Rob and Rachel: Collin's 3rd Birthday!

We have a 3 year old! This little boy brings us so much joy every day. He constantly amazes us with the things he says and does. He is quick to learn, creative, thoughtful, and funny.

At 3 years old, Collin:

Is so sweet and polite. He says "thank you" without being prompted. If he is whining for something and I tell him to ask nicely, he gets this proper voice and says, "Mother, please can I have (whatever), please?" (I taught him that half-jokingly once a long time ago, and it stuck, and I'm okay with it)

Draws people- head, eyes, smile, hair, and legs coming out of the head.

Doesn't like getting dirty. He freaks out if he spills something on himself or on the table while he's eating, and screams, "napkin!"

Can write some letters without help, and when we ask him to write his name, he does COL all by himself.

Loves fruit. Whatever fruit we have at home, he gets into constantly throughout the day. To the point where we try to hide it. If there is a carton of berries/grapes in the fridge, he'll get into them every chance he gets, and grabs as many as he can before I can even wash them for him. And he'll take a bite out of every apple, orange, or tomato he can find.

Is not a picky eater, and eats what we eat for meals without any problem. He likes treats and desserts, but doesn't ask for them unless they're in plain sight. I think he's just as happy with berries or fruit as a treat as he is with other sweets.

Is very independent. He wants to do everything we do, and says "Mine could do it all mine self!" (He still says "mine" instead of I, and "yours" instead of You).

Struggles with bedtime. He comes downstairs to see what we are doing many times after we put him to bed each night.

Loves helping with baking. He likes adding the ingredients and mixing with a spoon while saying "Mixxa mixxa mixxa!" (From Daniel Tiger)

Is very possessive of his toys, and I don't really blame him- he has two little brothers constantly getting into his stuff! Sometimes he'll willingly share, but most of the time, our biggest struggle is keeping him from hitting or pushing them over when they try to get his toys.

Loves painting- we have finger paints, but he prefers to use it with brushes rather than getting paint on himself.

Is potty trained, and has never told us when he needs to go to the bathroom- he just goes by himself.

Is often naked at home. We really do try to keep him dressed, but he takes everything off every time he goes to the bathroom, and there are only so many times a day I'm willing to struggle with dressing him. We at least aim for underwear most of the time.

Loves Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. He remembers the little songs, and we use them in real life situations and conversations every day.

Pronounces his "L"s like "Y"s. . . (light = yight, I yuv you) and he "F"s like "P"s (feet = peet).

Adds a "d" at the end of a lot of words that don't need it. For example: ice creamd, "Come ond!", downd, Amend, Tarzand. . . basically every word that ends with M or N.

Has become obsessed with puzzles. Since his birthday last week, when he got a Cars puzzle, he has figured out how to do them by himself, and can spend hours at a time just doing puzzles. He asks for all 7 of the kid puzzles we have, puts each of them together, then messes them up and does them all again.

Loves playing with his little brothers. He calls them "Too-bend" and "Ay-ye-ot."

We had Collin's birthday party the Saturday before his birthday, and he had a great time! He woke up to a room full of balloons. He sat up, saw all the balloons, and just smiled and grabbed one and hugged it. And he said to us, "Thanks, man!" (no idea where he got that).

We had a Daniel Tiger party! Collin had been excited about his birthday party for a long time, and he had a lot of fun! We had a small party at the church (which was perfect, since he is easily overwhelmed when there are lots of people around). Since most of the guests were young friends from nursery, they mostly played around with the balloons, Daniel Tiger masks and coloring sheets, and we attempted a little "stop and go" game.
Collin was very excited about his Daniel Tiger cake!

Tiger cupcakes, cake, and tiger striped pretzels

Opening presents

After opening his present from Emma, he gave her a big hug. . . and just stayed there. . . for a long time.

Daddy and the twins at the party

Collin's actual birthday was the following Monday. It was nice to have the party out of the way so we could just enjoy a laid back day with our Birthday boy. I took him on a lunch date to Red Robin. It was so nice to have special one-on-one time with my little boy. He is truly a delight to be around!

He was a little confused when the waitresses came out to sing their birthday song. He just stared at them. He didn't eat any of the ice cream, but he did enjoy lots of the strawberries out of my lemonade.

Opening the first present of the day- Finding Nemo, which he loves.

Happy boy

Since we'd already made and eaten a tiger cake, we needed something else to put candles in for his real birthday, so we picked up a little pumpkin cake to share.