Evan updates: 3 1/2 years old!

I am falling quite behind on blogging lately, due to a number of reasons (one being that my main laptop crashed), and when I get a chance to blog I find that I'm often reporting about Emma and not Evan these days!  Therefore, I felt it was time for a general update on my boy!  He just turned 3.5 years old this past Thursday, so it's a fitting time I suppose!

Growth and Development

Evan is growing up so much.  We have just recently started realizing we need more 4T clothes for him, because his 3T shirts are getting short and his 3T pants are as well.  They are less short on him in length (at the ankles), but several pairs were not the right size for him at the top such that he looked like a little plumber a lot of the time!  And then the knees getting ripped holes was another sign...  The size 4T pants we've gotten him so far are a bit too long, but at least they have adjustable waists so they don't sag too low and yet are "deep" enough (is that the right word?) so he's not a little plumber anymore!  For shoes, he's been wearing size 9 for awhile now, but maybe soon he'll need size 10?

I consider Evan completely day time potty trained.  We very rarely have accidents when he's awake.  However, we are still putting him in pull ups during naps and at bed time.  He has had some dry nights, so if that can keep up we may try going without and see what happens.  It sure would be nice to be past potty training altogether (for him anyway)!

Even though we didn't put Evan in preschool this year, he's been learning a lot!  He knows his letters so well, I find it amazing!  He can spout out all the letters that make up the title of his books or that are on a sign or a page very quickly!  He also has become interested in learning what the first letter of different words is, including our names (which he has memorized those by now).  A common question (or set of questions) he'll ask us is "What is the first letter of 'door'?" followed by "What is the first letter of 'toy'"?  Sometimes I've started asking him back what he thinks it is, and occasionally he'll get it right!  'S' words in particular he seems to have figured out that sound is from the letter 's'!

Part of knowing his alphabet is singing the ABC song.  That is one of the most common songs he sings, next to "Home among the gum trees" (an Aussie classic), and sometimes he'll sing the "Hokey pokey" or "BINGO" or "Twinkle little star".  He'll just randomly start singing now too...while playing at a playground, while having breakfast, while sitting on the potty, etc.  It's pretty cute! 

In addition to letters, he also knows his numbers and colors really well now.   In fact, we've started to play games with him, and I'm amazed at how well he's able to play them (with very little help from me!).  Candyland is probably his favorite, which makes him practice his colors and numbers/counting to play it.  His new Thomas pop-up game also helps him practice his counting and has helped him learn to interpret the numbers on dice!  He can now easily recognize the number 5 and 1 on a die, and quickly count the dots to figure out the others.  Like most kids his age, he doesn't like to lose though, so we'll have to keep working on that with him.

Playing Candyland with Nanna

Just recently I've seen Evan become more interactive with his kids TV shows, for example today I heard him shouting out the letters during Super Why...he certainly knows the letters well, so perhaps he wants to show it off by telling the Super Readers on the TV. :)  It is designed to be an interactive show, though, and so John and I are both glad to know he's gotten into it and interacts accordingly.

Evan is still not very much into coloring or writing.  I have let him try his hand at water painting, which he liked for a few minutes and that was it.  He is just starting to learn to write a few letters.  So far capital A and B are all I've seen him do.  And oddly enough, he switches hands to write!  Sometimes it's his right hand, sometimes his left!?  I think most other things he does left-handed (eating, throwing a ball), but perhaps he hasn't figured out which hand feels best to write with?

Something that I wasn't expecting yet (nor for a very long time) was for him to start calling me 'mom' and John 'dad'.  I thought kids would do the 'mommy' and 'daddy' thing at least until they started school.  Sure, he does still say 'mommy' a lot, but 'mom' is becoming more and more common.  

Evan also asks heaps of questions.  I don't expect that phase to go away anytime soon...it's the inquisitive kid "thing" and I definitely like him being inquisitive.  While some of his repeat questions get old, I would rather him ask lots than none at all. :)

Meal time

Evan loves pasta, pizza, fruit, plain Greek yogurt ("airplane yogurt"), quesadillas, peanut butter and "jammie" sandwiches, waffles, pancakes, Rice Bubbles (Rice Krispies) with milk, cheeseburgers, chicken and "taytoes" from Chic-Fil-A, and so much more.  However, he really doesn't like any vegetables.  The main way we get him to eat his veggies is in pouches.  Yes, the same baby food puree pouches that Emma gets.  It means we're spending a lot more money to buy twice as many pouches, but at least he's getting some extra vitamins and minerals, right?  We still serve him normal veggies, but he really refuses to eat them. :(

He absolutely loves candy and sweets.  And as a result, bribery with candy as a reward works pretty well for him.  :)

Sleep time

Evan still naps once per day in the late afternoon, when Emma also has her afternoon nap.  Most days right now he's actually sleeping!  There was a phase a month or so ago where it was more likely he'd only sleep half the time.  I am so thankful he still gets a good nap!

He goes to bed around 8pm still and goes down very easily, as long as we give him "lay down snuggles".  I find that sometimes I fall asleep laying next to him during those snuggle times.  They are pretty special times that will not last forever.

Evan has had numerous bad dreams lately, though, and so possibly half of the nights per week he'll come sleep in our bed at some point in the night.  Either after waking up in tears begging to lay with us or sometimes stealthily sneaking into our bed all on his own.  We usually let him sleep with us for a few hours and then John takes him back to his room later.

Play time

Evan still enjoys all the same things as before: playing games or watching videos (mostly ones we've recorded of him) on our phones or his Nabi, watching movies on TV (and lucky for us his repertoire of movies has expanded such that we don't always have to watch the same ones over and over, though he still has favorite phases, which right now is "Bolt"), rough-housing and wrestling around, and playing outside and going for walks/rides to the park.  He also has some new activities that he enjoys, such as arts/crafts (he loves to try to cut paper with scissors and just tried water painting recently for the first time), playing games (as I mentioned above), cooking and baking with me (he can crack an egg into the bowl sometimes without shell getting in and help stir the batter and decorate/frost cakes), and doing puzzles (the "big boy" kind, which he is starting to be able to do more on his own!).   Most of these new activities require a bit more skill, focus, and/or patience than he might have had as a younger child, which also means they are not well-suited for Emma.  Therefore, I usually try to take advantage of Emma's morning nap time to partake in these activities with Evan while she cannot bother us.  It's great to have that one-on-one time with him like that, and I think he really likes it too.

Poured the cakes ready for baking...

Frosting...

Excited to taste the finished product!

Trying out new crafts: water painting and "sculpting" with kinetic sand(notice he sticks out his tongue when concentrating...my brother always did the same thing!)

Going for a ride on his new scooter

He also just started taking swimming lessons last week.  This first class is all about getting the kids to get comfortable putting their head under water.   I was told that the average for kids is to take each class session 3-5 times.  The particular class he's in now is on Monday and Wednesday evenings, for a total of 8 classes per session, which is making our month a lot more hectic.  I hope he can breeze through the classes quicker so we can have more time for other activities (like soccer this spring!?) too.  How will we manage when both kids are doing evening activities!?  And so it begins....

Evan practicing a back float at swimming lessons

The trials

Being three is definitely a time of growth and development, but there are also still many trials.  Terrible Two's are one thing...what I think we have now is the "Testing Threes".  He just wants to test his boundaries and push our buttons (and Emma's) like crazy lately.  Sadly, this means that he is intentionally hurting Emma, especially right after I leave the room. :(  He knows when I'm not looking and pokes her, pushes her, hits her, you name it.  I now have to leave and then come right back to see what he might try, and to remind him that I'm always watching.  He also still has his temper and when he gets angry we get hit, kicked, or screamed at (I mean super high pitch, rupture your ear drum screams!).  As a result, I've found that I'm spanking him more often.  I don't know if this is more helpful or not (I mean, I'm trying to tell him hitting is not allowed by spanking him?), but at the same time, I feel like it's a power struggle and I want him to know that I am stronger than him and I am his parent to be listened to and not someone he can beat up.  John feels like he's more physically aggressive with me, and we both aren't sure why, so I feel like I have to play more of a physically tough game back in order for him to realize I'm his boss.  I really hope this is a phase...because I don't like the spanking, and would rather just have talks with him (which I also still do to try to calm him down and help him understand what's happened and why he was in trouble).  

Another three-year-old-ism that Evan has (I know others his age with similar fears/behaviors) is that he is scared of and/or doesn't like loud sounds.  For example, the beeping from smoke alarms, toilet flushes (though not many of these bother him anymore, but he covers his ears just in case), and hand air dryers in public bathrooms are the most common offenders.  Recently he was playing with the monitor in his bedroom while I was putting Emma down for her nap.  He must have turned the camera in his room on and tried to talk into it (as well as turned the volume up to the max) and it started a constant feedback sound.   It freaked.him.out!  And then after he gets scared from something, he talks about it a lot, just obsessing over it to the point that I think it's giving him more bad dreams.  When he has bad dreams that he tells us about, it usually has something to do with "____ made a noise and it scared me".

Evan also still fears getting his haircut, and does not allow the clippers or hair dryer to be used on him.  Yet, the good news is that he doesn't cry anymore, but just sits on my lap and cringes every scissor cut that is made.  It's becoming more tolerable and moving in the right direction, but we still tend to let it go a long time between cuts!

The wonderful

As Evan grows older and learns more, I absolutely love it when his manners and sweet side come out all on their own.  Lately when we're eating a meal that he really likes, he compliments me and thanks for me for it.  "This is really good mom, thank you for making it for me mom" :)

When we're at the park and he's swinging, he always asks politely for another push. "Can you please push me higher?"

When it's bedtime and I come into his room to say good night, he always politely asks me for a "lay down snuggle".  How can I resist that?

Me and my wonderful boy (who just wouldn't look at the camera!)