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Todd at ~3 years, 4 months – December 15, 2017

3 YEARS OLD…MONTH 4
NOV 21, 2017 – DEC 20, 2017

TODD SAID…

• “You call me you need me”
• “I love my mama. I love my dada. Me love everybody.” (in the morning)
• “Are you okay? You feel better?” (and he patted my arm)
• “us together” (he was so happy about all three of us being together)
• he likes to point out how one thing is the same as something else (i.e., “that like ___”)
• “Thanksgiving means everyone together”
• “I guarantee it”

THANKSGIVING

• (see the last post for the full Thanksgiving 2017 trip report)
• we went to Bend, OR to visit my parents & my sister’s family (11/22 – 11/26)
• activities: nature walk at Shevlin Park (11/23); walk along the river by Old Mill (11/24); swimming at Juniper Swim & Fitness Center (11/24); visiting Santa this year (11/25)
• he said:
  • “I need to ask you something/”I need to tell you something” (to cousin Eli)
  • “It’s a scary one. You sure you want to watch it?” (to Eli regarding a YouTube video)

Old Mill – November 24, 2017

ANTICIPATING CHRISTMAS

• “Chriffen time” is how it sounds when he says ‘Christmas time’
• this is the first year he understands what is coming up for the holidays
• he had fun decorating the “Chriffen tree” (11/28) & he was pretty good about keeping it safe all month (i.e., it only tipped over once & only one ornament broke!)
• #1 highly anticipated gift from Santa: Lego Ninjago Master Falls set

Decorating our tree – November 28, 2017

THIS MONTH’S PREFERENCES

• Books:
  • How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Stick Man, Peekaboo Sophie, I Love You, Baby, Ultimate Dinopedia, his ‘red books’ and ‘black books’ (Me Readers), In the Tall, Tall Grass, Night Creatures, and Because It’s My Body. 
• he likes to go to certain pages & ‘read’ the same page over & over
• he likes to count things in books (this month he counted up to eleven)
• in one of the ‘red books’ he goes to a page where he likes to “act out” the story for ‘knocking me over with his power punch’
• when we read Stick Man one night, he said that stick man was “sad…like at preschool…I miss daddy”
• Shows:
  • PBS Kids: Dinosaur Train, Super Why!
  • He likes to watch the “making of” segment on the Creature From the Black Lagoon
  • How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (sounds like, “Gitch”)
  • Ghostbusters (while watching he said, “Those guys save the day…yay!” and he clapped)
  • Santa Clause 3 (especially the Jack Frost character played by Martin Short)
  • he’s still a big fan of The Incredible Hulk (Season 1)!

Todd at open gym – December 4, 2017

WEEKDAY ACTIVITIES & PRESCHOOL

• Eric takes Todd to open gym every Monday; they regularly see the same friends
• he loves to fight with lightsabers with Eric
• Todd doesn’t complain about going to preschool too much; in the mornings he’ll have his boots on at the door even before Eric’s completely ready.
• the preschool teacher said he doesn’t try to do his pencil worksheets much, so we tested him out on some line drawing & tracing skills & he did just fine
• he is showing some more interest in water painting on Water Wow reveal pad & coloring with magic pens (high interest); when he does want to do it his focus is good & he uses a supinate dagger or quadrupod grasp (he’s probably right handed but he does switch to his left) (sorry folks..I’m a school-based occupational therapist!!)
• he likes to peel & stick stickers

November 27, 2017

Preschool craft! -December 7, 2017

PRESCHOOL HOLIDAY PERFORMANCE

• Todd’s preschool had a holiday performance at the Numerica Performing Arts Center (12/13)
• he seemed excited to go; first we went out for a pizza dinner
• during his part of the show, he walked out with his class wearing reindeer antlers (so cute!); all the ‘Sprouts’ sat down & he appeared content while the group sang the first song
• after the first song, he addressed the audience, “Dada?” & Eric responded. He smiled big & put both closed fists to his cheeks, then appeared to get emotional. For the rest of the performance (multiple songs!), he fought back tears or cried. His teacher motioned him over to her so she could comfort him.
• when the class filed off the stage, he asked “Dada?” again & Eric made contact with him briefly. Once we were able to pick him up at the stage door, he was all smiles again.

All dressed up for his preschool holiday performance – December 13, 2017

Elisa & Todd at Saddle Rock Pub & Brewery – December 13, 2017

Saddle Rock Pub & Brewery – December 13, 2017

Before the performance – December 13, 2017

SKIING – MISSION RIDGE

• the three of us skied together 4x (12/2, 12/3, 12/10, 12/16, 12/19)
• Eric & Todd skied together 2x (12/8, 12/15)
• it’s been easier getting him geared up at the parking lot this season (so far, anyway!)
• he turns back & forth while on reins & he goes alone down the slope at the rope tow area (like last season)
• the videos this month show how well he can turn & stop
• he likes to get ‘yellow chips’ in the lodge (Lay’s potato chips)

December 2, 2017

December 10, 2017

December 15, 2017

December 19, 2017

MISC NOTES

• this is the first month I noticed that he’s developed his unique ‘smile for the camera’; this creates dimples way up by his eyes
• he is really getting taller, it seems!
• Eric trimmed his hair

December 16, 2017

FIRST DAY OF OUR CHRISTMAS TRIP (BEND, OREGON)

• on 12/20 we drove to Bend, Oregon for the holidays
• on the way there, we had pizza at Pete’s Pizza (Goldendale, Washington)
• we stayed overnight at my parent’s house for the first time
• Todd opened up his Christmas gift from his Grammie (Eric’s mom) that evening: the Lego Ninjago set, Garmadon’s Volcano Lair
• (all of the details of this trip (covering 12/20 – 12/27) will be the focus of the next blog post…)

Todd at Pete’s Pizza – December 20, 2017

Grandpa (my dad) & Todd – December 20, 2017

Todd & Elisa building Garmadon’s Volcano Lair – December 20, 2017

FOOD NOTES & DINING OUT

• he still drinks a lot of Goppa & eats a very low variety diet
• he’s perfectly capable of feeding himself with a spoon but he insists on being fed his beans & rice when we go out for ‘chips, salsa’
• Dining out: Saddle Rock Pub & Brewery (11/29, 12/13), Casa Tapatia (12/8), Pete’s Pizza (12/20)

DAY TIME NAPS

• not much as changed; he can still sleep for solid 2-hour naps (+/-)

Still tired after his nap on a ski day – December 2, 2017

NIGHT TIME SLEEP

• At 3 years, 4 months I’ve decided this is the last month I’m keeping track of how often he wakes up at night. I started slacking off, so I don’t have an exact count for this month, but he woke up at least 12 times this month (possibly more).
• during Thanksgiving (away from home), he woke up every night (even twice a night), whereas at home he was more likely to not wake up.
• he did have a solid 6-night stretch of not waking up at night, which was nice! (12/12-12/17)
• before he falls asleep he says either “go, not close door” or “hold my hand, keep me safe” (mostly hand holding)
• Sleeping in the travel tent is working well! I leave the bottom part of the door unzipped so he can slip out if he needs to. He usually stays in, though. In the middle of the night he always calls for me (i.e., “mama come in here”), whereas in the morning he either calls for me or gets out of bed by himself
• he says, “morning time?” when he wakes up & wants to know if it’s morning time yet; next he asks to have the lights turned on in the living room

December 3, 2017

POTTY TALK

• status quo: he’s potty trained for daytime but wears diapers during naps & night time
• he had a few misses this month (when he waited too long to get to the toilet & ended up peeing on the bathroom floor)

Silly face Todd – December 10, 2017