Freddy Turning 3

Oh my, our little boy is turning 3 this week. He has grown up so much over the last 4months. I know I say this a lot and it's a little dramatic, but I want him to stop growing. He is becoming so independent he doesn't need me as much. He is fully potty trained. In November I saw a switch flip in his head and he started wanting to use the toilet. He was so easy to potty train. We used treats for maybe 2wks until he decided he could do with out incentives from us. There was a small period where he refused to wear underwear, he only wanted to wear a diaper. The problem was that he wanted to be changed EVERY time he peed in his diaper, and we couldn't afford that. That's where the treats came in to help him realize it was more comfortable to pee in the toilet. He also went through a period where he would only use his little toilet. I didn't mind him using it at home, but it become very inconvenient when we went out. We even had to take it (the little toilet) to Nanny Ricky's house during Thanksgiving, and had to take it into a convenient store so he would go potty. I am know pleased to announce that thanks to his cousins in Oregon he can go potty in the big toilet with almost no help.
Freddy's imagination is amazing to me!! His imagination allows him to be Buzz from Toy Story, a race car in the stores as he zooms down the isles, and Spiderman to fight fires and monsters. His fingers often become people who drive cars or airplanes, and he enjoys having Devan play puppets with him. Closer to September he had some batman pjs, and Dev taught him the theme song. So when he put on his batman pjs he would jump around his room singing the song. It was adorable. Another favorite game of Fred's is to have us pretend we are sleeping, and then he roars really loud like a dinosaur or lion to scare us awake. Since he is an only child it is a comfort to me that he enjoys playing with us and by himself with his imaginary friends. Most recently he is interested in telling us his stories about what he is pretending. His vocabulary is growing and his sentences are becoming quit long. It is still difficult even for I to understand everything he is trying to express.
Fred is also interested in identifying his left and right body parts. He does a fairly good job at knowing what side is which. In Joyschool this month we are learning about goals. His first goal was to put on his own shirt. Well, when we worked on it the first day he got it on with no problems or help. So now his goal is to spell his name. This may be a little more challenging since his favorite letters are O and B which neither are in his first name. But he is very interested in doing what his other classmates are doing, and they are all interested in either writing or spelling their name, so hopefully peer pressure will help him focus.
Physically, he is growing. He is 28lbs. Not sure how tall, I'll have to measure him on his birthday. He is finally in size 2T clothes. He will only wear silky/workout pants, and usually his shirt MUST be red, so he can be a red race car. Although, the other day he did get himself dressed, and he wore a stripped blue shirt. Yes, he is already dressing himself and must have a say as to what he wears for the day. He loves to jump, wrestle, climb on our furniture. Last couple of times we went to the park to play on the jungle gym, he seemed very hesitant when he got to the top of the stairs. He may be afraid of heights. He is very coordinated, always has been. So I hope this fear will go away this next summer.

 He loves to tease me.

 He was very excited to blow out his candles and to hear us sing happy birthday to him. I am glad he is easy to please when it comes to decorating his cake.

 He was vey serious about opening his presents.

Freddy continues to be a picky eater. His favorite foods are almost any fruit, but especially bananas, apples, and blue berries. He enjoys peanut butter and jelly. For awhile he would only eat plain peanut butter, but now enjoys jelly on his sandwiches. He will also eat almost any meat as long as there is BBQ sauce or ketchup. Spaghetti and tacos are a couple of other favorites. Oatmeal is a very common breakfast favorite (we put chocolate chips, and vanilla in it).