe his nose.
• Tells me and Dave, "I really, really, really, really missed you a lot" at random times ever since he spent a week up in Gualala with Dave in August.  That's what I told him when I arrived after being away from him for 6 days.  It's sooooooooooooooooo cute.
• Finally smiles for the camera--except it's one of those exaggerated squinty smiles.  But I'll take whatever I can get after putting up with him dodging the camera for so long.
• Loves playing with my canning jar lifter/tong things. And normal tongs for BBQing.
• Has never had soda but gets to drink 1/2 cup of vanilla soy milk every day and the occasional cup of chocolate milk, orange juice, or homemade apple cider.
• Wears 5T jammies, 4T everything else, and size 9 shoes. 
• Uses the phrase "That's my favorite" or "That's not my favorite" to tell you if he likes/dislikes something.
• Has a hairy back and legs.  I commented on his newly furry legs yesterday and he said, "Yeah, like Daddy! I'm gonna be hairy like Daddy but not like Mama because you only have hair up on your head."