Charlie - 3 years old

Charlie can:

- sing songs (Twinkle, Twinkle, Ring Around the Rosie, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Row, Row, Row Your Boat, London Bridge, Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes)
- says anything you say, answers some questions, can name fruits, vegetables, body parts, hundreds upon hundreds of objects, asks to go to the grocery store, Walmart, church, library, etc. He says anything and everything it seems!
- has just started learning how to play games; Uno, Memory, Chutes and Ladders, a Thomas the Train Birthday Surprise game, dominos, (Charlie has been playing a memory card game since Christmas, but that's all)
- I would give him a D+ in sharing. Always room for improvement!
- goes to bed at 8pm; still (mostly) takes a 60-75 minute nap during the day. If he doesn't fall asleep, his room is usually destroyed when he comes out; decorations off the wall, humidifier dismantled, blankets and pillows all over the place, race car pajama hook off the wall, etc.
- loves to read books and can often recite passages from his own books or books we check out from the library
- LOVES to play outside. Anything outside. Everything outside. He would probably never come in if it weren't for meals and bathroom breaks.
- can put on pants, socks and shoes, but still needs help with shirts
- can do the big ladder at the park (it's really high!)
- started nodding his head instead of saying yes about 3 weeks before his birthday. Not that he couldn't nod before, but he has been nodding frequently lately. It's pretty cute!
- loves to help make anything in the kitchen
- his favorite foods are probably noodles with butter, breads, all kinds of fruit, pancakes/blueberry strata/baked oatmeal/rolly pancakes/all things with syrup, cheesy scrambled eggs, cheese, milk, and of course, anything sweet
- loves to play any kind of chasing game with whomever will play with him. Currently, Alanna's playing, too. "C'mere, Alanna!" :)
- plays with his friends Logan Paschall, Caleb Kube, Emmett Sturgeon, Ava Kolman
- goes to the nursery during church, but now that he's 3, will probably go to children's church very soon
- loves, loves, loves the word no. He even says no to the things he actually wants to do. I think it's a habit at this point.
- sits fairly still for haircuts, so after the first 2 in the salon, I've been doing them all at home
- plays semi trucks, cars, trains, shopping cart/food, etc.
- has been potty trained for 4ish months
- sleeps with his blue blankie, brown blankie, and two little ribbon blankies; the most important can't-sleep-without-it one is the blue blankie
- wears size 3T pants and shirts, size 8 shoes
- weighs 34 pounds and is 37 1/2 inches tall
- can do 24-piece puzzles with ease, and really likes to sit down and pound out a few puzzles
- likes baseball, basketball, football, soccer, but especially baseball
- prays at night; often it's 'thanks for mommy, daddy, Alanna, Charlie, Charlie's house, Mister Kathy's house (our neighbor - and he doesn't pronounce the 'th', so it sounds like Mister Kaffy :)
- laughs and smiles a lot
- is so polite, saying thank you, Mommy for meals, drinks, toys that I get down, etc.
- is starting to understand the concept of time (tomorrow), and knows the names of a few days of the week (mostly out of order: Tuesday Thursday Wednesday)
- knows his birthday, phone number, where he lives (though he often says Colorado Springs for some reason), how old he his, his full name
- can count to 30

The other day, I made him some hot chocolate, and he picked up his mug, slurped a sip off the top, and said, "It's coffee!" Haha! It's so funny because he's imitating Matt - whenever Matt makes a latte, he sips (slurps, actually) it down so he can put the lid on his mug. Apparently Charlie has caught on to this trick!

Charlie calls the game Memory, Numbery. As in, "Should we play Numbery?" :)

He often does a little 'hmmm' sound after asking a question: "Should we play horsie? Hmm?" It's seriously adorable.

He calls his sister Ananna. Occasionally, it's Alanna. Most of the time he shortens it to Nana. Why waste time on a third syllable when he needs her attention right now?!

3 years old... 3 years of joy from this handsome little guy!