My Three Year Old, Aiden!

An update on Aiden, three years old, and you can see that I wrote most of this update to him so he will have a good memory of himself once he gets older:

• You started preschool last week. We both had tears the first times that I left you, but I was happy to know that within a half hour, you were adjusted and content. Yesterday was our fourth day and I am happy to report there were no tears yesterday and you are so happy when I pick you up. This is a BIG step for you as I have never left you with anyone besides occasional grandparents that visit. Living so far from family and any close friends, we have always had you by our side. So although I'm sad to not have you with me, I know that you are in good hands and will have a lot of fun while you are there. I hope you enjoy school as much as I did growing up!
• You have lots of toys (thanks to several generous family members and awesome garage sale deals) which is great because you love to play! Your favorite, favorite toys are your train set and cars/trucks/planes. You also love to do puzzles and recently started to like to play games. And thanks to Aunt Jill, your SuperWhy costume may have topped the charts with the favorite toy! Throughout the day, you slip on your costume and zone into your pretend Super Why world!
• Although you love your toys, you still LOVE anything electronic! You are the only three year old who carries around a fake iPhone in your pocket all day long and has several (free) cases that you switch in and out on your phone. You even have to put your fake phone into your backpack when you go to school. I have had many people question about you carrying around the iPhone only for me to let them know that it doesn't actually work! You have several phones that you like (Mickey Mouse, Handy Manny, etc.) that you rotate between. It's a bit crazy, but it keeps you content. You love when your grandparents come because they always come with their iPods! Often, when you talk to MeMe Ruff, you tell her how much you miss her AND her iPod! You also pretend to Skype and do FaceTime throughout the day with your grandparents on your pretend computers.
• You still like to read stories. We often read to you, but sometimes you like to "read" to us! Your favorite books are Llama Llama, Sheep in a Jeep, and Freight Train. You know many books by heart and love to read to us and to Andrew. Just last night, you read me the story in your Bible about Joshua and the walls falling down. You amaze me how much you remember in all the stories that you have read.
• You are a very sweet, loving little boy. Throughout the day, you tell Mommy how much you love her and give lots of hugs and kisses. You love to help Mommy bake, clean, and do things around the house. It definitely takes a lot longer having a 3 year old help you out with everything, but you love to help so I try to include you as much as I can. You love to hug your brother and help him throughout the day. You often let me know when he is climbing the stairs or into something that he shouldn't be. You love to play and read with him. Other people comment on how well-behaved and polite you are, which I hope continues in the future. Although you are friendly, you have a shy side to you, until one gets to know you. You are slow to warm up but once you feel comfortable, you love to have fun!
• Someone is wearing underwear now! Around 2 1/2, we started potty training and it has been a relatively easy, but slow, process. You are really good at using the potty and rarely have an accident although we do put a pull-up on for the overnight as we aren't quite ready for that last step in the process!
• You are such a funny, articulate boy! Some of the things you say are: "Wait a minute" when you realize you forgot something and "Clickety Clack Woo Hoo" when you did something silly. You are really into giving me thumbs up right now and counting with your fingers out in front of you. You love to talk on the phone, often asking someone, "How are you doing today?" You have a slight accent of some kind and it's quite funny when you say certain words! You love to sing songs. Some of your favorites are Itsy Bitsy Spider, Five Little Monkeys, Frosty the Snowman, and Here is Thumbkin.
• You are a very, very picky eater! I never know what to serve you because one moment you like something and the next moment, it is "yucky". Breakfast almost always consists of waffles, oatmeal, or cereal. Lunch usually is a grilled cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwich with yogurt. And we serve you what we usually for dinner but you don't always like it. Your favorite dinner is spaghetti. Yogurt is your favorite food, but you also love popsicles, baked chips, crackers, fruits, and you love your fruit snacks. You absolutely refuse cheese, most meats, and some veggies. You used to love drinking milk, but now you want ice water with every meal. Your picky eating means you have only gained about three pounds this year and now you are tipping the scales at a total of 25 pounds. Again, you are just one petite boy and we will do the best we can on putting meat on those bones!
• You have finally become a great sleeper! The first year, I never got to sleep through the night. The second year, we had our share of ups and downs regarding sleep. Now, you finally have a groove and for the most part, probably because you are so exhausted after some crazy days, you sleep quite well. We start our bedtime routine around 7:45-8:00 which consists of reading three books, a Bible story, and our Night Night book. You have to go to sleep with the lamp on, but Mommy or Daddy sneak in before we go to bed to turn it off. You are almost always up by 6:30 when your clock turns green and you come bumbling into our room to join us in bed (if we aren't up already!). You love to snuggle in the mornings with Mommy and Daddy and will stay there for a good hour laying between your parents! Your favorite bedtime buddies right now are Happy Feet (your penguin), Bone (a stuffed dog), and your Super Why doll, Wyatt.
• You are one independent boy! You get yourself dressed in the morning (often picking out your own clothes), brush your own teeth (and today I even caught you putting on Daddy's hair gel!), zip your own coat, put on your own shoes, etc. You can practically make yourself breakfast, although I won't let you plug the toaster in by yourself! You can tell me how to get home from several locations (grocery store, downtown, library, etc).

I am amazed by you everyday and can't wait to see what another year brings. We love, love, love you Aiden and can't wait to see what another year brings!