Three Years!

Lucinda and Malcolm are three years old!

Since they're three, we celebrated with three parties, so there's lots of catching up to do here!  Unfortunately I got sick just after their big party, so it's taken longer than I hoped to get this done.

On Wednesday (their actual birthday), I took them to the doughnut shop on the way to school to pick up some treats for their class party.  

They brought their new magnifying glasses along (an early birthday gift from Miss Emmaline) so they could see the doughnuts better.  Of course they picked the sugariest doughnuts in the shop -- glazed with chocolate frosting and sprinkles.  

I stayed at school with them for their little class party.  It was fun to see them at circle time, and watch them interact with their little friends.

At three, the last bit of baby is quickly fading from their appearance, as they emerge as little kids.  It's both exciting and sad, but for now, I'm just happy they still want lots of cuddles and still think mama and dada hung the moon.

At 3 years old, Malcolm Walter...

• is 38.25 inches tall (71st percentile)
• weighs 36 pounds (87th percentile)
• wears 3T and 4T clothes, size 9.5 shoes, and size 5 diapers
• is working on potty training.  His teacher Ms. Lisa is working hard with him, and he's doing well at school, but the enthusiasm hasn't yet carried over to home.
• is stubborn and passionate and demanding and cuddly.  He's still always on my lap or climbing on me, it seems. He is such a sweet, sensitive boy.  He wears his feelings on his sleeve and needs lots of hugs, but he's also such a big, rambunctious boy.  He's still very attached to me, but has started really gravitating to his daddy, and enjoys when "the boys" do things together.
• loves to help. He's constantly dragging kitchen chairs across the room to help make breakfast or help me make by coffee in the morning.  He always loves having a job to do, and takes it very seriously. He loves to do things himself, and does not abide someone else doing something that he has decided is his job.
• likes things done on his terms, and is resistant to change, much like his daddy.  But when he's not being bossy, he's very polite, saying please and thank you, and even you're welcome. The first thing he says to us most mornings is "please will you play airplanes with me, please?"
• loves airplanes, cars, trucks, trains, running around and being chased.  Preferably some combination of those things.
• is a pretty picky eater, although he has been trying more new foods in the last few weeks. He loves macaroni and cheese, PB&J, carrots, mini muffins, mandarin oranges, bananas, and pancakes. 
• sleeps with his dragon Norville and his truck blanket every night, in a sleeping bag in his toddler bed.  He doesn't nap at home anymore, but still takes a 2 hour nap at school four days a week.
• Favorite movies: Cars; Planes 
• Favorite show: Wallykazam
• Favorite color: blue
• Favorite food: macaroni & cheese
• Favorite toys: Airplanes, cars, trucks, and trains
• Favorite books: Little Blue Truck Leads The Way (he has memorized it, and "reads" it to me); Little Blue Truck

At 3 years old, Lucinda Jean....

• is 35.5 inches tall (17th percentile)
• weighs 29.5 pounds (38th percentile)
• wears size 3T clothes and size 7.5 shoes
• is 100% potty trained, day and night.  So proud of her.
• is so smart and observant. She's asking so many questions these days, and wants to understand everything about the world around her.  She's showing a lot of interest in phonics and rhyming, and is always amazing her teachers with stuff she knows and remembers.  She's even started figuring out basic math concepts and will quickly figure out how many more things she needs to have a certain number, or how many people will be left after someone leaves.
• loves helping me do "my girl things" (drying my hair, putting on makeup, painting toes), and likes to have the girls be together.  
• is starting to show more interest in "princessy" things, which we haven't encouraged, but she looks so cute running around in a crown that it's hard to resist.
• is a pretty good eater.  She especially likes "girl cheese sandwiches", macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, leafy greens, broccoli, grapes, and strawberries.
• Favorite movies: Toy Story 2; The Little Mermaid.
• Favorite show: Wallykazam
• Favorite colors: purple and pink
• Favorite foods: grilled cheese; grapes
• Favorite toys: her stuffed friends. She gets to pick four friends "and a bonus friend" to take to bed each night, and she spends a good deal of time picking just the right friends to share her bed.
• Favorite books: she prefers made up stories these days, and asks daddy to tell her one every night before bed, which he happily does. Then she insists on a made up song about her made up story, and a bonus song. :)