KK Turns 3 – Still A Free Spirit

Dear Big Boy KK,

A couple of weeks ago, you turned three!  The big thing I’ve seen a transition in is your awareness of your proximity to us in public. Don’t get me wrong, you still wander off, especially when tired or in highly distracting environments.  But, most of the time, you aren’t blindly running away anymore. We’ve discussed the importance of staying next to Mama in public places, which helps to a point.  You are starting to understand, even if you don’t always listen.  At least now I can call your name, and you will come back.  I honestly don’t know if KJ was all that different, but as the middle child, you have more of an opportunity to wander as my eyes are constantly moving in three directions.  

You have a wonderful, happy personality.   I still see you and think what a wonderfully beautiful free spirit you have.  But, like any three-year-old, you are testing your independence and have developed some level of healthy fear (see the not running away above), but you also need Mama some days. You seem to feel it in your core when someone is angry with you, and you’d rather not engage in a power struggle.  Instead, you’d rather joke, be silly, or ignore to get out of discipline.  Of course, we won’t let you, but it’s an interesting shift compared to your brother.  You will, however, engage in power struggles with your brother.  And although most of the time, you are content to follow along with him, if you want something, you aren’t afraid to tell him at the top of your lungs.  Although most of the time you can hold your own, you will often resort to crying for Mama to get your way with your brother.  Your relationship with your brother is one of give and take, but love there, the bond there, I can see, is so strong that nothing could sever it. 

And more recently, you’ve been coming into your role as big brother.  You love to get things for your baby sister and play with her.  You and your brother love to let her climb all over you.  You get jealous sometimes but are mainly happy to play with her and include her in your games. Seeing that relationship grow is nice, as it was a slow start.  You love to be the first in her room to wake her up and say good morning.  

You are the only (natural) blonde hair blue eyed member of our family.  But, my grandfather, Aunt, and father were all blonde hair blue eyed, so I guess you just hit the recessive gene lottery. Your paternal grandmother had almost blonde hair as a child as well. What’s interesting is your face looks EXACTLY like your Daddy’s did at 3 years old, even if your features are lighter, the face is the same.  So, I think you will end up looking more like Daddy than your brother, but we will see!

Food 

At your doctor’s appointment, you were 90th percentile for weight and 85th percentile for height, bringing your BMI to 17.1. You’re 39 lbs and 39 inches.  Funny enough, your brother was the same height, but only 33 lbs.  So, needless to say, you are a pretty good eater.  You are my typical “kid food eater.”  You eat just about all kid food and love it.  Just like your brother, you must eat what is served to you, so oftentimes, you drink milk and go to bed.  

Favorite foods: 

• Mac and cheese
• Peanut butter on a spoon 
• Meatballs 
• Grilled Cheese
• Cheese Toast 
• Peanut Butter toast 
• French Fries
• Milk 
• Chocolate Milk
• Cheese sticks 
• Applesauce 
• Snap Peas
• Bambas 
• Most Fruit 
• Yogurt 
• Candy 
• Cookies
• Rice Crispy Treats 
• Sourdough Toast 

Food Dislikes:

• Oranges
• Vegetables
• Any other meat other than meatballs 
• Rice

Activities & School 

Last fall, we tried soccer, and it was a disaster.  You were overwhelmed and, most of the time did not want to participate.  But, you completed your ISR refresher in April and will do some traditional swimming lesson camps at the end of June.  You have good swimming ISR skills but will only actually swim with a swim teacher or Mama.  If in the pool with other relatives, you make them hold you or play on the step.  You also started gymnastics. You’ve only done it three times so far, but I’d say you really like it.  Again, the wandering is a bit of a problem, but each time you go, you do less of that as you start to understand more and more what the teacher is asking of you. We’re also going to try a multi-sport class you can participate in WITH your brother this summer on the weekends.  You love playing T-ball in the backyard and can throw a large ball with one hand and use a bat to hit it with the other hand. It’s impressive. I’ve got T-Ball on my radar for next spring for you.  

We enrolled you in preschool three days a week next year.  I think the stimulation and learning will be really good for you. I’m nervous about you being away from me for so long each day, but you will be in the same school as your big brother, so I hope that helps.  I think you will enjoy school a lot. It will be really good for you to interact with peers your own age in an environment meant to stimulate you.  

At home, you love arts and crafts activities much more than your brother did.  You like to paint, play with Play-Doh, kinetic sand, and anything sensory-based.  You also love the Hulk and Spiderman right now.  You love playing with large action figures, which I think is so cute.  You love dragons, dinosaurs, the color green, and monster trucks.  You also love to play with your stuffed animals in your bed.  

Likes: 

(similar to 2.5) 

• Monster trucks/cars/ anything with wheels 
• Spiderman and the Hulk 
• Painting
• Play-doh 
• Kinetic Sand
• Destroying things, he loves to crash things into each other. 
• Going on walks
• Magnatiles
• Pretending he is the roadrunner 
• Playing hide and seek
• Balance bike – you are so good at this now!  You are almost ready to go straight to a pedal bike with no training wheels 
• Plasma car – he LOVES his plasma car
• Watching Super Wings, Paw Patrol, Letter Factory, Rio, Octanauts, Chuggington
• Watching videos of himself “”G“” ing anywhere. 
• Feeding Nala 
• Giving Nala treats
• Giving Missy treats 
• Helping with laundry 
• He loves to be chased. 
• He LOVES to wrestle with Daddy and his brother. 
• Swimming with Mama 
• Gymnastics 
• Going to the zoo or aquarium 
• Looking for bugs with KJ 

Dislikes:

• Someone taking your toys 
• Swimming without Mama 
• Scooter 
• Being told no 

Big Boy Bed

Speaking of your bed.  A couple of months ago, we transitioned you to your big boy bed, and you had figured out a way to climb out of the crib by slamming into it to slide it closer to another furniture item that would then help you get out.  You slammed it so hard it almost tipped over, so I moved you to a big boy bed.  You love your big boy bed, and we haven’t had too much of a problem with you getting out unless you nap too long during the day.  Then it’s hard to get you to go to bed. The mornings are crazy.  I had your brother perfectly trained to wait until the light turned green to get out of bed, but that broke down, and since he doesn’t wait anymore, you don’t either.  You guys play most of the time while I finish up work.  Sometimes you fight.  But, the one positive is now that you are in a big boy bed, you are a better napper outside of the home.  You were even able to have a sleepover successfully with your grandparents without us!  I think something about being “confined for a nap” made it difficult for you to sleep at other people’s houses. And let’s be clear, you definitely still need your nap. I don’t see that dropping anytime soon.

Potty Training Update

Potty training went really well for the most part.  I shared an update here about it.  

Now you’re kind of to the point where you have a very obvious sign you need to potty (grabbing ha ha.)  We did have a regression period, but I think we are back on track now.  The nice thing is that once you’ve gone potty, you have a long time before an accident is likely to occur.  Whereas your brother still uses the bathroom, it seems like a billion times a day. You have a much larger capacity. It’s less of a power struggle because you don’t need to go every single hour.  You still wear a pull-up for napping and bedtime.  We are working on weaning off the nap pull up, as you won’t be able to use it at school in August.  Really focusing on having you go potty right before nap to help minimize the need for it.  

Typical Day In the Life of KK

• 6:15/6:45 am – wake up and play until Mommy is done working 
• 6:45 am – get dressed play while Mommy gets dressed or nurses the baby or both 
• 7:15 am – breakfast
• 9 am – snack
• 11:30am – lunch 
• 12 pm-2pm – nap 
• 2 pm – snack
• 530pm – dinner
• 7pm – Bed, but usually doesn’t fall asleep until closer to 8 pm.

KK you’re my sweet free spirit, my “runner.”  I love your silly attitude and easygoing energy.  I see a class clown coming to life already. I love how patient you are when learning a new task.  You generally pick new skills up pretty easily. I love how you love to help with the dishes and get things for people.  I love watching you play with action figures, play-doh, or sensory bins.  I see your fear of heights, uneasiness with swimming, and your delight when you overcome your fears when you realize you can do it.  I love that you are a Mama’s boy through and through.  You still need me right now and I’m soaking that up, every second.  I see you finding your place as BOTH a big brother and a little brother.  I know the middle isn’t an easy place to be in, and I love that you stick up for yourself.  

Every day I’m surprised by you, and as you get older, I feel so lucky that I get to know you.  I thank God for you every single day, and I can’t imagine what life would be like without you.  Happy Birthday sweet boy!

 

Other Updates:

• KJ’s 3 Year Old Update (your brother at 3 years old) 
• KK 2.5 Years Old
• KK 2 Years Old
• KK 18 Months
• Baby KK 15 Months
• Baby KK 12 Months
• Baby KK 11 Months
• Baby KK 9 & 10 months
• Baby KK 7-8 Months
• Baby KK Six Months
• Baby KK Five Months
• Baby KK Four Months
• Baby KK Three Months (4th Trimester Wrap-Up)
• Baby KK Two Months
• Baby KK One Month