Three Years Old. And Growing Too Fast.

I am FINALLY getting around to finishing this post about Graydon. I just have so much to write about him it is hard to even know where to start and where to end sometimes. I make a lot of mental notes in my head of things I want to remember but then always seems to forget them. I need to start jotting stuff down in my phone or something.

Graydon is so incredibly smart. Sometimes we just cannot even believe some of the things he says to us, or how well he can reason for only being 3.  His vocabulary is amazing and he can easily speak several sentences in a row.  He can answer most questions with ease but I see a bit of laziness or stubbornness in him which if he doesn't feel like answering you in the moment he will just say "I don't know."

He knows his ABCs, but isn't the greatest at identifying all of them yet. He can count to 20. Knows all of his colors and shapes.

He is VERY observant and is constantly pointing things out and asking us questions. Sometimes he is so talkative we have to ask him to be quiet for a couple of minutes!

He has a very active imagination and loves to play with his toys...saying he is climbing a mountain, jumping over logs, going up the pyramid, etc. He is such an active little boy!  He loves to play outside, especially at the park or playground, and loves to swing and go down slides. He cannot really ride a bike yet, he just does not want to peddle! He still just likes to move his feet along.  He loves to play with his trucks and car, and is really amazing at doing puzzles. He also really loves to play with Nora's toys right now with her. Along with playing with pretend food like he is cooking at the little kitchenette. He also loves to play with balloons.  He is not always the best at sharing toys, especially with children he doesn't know too well.

Graydon loves to be tickled and chased around.

He absolutely loves to have books read to him although he is currently more interested in what all the pictures are and what is happening in them. He will interject throughout the entire story either asking questions about the pictures and/or pointing things out.

He also really loves music and likes to dance around.  When he is watching TV he tries to sing along with all the songs and will jump on the couch with the music or dance along, it is so funny.  He knows what a ton of different instruments are and he also loves jazz music, probably because we listen to it a lot. He says that he wants to play the drums, and sometimes talks about playing the guitar.

His favorite shows on TV right now are Little Bear, Curious George, and Diego.

I do see a creative side to him which is great and hopefully that grows even more. He isn't huge on coloring too much yet but he LOVES to paint! And he loves to play with stickers and put them all over everything. He enjoys doing little crafts with me but also has somewhat of a short attention span. Recently we made a little red fox and I asked him what his name was. He replied Christopher Gabriel...I about died laughing!!  Obviously his Daddy is Chris, but to put that together with Gabriel...we were just cracking up!

Graydon is wearing all 3T clothing and size 8 shoes.  At his 3 year appointment they told us he was 50% for both height and weight. He is a skinny little guy...I think he will be tall and slender just like Chris!  He is currently around 38 inches tall and 32.5 lbs.  He does a pretty good job of getting himself dressed but still will need help with his socks and his shirts sometimes, also zipping things up or small buttons. He can get most of his shoes on but will need up with pulling out the tongue. Most of his shoes are slip on or velcro.

Graydon has also been potty trained fully, as in he will initiate it himself, doesn't need help (except for some wiping) and wears underwear all day, since he was about 2 years and 9 months. Right after he turned 3 he started doing really well staying dry all night as well, but for the mean time we still put a pull up on him just in case. He is doing so great and we are so proud of him! He also does a really good job and being able to hold it if we are at the store or something and it takes us a bit to get to a bathroom.

Graydon is and pretty much always has been a great big brother to Nora. He is for the most part always sweet and gentle to her. Once in a while he gets mad if she starts crying or is being "too loud" while he is trying to watch a show or is listening to something. He plays very well with her, likes to entertain her and is very helpful to me if I need him to get me something etc. He has never really acted jealous of her.

Graydon throws the occasional fit but for the most part he is a really good boy. He can be super stubborn and independent but I think his personality suits him perfectly for being the oldest, and firstborn. Lately when I ask him to do something or tell him to stop, he will say, Ok Mom! It has been great. Of course like any other toddler he still can get mad or lose it but for the most part I think we are lucky he is so well behaved.  He does not like to get time outs at all.

Graydon still takes a short nap in the afternoon, usually not more than like two hours. He gets up SO early! He could easily get up at 6 AM everyday...drives me crazy, haha. I wish he would sleep in a bit more! He could easily stay up every night until 10 pm as well but we usually get him to bed around 8:30, 9 at the latest. Depending on how active we have been during the day he will take anywhere from 10 min to an hour to fall asleep. He is really great at staying in his bed most of the time but he will also get out and play sometimes. He is really good about getting back into the bed and rarely falls asleep elsewhere. He has been afraid of the dark the past couple of months and we have to leave a light on for him. He is also scared of his fan for some reason. He is great though in the sense that he doesn't really fight us when he knows it is naptime or bedtime. He knows when it's time for sleep.

Graydon is a pretty good eater but also somewhat picky. I cannot get him to eat any sort of cereal with milk in it. He would try it dry but doesn't prefer it. For breakfast he likes greek yogurt or a gogurt and fresh fruit. He also loves pancakes and sometimes scrambled eggs. For lunch he loves sandwiches, mac and cheese, grilled cheese and tomato soup, PB & J etc. but he will also eat cold veggies with like ranch dip.  Dinner can be a battle especially if it is something new but usually once we can get him to take a few bites he will like whatever it is. Dinner can take like an hour sometimes and can be a battle. He also loves juice boxes, or any juice really, vanilla ice cream, fruit snacks, apple sauce and string cheese. Those are mostly his favorites. We cannot really get him to eat anything like a cookie or anything with chocolate. He will eat frosting as long as it is not chocolate. He also loves to eat candy like suckers, nerds, gummy bears etc.

He loves bath time especially if Nora is in there with him and they will play with their toys together.

He can be very sweet, cuddly and loveable but if he isn't in the mood to snuggle then forget it. Sometimes lately Chris will be hugging him and he will say OK Dad, that's enough. LOL

He doesn't really like getting his teeth brushed but tolerates it, and also does a pretty good job letting me do his hair for him. He doesn't really enjoy getting it cut either.

Graydon gets a lot of comments from people everywhere we go about how cute he is, his dimples, how he has the best hair etc.  He can really ham it up sometimes. For instance, we were in a store today and he was randomly talking to some lady and gave her like 3 hugs! He also wanted to give her a kiss, and she was a total stranger! He can be too friendly sometimes if he is in the mood (my personality), and then other times I see Chris come out in him and he will get super shy.  I think that he will be more extroverted like me! We will see though.

Graydon has been taking a gymnastics class which has been interesting. It takes him a couple minutes to warm up but after that he does pretty well. He could be a better listener but then I remind myself that is ONLY 3! I hope that next year we can get him into soccer and that he will like him. I would love if he played soccer and basketball!

He loves to help me do stuff like unload the dishwasher and lately his favorite thing has been helping me make applesauce. I let him have a butter knife and he quarters all of the chunks for me. He does such a great job and I can see it as a way to help him enjoying cooking from a young age. He also likes to dust, push around the swiffer or use a small vacuum that we have. Or take clothes out of the washer and dryer.

Graydon loves going to Costco with us and wants a "Berry Smoothie" every time we go. If we go to Meijer he also always requests to see the fish and the lobsters.

He can identify pretty much every single animal and currently has a fascination with sharks and bugs.

His best friend is Marci's son Gage, and he even had his first friends sleepover at there house a few weeks ago and did great. He also really loves to stay the night at Chris's parents house. He sure loves his Grandma Jeanne, Grandpa Bob and Auntie Barb! He would stay there every weekend if we let him!

Once in a while I ask him if he wants another little baby, and if he wants a brother or sister and he usually says sister! One time he has said brother.

Lately he has been sensitive with his ears and covers them if something is "too loud."  He does well at the movies though and we have gone twice now.  We have seen Turbo and Planes.

We have been trying to teach Graydon more about God and Jesus. He will request to pray a lot, usually before dinner and bedtime, it is so cute! He usually just thanks God for his blessing, food, and Grandpa Bob. Cracks us up! Sometimes he will list everyone he can think of, I love it.  He really loves to go to the nursery at church and also at my MOPS group.

Graydon loves to hug and kiss everyone ( even strangers sometimes like I said above!)

He is really good about listening and remembering when we tell him things are hot, or dangerous.

He has a great memory and sometimes bring up things he has heard, or we have told him in the past...sometimes we are like how on earth does he remember that?  He is such a smart little boy. We have such amazingly high hopes for his future!  We just love him to pieces and he has such a sweet spirit.