Happy Third Birthday Ethan!

Ethan turned three this past Friday, June 26th and it's hard to believe our little baby is now a wild and crazy toddler...or threenager, as I more affectionately refer to him as.  Ethan is pretty much all boy at this point...he loves tractors, playing outside in the dirt, and rough housing with daddy.  He does have a sweet side though--especially first thing in the morning and at night {when he is sweet talking us!}.  He loves the movie Frozen..."Let it Go" is his song and there was a period where we watched that movie every.single.day.  Luckily, it's a good one!  He has the curliest sun-kissed hair and the brownest eyes...he's quite the charmer.  My heart absolutely melts when he says "layou mama" and gives me a big, wet kiss.  At night, when he's delaying bedtime for the 18734564th time, he'll tell me to lay with him and then he says, "Mama, I keep you"...from Frozen.  Those moments make up for all the screaming tantrums that we often put up with.  Boy were the two's a doozy!

I tried to take sporadic notes over the last year of Ethan's progress and what he's been up to.  Some of these are outdated now, but still worth noting:

Loves kissing boo-boos and if you say "ouch" he'll say "Owie?"  And come running over to kiss whatever you hurt.  We can always trick him into giving kisses if you say you have an owie on your cheek.  And now at three, if we get an owie, he'll kiss it  and say "All better?" but he's not really asking as much as he's telling you.  Of course the reverse does not work for him...he'll be sure to cry it out until you know good and well that he is hurt and a simple kiss will not make it all better.  ;)

Still uses a pacifier, but we're trying to ween him.  He'll come over to us and say "Boopy is" (boopy is what he calls a pacifier) and I'll say, I don't know?  And he'll respond, "Daddy have it?"  He's getting so smart...he won't take no for an answer and is very inquisitive.  And now at three, he's all but weened.  He still asks for a cut one at night, but it's definitely more for comfort than function.

He loves and I mean LOVES tractors.  He points them out on the road and would prefer to sleep with them every night if he could.  And at three, this is still the case!

He also loves his "kikies" (blankies).

Right now, he prefer to shower with one of us and will give us pressed hams on the steamed up door when he's done--thanks to Dad's influence.  ;)

He loves baseball and golf.  He has a really good arm and can throw a ball clear across the room.  He also loves hitting the ball with either a baseball or a golf club.  His grandma thinks he could also be a hockey player in the future.  We shall see!

Still sleeping in his crib and he can crawl in on his own.  But he won't dare crawl out...yet!  And now at three he is in a twin bed and gets out all the time!  Bedtime is just exhausting!

Books he loves: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, From Head to Toe, The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse (really, any Eric Carle book, he loves making the animal noises), Dear Zoo, Runaway Bunny, Goodnight Moon, and Big Red Barn, Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site, Llama Llama Red Pajama...among many others.  We must read him 2-3 books before he'll accept going to bed at night.

He's not the best eater and is starting to show it.  He's our skinny little guy.  He still takes a sippy cup of warm milk in the morning and at night and I guess we justify it so he gets those extra calories!  Now at three, we've got him down to 1-2 babas per day of 2% milk and his appetite seems to have picked up.  He loves chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, guacamole, yogurt, PB&J sandwiches, pizza...you know, all the healthy stuff!  He does he some fruit on occasion but usually prefers his fruit by way of lollipops and gummi bears.  

He's becoming really good at playing on his own and will make tractor/car noises and make us pretend meals in his play kitchen.  At three, he also mimics the construction worker's voices in this deep voice.  It's pretty darn cute.

This kid loves being outdoors...the winter was tough!  But now that the summer is here, he is in heaven!

Throws tantrums like no one's business.  He knows that if he screams, it will get our attention, particularly if we're out at a restaurant or in a public space.

We're able to bribe him with gummies (his favorite!)...luckily we happily give him the vitamin kind.  And lollipops.  And this is definitely still the case.

He LOVES his cuzzies, Reese & Riley.  And they love him too, which is really sweet.  Ethan likes to say that he's "Eece's Boy".

Ethan also loves harassing the cat, whether it's to smother her or chase her.

Wears size 7 in shoes and 18-24 or 2T months in pants.  Mostly 3T in tops.

Potty trained around 33 months or so.  Still wears diapers but has been doing really great!

Great little traveler...drove down to So Cal for my brother's wedding with no problem.

Still naps once a day.

Started sleeping in his big boy bed at 32 months...Feb 2015.

He's a little chatterbox and will talk and say hi to most anyone.  But if someone says hi to him, he gets super shy.

Started a new pre-school in June 2015--Jubilee.  Ms Tosha is his teacher who he loves and his buddy Beckett goes there too.

Loves his grandma and papa...we're lucky to be near Ryan's family.

All in all,  Ethan is our bright, handsome, feisty, funny, and sweet little guy!  He keeps us on our toes and surprises us everyday with his questions and observations {he just entered the "why" phase}. He is the best big brother...honestly, his sweet nature with Wyatt makes our heart swell.  He such a great big brother.  I'm really looking forward to this next year and seeing him blossom by the day.

xo natasha