Taco at 3!

Will/Taco (Taco is the nickname given to him by his brother when I was pregnant with him and it stuck) turned 3 earlier this month! He's had a tough fall with so many illnesses - strep, influenza A, and pneumonia. But here's hoping the year ahead is a healthier one!

Taco is our big-hearted snuggly little guy with BIG FEELINGS who gives the absolute best hugs - he just melts into you. I imagine these posts are boring for most of you but I write them as a sort of replacement for a baby book. He has one, but it's a bit sparsely filled out... I really lost steam after he turned 1! So here goes - this is Taco at age 3. 

Growth: He weighs about 30 pounds and is 3'3" tall. He seems so much bigger than Paul was but he's only about 3 pounds and 2" bigger than Paul was at this stage. He has a really long torso so he wears 3T tops but 18m/24m/2T pants. 

Words and phrases: It's hard to imagine he ever had a speech delay given how verbal he is now. When he was flagged for a speech delay around 1-1.5 years, his doctor told me that most likely we'd look back and laugh over concerns about his speech - and she was right. Here are a couple of things he says which make me smile/giggle.

- He pronounces window "loon-doe." 

- He uses the word "actually" all the time. "Actually I want my green bib." "Actually I want to watch The Grinch." 

- He says "Oh my God" in a very dramatic fashion. I need to get a video of this. 

- He also says "That's so cuuuuute" in the cutest manner when he sees a picture of a baby or animal. He especially loves pictures of Kae's puppy, Charlie. 

Likes:

- He still loves trucks/cars/things that go. 

Playing with cars at the library.

- He really likes his lovies and sleeps with SO MUCH STUFF. Typically he sleeps with 2 kitty lovies, a stuffed bear, 2 stuffed mickeys - 1 big and 1 small, a sock monkey, and a stuffed duck. Additionally he might want to sleep with some mickey mouse figurines, or a scissors from the doctor kit (yes this is puzzling for us as well), or some of his little toy cars. It's a party in that crib.

- He LOVES 2019 version of The Grinch. We have seen this movie so many times. Luckily I love it and haven't gotten sick of it yet. 

- He also loves Mickey Mouse. He has 5 Mickey shirts but he needs more as he'd prefer to wear a Mickey shirt every single day. 

- He was obsessed with Halloween decorations and keeps asking us where our pumpkin is. He'd be happy with 12 month of Halloween decorations. I think once he soaks in the wonder of Christmas lights, we can maybe move on from his pumpkin obsession.

- He loves to be outside and still likes riding in the stroller! I hope that remains the case for awhile. He learned how to use the scooter this summer and figured it out very quickly!

- He will only wear bombas socks! He should be a brand ambassador for that company given his love for their socks. We have to hide them in the summer - they are sooo thick and warm so not appropriate for like 90 degree weather.

Dislikes:

- This kid is NOT a morning person. Mornings are incredibly rough. He is such a bear in the morning unless he can slowly wake up by groggily watching a movie or show. So week days are very tough. 

- If he dislikes something, he is not subtle about it and will dramatically say "bleh." He will also routinely tell us to "go away." I guess he's really good at establishing boundaries? 

- He also dislikes pictures although this has gotten better recently.

Eating: Overall he's an ok eater. He loves carbs. When my parents asked what he wanted for his birthday, he said "crackers." I said how about another idea? "chippies!" I can't blame him as carbs ARE delicious. His favorite non-carb foods are yogurt and apples. 

School: We made the difficult decision to move him to a new daycare this summer after some issues that were happening at our last daycare entirely related to the owner/administration. His new school is great! They seem to be very play-based which is what we want at this age. Dare I say his last daycare was overly focused on academics? Like when Taco moved into the young preschool, they wanted him to work on tracing letters. He can barely hold a pencil right now so I feel like it wasn't the best use of his time. I'm happy to see lots of photos of him doing pretend play, building things with magnatiles, playing outside multiple times/day, etc. Academics are important but not so much at this stage in my opinion. All that said, He can sing his ABCs, count to 10 in Spanish and count to 15 in English so he's got the basics down. 

Potty training: He has shown very little interest in potty training. We plan to focus on this in the next month or so as we know he can figure it out. We wanted to get through the transition of a new school before tackling this big developmental step.

Sleep: He still naps most days - thank goodness! We will keep him in his crib until he drops his nap because I like that he's contained... Paul moved into a big boy bed around 3.5 years so I imagine a similar progression for Taco. We are team "keep the child contained in a crib as long as possible."

Brother relationship: For the most part, the boys have a very sweet relationship. Paul is very patient with him and is even accepting of the fact that Taco destroys a lot of his LEGO creations. They of course have their conflicts but overall, they have a pretty sweet relationship. I hope and pray that continues to be the case. 

It's kind of hard to believe my pandemic baby is 3! I can't imagine our little family without him! We are planning to have him tested for celiac at his 3 year old doctor appointment in January, though. I wonder if some of his moodiness is related to him not feeling well so I want to rule out celiac (we have a family history of gluten sensitivity).