Lego’s Third Birthday

I don’t have time to do pictures tonight, but if you want some, I posted a whole bunch to Facebook.

Mostly I just wanted to talk a little bit about my three-year-old boy. Last year I blogged every day for a month (almost) about him, but somehow March slipped right by and I didn’t have time to do that again. So here’s the short version:

1. Lego loves putting little things inside any kind of container.

2. Lego has a definite interest in music. One of his favorite shows on TV is Little Einsteins, which teaches musical terms, rhythm, dance, names of musical instruments, classical composers, famous visual artwork, and even a little geography. He loves to sing, dance, and “play” instruments. He told me today that he’d like a violin for Christmas.

3. Lego can identify every letter of the alphabet, both upper and lower cases. He also knows what sounds most of them make. Last week, he sounded out the word go for my dad. I didn’t even know he could do that.

4. Lego eats almost everything, when he’s in the mood to eat at all. He doesn’t prefer spicy Mexican food, and he won’t eat onions or bell peppers cooked (but he begs for them raw when I’m making dinner).

5. He talks nonstop, and very well. While he still says things like “goed” and “comed,” he has a grasp of most English grammar, and his pronunciation is excellent. I don’t think there’s anyone who can’t understand him anymore.

6. He basically decided to potty train and hasn’t had more than a handful of accidents in the months since. However, he still won’t go #2 on the potty. He absolutely freaks out if I try to get him to do it. One day, I asked him when he’d learn to do that. He answered, “When I’m a big daddy like Daddy.” I explained that he should learn much sooner than that and suggested that he do it after turning three. Since that conversation, he’s told anyone who mentions his birthday that he’ll learn to go poop on the potty when he’s three. We’ll see how it goes. Wish us luck!

7. Lego is a very nice boy around other children, especially for his age. His nursery teachers at church say that when other kids take his toys, he usually just lets them and walks away, though last Sunday he apparently held on tight. Today, his friend came over to watch him open presents. His friend was playing with Lego’s new airplane, which Lego wanted. Lego brought another toy airplane over and swapped it for the one his friend was holding, completely avoiding a fight. I’m so proud of my little boy sometimes.

8. Lego is very particular and set in his ways. He always has been. He probably always will be.

9. Lego is the most difficult to handle when he’s bored. When he gets bored, he gets angry at me and lashes out at both me and Duplo in the ways he knows will be the most annoying to us. But when he’s like that, I tend to not want to play with him, making the situation worse. I’d appreciate advice as to how to deal with this, especially on days when I’m so busy with other work that I can’t play with him as much as he wants.

10. Lego is very polite and very affectionate. We’re still working on please, but he has thank you and you’re welcome down. He’ll spontaneously say, “I love you,” to me, Duplo, Jon Boy, and his grandparents. He gives hugs and kisses freely. He’ll even hug and kiss his friends, which, honestly, usually startles them. He is very caring toward Duplo and concerned about his welfare. If Duplo is upset, Lego tries to cheer him up with toys, songs, silliness, soothing words, or hugs. And Duplo adores his big brother too.

We are lucky to be Lego’s parents. I’m excited to see what changes the next year brings. Happy birthday, little son.