Ryan's Crib: Three

Thursday, December 12, 2019

3 Years 9 Months

Okay, so he's cute and all those things, but boy, oh boy is he ever three right now.

Physical Development

Ryan hit a growth spurt recently, and he's easily fitting into most 5T clothes now. Some are a little bigger, but even his teeny tiny little waist isn't quite so teeny or tiny anymore.

I haven't been working on night time training for Ryan at all, but he wakes up probably a good 75% of the time completely dry. Honestly, he's probably going to beat Kendrick done with nighttime pull ups!

Sleep Habits

Naps are slowly phasing out, and if he takes one, it's a hot mess trying to get him to bed at night. I'm beginning to dream of the day that he stops napping just so he goes to bed by 8 each night!

He still wakes up most every night to come crawl in bed with me and play with my hair. Kinsley does the same (although not to play with my hair), so there's always some sort of disruption every night still, which is trying. Our 8pm bedtime is slowly pushing back to 9pm, which I hate, but with two napping toddlers, I suppose it should be expected. They just aren't even sort of tired by 8pm, and even by 9pm, I'm shocked they finally fall asleep. It feels like he's not getting enough sleep, but he's a happy little guy most of the time (excepting for the whole threenager thing - he's definitely got that 3-year-old attitude down).

Speech Development

Ryan is really moving along nicely as far as speech is concerned...in fact, I can't get him to STOP talking most of the time. He is really starting to just talk more throughout the day and likes to joke around and be silly and make people laugh. The little-kid-isms are slowly becoming a thing of the past, which makes me sad.

Eating

Ryan isn't always the biggest eater. I feel like he probably eats about 1-2 "meals" a day, if even. He still prefers to snack. His favorite snacks include pickles, marshmallows, mandarin oranges or clementines, applesauce pouches, Gogurts, and cheese. But his favorite of all times is pizza, especially from Godfather's, and especially the m&m streussel dessert pizza lol

School

Ryan LOVES school, and asks every day if he gets to either go to preschool or cubbies (AWANA) every morning before he determines if he feels like getting dressed lol I don't have any more recent pictures, so you get this one again. He tends to be highly distracted and struggles to stay on task, but he's also 3, so there's that. I got a note home from preschool within the first couple months about how he was difficult to redirect and wasn't listening when he was told to sit down, and it made me think: How is it that I've never gotten that note sent home with my other boys? Because seriously lol He's pretty tame compared to what they were at 3.

Toddler Behaviors and Discipline

I feel like it's never going to ease up, this toddler stuff. Man, it's exhausting! We're still doing 1-2-3 magic for the most part, but I'm getting lax with it, and I usually count 1-2 and then bargain at 3, so I need to be more firm. I hate to have to punish them, so I really stink at follow through at the end. But USUALLY, they are listening by 2 anymore, so that's helpful. Ryan still throws tantrums a lot and gets loud when he doesn't get what he wants, so there's that. As I've learned with my other two, I just need to continue to be firm, and these things will pass. It's just exhausting with two of them at the same time going through this general phase, from about 18 months to age 4. But then he flashes this little devious smile, and dangit - I can't stay mad at him.

Likes

His Family!
Sucking on his two fingers and playing with Mama's hair.
Making some music on the keyboard at Daddy's facility.
His sister. These two are tight. They certainly have their moments, but usually where you can find one, you find them both. They're going to be only a single year apart in school, which blows my mind. But they're extremely close, and it's so cute to listen to them talk to each other.
Being silly and making people laugh.
Helping Mama make supper
Making a snowman!
COOKIES! Especially the ones from Hardee's.
Being the center of attention
His Siblings. They are usually super loud and crazy and funny. I handle it pretty well most of the time, but every once in a while, I feel a little crazy and make them all go to their rooms just so I can have some peace and quiet!

Dislikes

Being told he can't do something.
Not having things go his way.
Not being able to physically do things or get places that he wants to do/go.
Not being in control of the "amote"
Not getting to "watch a movie and eat popcorn and have milky and play with Mama's hair" every day.
Having to actually go anywhere at any point during the morning.

Saturday, March 16, 2019

:: THREE ::

Physical Development

Well, we've stepped into the 4T realm, and the clothes aren't too big :( We're going to eternally have the issue with his pants falling off, since he has such a tiny waist, but otherwise, he's growing perfectly! At his 3 Year well child check, he was 36lbs and 3'4" (40"), so quite a bit smaller than his big brothers, which seems crazy since he started out so much bigger than him!

Sleep Habits

Ryan still naps most days, but the naps are getting shorter and shorter, and I was just not prepared mentally for that. Also, on those days he naps, bedtime tends to get stretched out a bit.

He's still not a huge fan of bedtime, which is frustrating, but once we start reading, he snuggles right in. Every night, after 3 books, 2 songs and a prayer, he says, "I'm just going to play with your hair for a little bit, okay?" in the most adorable voice. I wish I could capture it, but when I've tried, he won't say it. It's so cute.

Speech Development

So.many.words. Oh my goodness does he like to hear himself talk. He's funny and very articulate and uses these words I don't even know where he could have gotten them from. He likes to uses phrases like "seriously, guys" or "oh my goodness" or "that's what I'm talking about", and I have no idea where he got them from. #HeGotThemFromHisMama

Eating

Ugh, the milk and snacks dilema continues. I'm so freaking tired of him asking for milk and snacks. I simply don't have the stamina or energy to enforce the "you must eat supper" thing, so I just try to keep all the possible snacks in the house healthier, like fruit or veggies or beef sticks or cheese or maybe an applesauce pouch or something, so that when he DOES snack, he's at least getting something from at least one of the food groups.

He is really getting a heck of a lot better about not being so messy while he eats. He still gets it on his face, but he otherwise keeps it mostly on his plate, which is SO helpful!

Toddler Behaviors and Discipline

We're delving straight into the world of the threenager, and while I am prepared, I'm not sure I'm prepared enough. ::sigh:: This is the age where all those rules you thought you had for all these imaginary kids goes out the window half the time.

Discipline is HARD at three, because it's so freaking constant. And they have SO much energy. And they're SO determined to break all the rules they used to follow. Three is hard. And hilarious too. And adorable. But also so, so very hard.

Likes

Mama is where it's at for this kid. He wants to be touching me at ALL TIMES. The second I sit down (and even sometimes if I'm not sitting down), he'll be all over my back, climbing and acting all crazy like, playing with my hair and sucking on those two fingers.
Speaking of finger sucking...thinking this is getting worse. It definitely seems to peak when I'm more stressed out, and well, let's just say I've been stressed out a lot more lately.
Sissypants Jo Johnson - she is, hands' down, his favorite person. These two are fire and ice, but also just the most adorable in the world. They are together probably 95% of the day, and as of late, they've been sharing a room (until we can get the carpet replaced in her bedroom)
School! He started his preschool prep program on his 3rd birthday, and he had an AWESOME time!
His best pal at daycare! They are both going to school, along with another of his favorite friends (who isn't fond of taking pictures haha - we tried!)
Snow! The snow this winter has been EPIC! It's melting now and causing flooding in ALL the places. Entire roads are washed out and all that. But the snow before melting... that was pretty intense! The kids loved playing out in it!
Being 3! He talks about it a LOT. He says he's officially a "big kid" now, and I'd have to agree!
Celebrating! And his siblings ♥
Puddles! Something tells me this spring is going to be EPIC.