3 Years Old

Suddenly the toddler days are far behind and we are full blown into the pre- school phase! my boy is so "kid" like when he plays now, using his imagination and running all over the place. He isn't "clumsy" anymore and he can climb up the climbers at the park no problem and without any assistance from mom! it causes me so much stress to see him climb so high out of reach, but I know it's just my own fear of heights creeping through. I'm really enjoying this age, I love to watch him explore new things so fearlessly and with determination, he is really learning so many things lately. I am so glad that I have this extra time with him before he goes off to kindergarten next year, watching him with the other kids and learn new things is slowly making some of my kindergarten fears disappear! luckily we still have another year before school starts and I think he will be more than ready and it will prove to be a good thing for him.

The week before his birthday he started calling us "mom" and "dad" more often than "mommy" and "daddy" definitely a sign of growing up! It makes me a little sad, but I also like to see him grow into a "big boy".

Owen plays really well with other kids his age and really enjoys playing with kids that are a little older than him. While at the park or community activity he often chooses to go and play with friends instead of being glued to mom and dad. His favourite activities include anything outdoors, swimming, soccer, baking, crafts, colouring and he still loves reading books, and of course anything related to trucks or tractors.





Owen has the most amazing memory and we often find ourselves surprised by what he knows and remembers. Many books are memorized not just the ones we read often, and not just rhyming ones either. He's known the alphabet for a long time, but now can identify letters, write "stick" letters like L, T, F, etc, knows numbers, and the months of the year. Recently he has started to draw pictures that are recognizable and has started to colour inside the lines. For a while I noticed he didn't really like colouring, but I think he saw how the older kids could colour during daycare, and until he tackled the "proper" way to do he didn't show any interest. Now he loves to colour and make crafts.



The difficult things about this age are that he always wants to be first, he's becoming argumentative, always wants his way and thinks he knows best, he realizes that he's older than some kids but doesn't realize that he's not as old as others :), and he has certainly developed an opinion, plus he can be a little bossy sometimes.

The fantastic things about this age are that he has developed a great sense of humor, he's very caring, sensitive, and still young enough to love snuggling, kisses and hugs, he's becoming a great big brother, he has less temper tantrums, he's helpful, and he's becoming more independent (he is potty trained...99% of the time, and can get himself dressed). Owen is very eager to please, extremely polite, and is a very happy and sweet boy.

Happy 3rd birthday Owen! mommy and daddy love you very much and life without you would not be as interesting or fun!