35 Months

Less than one month until we have a 3 year old! I still can't believe how fast time has gone from the day he was born to last night when I tucked him into bed.

He is such an amazing kid, with an imagination that runs wild from dawn to dusk...turning every stick into a tool, rocks into pizza, a broom into a rocket and this is just the beginning! There are still times where I wish I could just hit the pause button in life to suck in every ounce of that moment, but at the same time I can't wait to see what he learns next, what animal will he crawl around on the floor and pretend to be after dinner or personally my favorite...How many times is going to ask me to watch Mickey In Space tonight?

Speaking of turning 3---birthday invites went out last week. This had to be the quickest and most successful photo session of all time.

 

Too adorable not to share!

 

 

 

I still have some party planning to do, but we took the stress out of possibly (and now having) a newborn at the time of his birthday celebration and planned his party at our favorite local pizza restaurant. My friend Amanda can create about anything off of Pinterest...She's already been hard at work on some decorations. I don't plan to do an overload on decorations as I did in years past, but then again...his birthday party last year was supposed to be smaller in number than his first birthday and that didn't happen!

 

I plan on taking a Harrison and Mommy trip to Party City to pick up some Mickey party plates, the pinata and other Mickey Mouse gear sometime in the next couple of weeks. One thing for sure, there will be a PINK cake at this boy's party. We have been doing a lot of talking about his birthday and birthday party and in each conversation he talks about having PINK cake and PINK ice cream for his birthday. I guess I don't have to tell you what his favorite color is!

 

Harrison is doing as well as any expected near 3 year old could do with a new baby in the house. There is still a lot of whining, but a lot of that stems from having a new puppy in the house. He loves to play with her and often provokes her to get wild and then decides all of sudden he is done playing and puppy isn't. She's chewed up 6 of his plugs (pacifiers) in the last 3 weeks. Speaking of these plugs...We do have FULL intentions of weaning him from them, but with adding a baby and new puppy to our household in the last month...I'd say he has enough on his plate right now. I can assure you he will not be that 5 year old with a plug in is mouth going down an aisle at Target. In fact the plug is banned from Pre-School and not allowed in public places.

 

Developmentally he is doing fantastic. He graduates from the Birth to 3 program next month. Based on all the requirements for the program, Harrison no longer qualifies for services. Language which he struggled the most with, he has excelled immensely in the last 4-5 months. He talks in complete sentences and he talks all the time. Last week his instructor Molli worked on him writing the letter "H." He ended up making two Hs himself and then Molli said, "he turned the Hs into rockets." There is that imagination that I LOVE!

 

It's hard to believe after next month I won't be doing monthly updates for Harrison anymore. I was going to stop after he turned two, but I enjoy these updates too much to stop then so I decided on 36 months. There will still be plenty of updates and plenty of photos. I honestly haven't picked up the camera much since I started maternity leave, but I hope when we break out of survival mode here I can get back into clicking those everyday candid shots that I absolutely love and adore more than any posed shot.

 

 



 

35 things about 35 months

 

1. Favorite food is pancakes
2. Likes to help wash the dishes
3. If given the choice between cookies and grapes, he will choose grapes
4. Loves Fishy pretzels (he likes food, can you see that pattern?)
5. If he isn't walking or running, he gallops
6. Started singing nursery songs--- he likes "Itsy Bitsy Spider," and the annoying Fisher Price, "Counting, Counting, Counting is so much fun" song.
7. Caught him dancing the other day and boy does he have the moves. I only have a 16 second recording of dance, but those 16 seconds are totally priceless! (I'll post the video on here, if I can remember how).
8. He repeats actions asked in television shows...Like get up and dance or repeat after me. I love to watch him watch television, never a dull moment.
9. Considering pulling wearing the pull up at night...he's been dry every morning for more than 2 weeks. He thinks it's funny that Miles poops in his pants.
10. He thinks Daddy can fix anything.
11. We find him taking himself to the bathroom by himself more often, sometimes we don't even know he went unless he tells us.
12. Loves to be outside...It could be pouring rain and he still insists we go to the park or play outside. 
13. Has a brand new Power Wheels and does a good job driving. His favorite feature? "I can go backwards." He even gave me a ride in his new set of wheels. I honestly think Daddy loves the car as much as Harrison---he took it out for a spin too.
14. He likes to put off bed time...ex. have to go potty, he is hungry, NEED to watch Mickey or will randomly tune you out and play with his toys until you start to bringing out the threats.
15. He is shy around people he doesn't know. I love to see how he interacts and his excitement when neighbors stop by. He especially loves our next door neighbor Henry and his Auntie Potter and friends from daycare...not to forget to mention his excitement when I mention going to Grandma's Di house.
16. Loves books. We just bought two more yesterday. I refuse to believe a kid could ever have too many books.
17. Latest imagination soar? Pretending to be a SUPER-HERO. He "flys" all over our house."
18. Getting self sufficient on dressing himself...needs help mostly with shirts and socks.
19. Getting better at sharing and often does so without prompts
20. Has been corrupted at pre-school and will randomly say, "Go Packers." We have our baby sitter Elizabeth to blame for this.
21. He loves to help with anything and everything, even if it's just hitting the start button on the microwave.
22. Just went through a big growth spurt, he tips the scale and 29.5 lbs. His 3 year check up is November 30.
23. He looks for approval in everything he does, he loves praises
24. Learning his ABCs. He refused to practice them for months, but now is showing an interest again. He can sing A-G.
25. Counting... is a little difficult. For months he counted flawlessly to 1-10, actually 1-12. But most recently he insists it's 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10. I guess he prefers short hand like his dad.
26. He likes Miles. The other day I caught him while I was mopping our bedroom rubbing Miles head in the next room and saying, "Nice Baby."
27. Bath time...still a favorite of his!
28. Least favorite thing to do in a day? Get ready for bed.
29. He is learning to play independently but would rather have someone play with him.
30. Apologizes and says "please" and "thank you" without prompts.
31. Starting to watch full movies...We will attempt his first movie in the theater this winter.
32. He likes more active play verses time on the ipad or watching tv.
33. Favorite snuggle? Yellow blanket---which reminds me I was going to wash that while he's at pre-school today.
34. Showing more affection with hugs and kisses
35. Quite the people pleaser...will do practically anything to gain your approval. Kind of feel like I got this one out of a text book. I guess these stages in development bring me back to all my college classes in child psychology.

 





 

As for his mom? Hey that's me! I am struggling with finding the balance between Harrison and Miles time. Good thing is we are still new to this and I will figure this out! And whatever mistakes that I may make along this road hopefully he will forget!