Wilson Ramblings: 3 years old!!!

Nathan turned 3 on the 23rd of November and he is so excited about being 3! It’s really cute to watch him hold up 3 fingers because that pinky is tricky to hold down! Nathan had his party the weekend before his birthday at a local gymnastics place and he loved it! I’ll post those pictures soon… but for now, here’s our 3 year update!

Nathan is getting so big and independent! Thankfully he still loves to snuggle! He’s 38.5 inches tall (official measurement in a couple weeks) and is 32 pounds 4 ounces which puts him in the 60th percentile for both. He wears 3t pants (the 2t would fit in the waist but not length), and 4t shirts. His arms are long and his shoulders broad, or he’d be wearing 3t. Some of his 24 month t-shirts still fit. He wears a 9-9.5xw shoe. Oh my goodness he’s a growing boy!

Nathan is a sweet sweet kiddo and has such a tender and compassionate heart. That same boy is as rough and tumble as they come. He loves to wrestle, pillow fight, tickle fight, crash, crash cars, be loud, roar, throw, build, fix, figure out… such a boy. He also loves to snuggle up with us to watch tv or read. He loves books and will sit through as many as you’ll read. He’s learned to sound out words with much more ease. He can sound out most 3 and 4 letter words you’d find in children’s books. It’s a little scary sometimes when we’re driving down the road and pass a sign with “kid” on it and from the backseat we hear him sounding out, “kkkkk iiii ddd, kkidd, KID, mommy daddy that spells kid.”

Nathan loves hotwheels cars, monster trucks, race tracks, drawing and coloring and writing, remote control cars, and playdough. I think if those were the only toys on earth, he’d be just fine. It’s so fun to watch him draw pictures and explain them to us, to watch him write words and sound out different things to write on his paper. He’s also learned how to color in the lines and does a great job with that. He’s right handed and holds a pen/pencil well. Nathan has over 200 hotwheels/matchbox cars (thanks to our 12 year old neighbor who gave Nathan half of his collection) and I think Nathan knows each and every one. I’ve tried to scale them down and he’ll come looking for a certain one that he left “right here in this blue bin by this purple fireball car”. Most anytime you see Nathan he has a car in his hand, pocket, bookbag, or carseat.

This little guy owns the culdesac on his bike. He wants us to take the training wheels off, and if we get another warm streak we might. He’s excellent when it comes to steering and he’s learned how to crash well too. :) He can stand up and ride up hills which makes me so nervous, but he’s good at it and he’ll have to learn sometime! He and Chad started playing this game with a practice golf ball… Chad throws it and Nathan rides to it and rides over it shooting it out from underneath the tire and then he rides over it again. Nothing like a physics lesson in aim and trajectory!

Nathan has an awesome personality and a great sense of humor. He loves to laugh and his laugh lights up a room! When he plays “angry birds” on the IPOD, he gets cracked up and so do we. Nathan is a leader and has no problem going against the flow (both good and bad). He loves getting into mischief just as much as he loves making us proud. He’s amazingly quick to respond as to why he did or didn’t do something… which is just as frustrating as it is funny. For example, he put several tent poles together to make a 7 foot tall stick… I know, what was I thinking allowing it, but boys will be boys and it’s okay to build! Then he gently and carefully held it upright and moved it over by the fan. Before I knew it he was gently pushing the fan blades round and round. I said, “Nathan, that’s not a good idea buddy, please don’t touch the fan with your stick.” He immediately responded, “Mommy I was just making the fan go round and round to keep you and baby Taylor cool and comfortable.” Oh my goodness, really? :) He’s a great kiddo, and he certainly keeps us on our toes!

Nathan has been fully potty trained, including nap and nighttime for about 2 months. He’d been reliable during his waking hours for a long time and then during his nap in the late summer/early fall. The week we had Taylor, he decided to stop peeing in diapers at night and instead he woke us up to take him to potty. 2 kiddos up in the night… lovely. It was worth it though and now he sleeps all night without waking up. He’s 100% reliable all the time and we are so proud of him!!!

He’s learned to get himself dressed now too! He loves to pick out his clothes and put them on all by himself (with a little help getting the shirt on his head). He’s learned to put on his socks and shoes too. All too often he leaves the house wearing clothes backwards, shoes on the wrong feet, and often with no undies on. Silly boy! But he’s doing it independently and he’s so proud of himself! :) If he could wear fleece lined pants and sweats all day everyday he’d be the happiest kid alive. He lives for fuzzy soft things and I’m not sure what he’ll wear this coming summer!

This little guy still has an amazing memory and doesn’t forget a thing. He remembers going places over a year ago and where things are in those places. He is always listening to everything we say, even when we think he’s not. If he doesn’t understand one of the words, he’ll ask what it means. He’s learned the Pledge of Allegiance and says it loud and proud. He sings a lot and knows more songs than we can count, including tons that we don’t know. He loves to make up songs and this is a part of bed/naptime routine. It’s usually the “crane song” but sometimes he asks up to make up a song about some other random thing, like dogs or Christmas trees, or raffie (his giraffe). He’s super animated when telling stories and I love to hear all the inflection in his voice.

Nathan is still a sleeper and an eater and an active boy. Although his appetite is tapering off, he still amazes us sometimes with the amount he can eat. His favorite meal is breakfast and he usually has 2 adult sized bowls of cereal (a healthy cereal since he eats so much). Sometimes he’ll ask for fruit and yogurt to go with that. He eats and drinks with regular plates/bowls/utensils and is offended if you give him a baby fork. :) He still has a strong dislike for potatoes, soups, pasta, spicy foods (although he likes more spice now than before), grits and oatmeal. He often shudders at the sight of them on his plate. HeeHee! When he’s awake, he plays hard and he sleeps just as hard. He’s sleeping from 8pm until 7/8ish and still takes a 2-3 hour nap from 2-4 or 2-5.

Nathan is an incredibly big brother. He’s super attentive to Taylor’s needs and is quick to comfort and console her when she’s crying. He loves to include her in his play and activities and is super gentle anytime he touches her or interacts with her. He seems to have no jealousy towards her and we are so thankful for that!!! He talks to her a lot and she lights up when he’s around.