William Dean at 3 Years & 4 Months

The above picture is one of my current faves and was taken on September 8th when he was exactly 3 years and 3 months. I was hoping to write this post then, but time seemed to get away from me and now it's a month later. Let's hope I can manage a thrice yearly update on my growing boy.

There's lots to report on William Dean!

But first, here's a quick look-back on the past four months since he turned three.

June 8, 2010 - Will's 3rd birthday!

Mid-June - measuring up for 3 years old! July - pool time with Griff. August - tractor ride with Bert. The big thing in September was his start in preschool!

It's still sometimes hard to believe that he's old enough for that already...

but he's having a blast and I love hearing about all the new things he's learning.

A close-up of Mr. Serious... So far in school, they've been working on getting acquainted with their classroom, teachers and fellow students, learning what the routines of the school day are and how to follow directions, getting exposed to calendar and weather time every morning, lots of music and art including shape crafts and practicing cutting with scissors.

They've also been focusing a large part of their time on a very interesting "safe & sound" unit. To support that, they've had several visitors come to school to talk to the kids, including:

- a day with St. Jude's Trike-a-thon where the kids brought their tricycles to school and learned about bike safety,

- a visit from the Allen Township Fire Department where the kids were taught information on fire safety, met with the firemen, learned about their special uniforms and checked out the inside of the fire trucks and ambulances (a whole post about that is coming soon),

- and a visit from the State Highway Patrol officers to remind them of seat belts and car safety.

This month, the class is moving into a unit all about the fall season. Some of the highlights will include a class field trip to the pumpkin patch, their first "show-and-tell" with a fall-related item and a Halloween party. How do I know this, you ask? Well (besides that my mom is the teacher), the school puts out a monthly newsletter talking about what they've done and what is upcoming. There is information about special events, a calendar showing assigned parent helpers and student birthdays, and just lots of general information. I have to say... I LOVE THIS! I'm the parent that's going to pour over newsletters with my highlighter and planner nearby. I feel like it helps me to be a part of Will's new phase of life and stay as involved as I can be despite a full-time career. I'm envious of the parents that get to drop their kid off and pick them up right after the school day so they get to witness more of their child's new world. I'm also envious that those parents will be able to attend every special party, every holiday luncheon, every field trip, every special event. But I talk to Will every chance I can about school and he's happy to tell me about his day and sing the new songs he's learned. Unfortunately, a lot of the highlights that Will remembers include things like who was the line leader for the bathroom trip and what toys he played with in their free-play time. So I have to pry a little more by asking him who the special helper was that day or what sort of craft they did (he doesn't often remember this because, as I've said before, he's just not that into art), who he played with, what songs they sang, etc. I'm learning the names of some of his closest new buddies at school and happy to hear that he is being pretty sociable!

Ooh! Some bigger accomplishments for Will since starting school include:

- learning to say the Pledge of Allegiance nearly all by himself

- learning to write his name!!!!!

Woo hoo!! I can't believe that! In only a month's time, when I thought it would take him ages to learn how to control a writing utensil enough to form a letter, he has learned to write his name! His "W" is a little tricky because he sometimes forgets whether to go "down-up-down-up" or "up-down-up-down", but his lowercase "i" is so cute when he very purposefully makes the dot, and then both "l's" end up being uppercase. But still, I'm very impressed.

I'm so excited for Will and I know he looks so forward to "school days".

Another fun development with Will is his increased interest in imaginative play. Just today he set up an "animal party" for all his farm animals, which somehow included a bunch of construction vehicles. :)

Will's very favorite toys and interests continue to include farm animals, cars & trucks, books, and (much more lately) construction vehicles/trucks. He's very strict about learning the names of everything and his memory is sometimes shocking. Will is such a loving and lovable kid. He's constantly telling us he loves us and giving hugs and kisses. He loves to cuddle at bedtime. And he is very sweet with his sister... as long as she doesn't try to take his toys (which ,unfortunately, is frequent). One of Will's favorite ways to help around the house is to set the table. He's gotten very good about handling our dinner plates and glasses.

He also loves to bake with me in the kitchen and Swiffer the floors.

Another recent favorite toy/interest is in geography and his US and world puzzles, maps, and globes. He's got a USA place mat as well (which you can see in the above picture) and is learning quite a few of the names and locations of states. With the help of the puzzle box lid, he can nearly complete this puzzle on his own:

The colors of the individual states don't all match up between the puzzle and place mat, so he'll tell me that a certain state is "yellow on the puzzle, but green on the place mat" or whatever. Also on the puzzle, there are pictures on each state for something that state is known for. So without looking, Will remembers that California has a bridge, New Mexico has a roadrunner, Florida has a rocket, Idaho has potatoes and of course Ohio has a football (Go Bucks!). :)

Will loves to play outside on his riding tractor and tricycle or on the swing set. He, of course, also loves to play with his friends at the babysitter's house.

One of the highlights of this season is seeing all the combines harvesting the fields around our house. Will is in heaven just watching them.

What else?

How about his typical routines and traits like I normally report on Sophie?...

Will's bedtime (in my mind) is 8:00. Craig often is the one getting Will ready for bed, though, so unless I stay on top of them and keep them moving along, the two of them will drag it our till 8:30 or later. When I'm in charge of Will's bedtime routine, I usually try to make it 7:30-8.

Now. Having said that, he often doesn't fall asleep until at least the 9 o'clock hour... sometimes even after 10. I really don't know how else to change that. It's quiet in his room. It's mostly dark (Craig sometimes lets him sleep with a little flashlight). There's really nothing but himself for entertainment - which is often all he needs. And then he wakes up around 6:45-7:15 every morning. I worry about that not being enough sleep, but what can I do? His afternoon nap (when he naps for us at home) is at least two hours, but often three. However, at the sitter's house, especially on school days, he struggles to fall asleep for nap time and it ends up being a late nap or a short one. She's been trying a new nap location and has seen some improvements, so hopefully...

Will continues to be an EXCELLENT fruit and veggie eater, but often drives me crazy
(when I let it get to me) when he refuses nearly every main dish I put in front of him. He likes things simple and plain. He'll eat certain grains, but not all. He love yogurt, but only the fruit-flavored kind. I've tried doing plain or vanilla and adding my own pureed fruit for less sugar, and he refuses. He has never been a big drinker and will often get through a meal with just a couple sips of his milk. He does ask for water occasionally between meals, but even then, it's sips. He never gets juice (with the exception of school days when the parent helper offers it with snack... then I think it's better to assimilate than be the odd-ball who can't have it... it's not that often). Meat... it depends on the day and how it's served. He has turned down nearly every pasta or soup I've offered recently. Seriously, he gets by on fruits and veggies and sometimes that's all he eats.

Behavior:

Oy! The pouty tantrums, mouthy back-talk, terrible listening skills when he's "busy" and attempted disobedience is a lot to handle some days. It's most definitely NOT a two-year-old trait that goes away with the third birthday. Sophie has learned to say the word "no" with a long draw on the letter "n" and Will thinks that's so funny. So he's started saying that too and it drives me crazy. He also likes to talk baby talk with her (or any child younger than him) and I just don't get that. Will said his first swear word earlier this month - damnit - and it came completely out of no where. He didn't know where he'd heard it or why he'd said it and it wasn't even in appropriate context. But we just tried to casually tell him that wasn't a nice word or one he should ever say again. He seemed fine with that and hasn't said it again since. Mostly his language skills surprise us with how mature he sounds.

So, that's the update on William at age 3 years and 4 months. Hopefully you'll see another one at 3 and a half or at least 3 years and 8 months if I keep up on a 3x/year routine.

Really looking forward to the holidays again and more fun things with school.

There's never a dull moment!