An interview with a 3 year old

August 10, 2015

Weight - 32 lb 53 percentile
Length - 39.25  inches. 88 percentile

A few thoughts from the birthday boy himself!

1. What is your favorite color? I like green and blue

2. What is your favorite toy? Big trucks!

3. What is your favorite fruit? Some pancakes.  And watermelon!

4. What is your favorite tv show? Jake and the Neverland pirates. 

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  Watermelon.  And sandwich.  

6. What is your favorite outfit? Elsa shirt and Cinderalla shirt!  (No William, not dress up, I mean like what do you want to wear to school).  Basketball shoes, and basketball shorts.

7. What is your favorite game? Puzzles.  Playing basketball with Daddy.

8. What is your favorite snack? Bar, milk and a show (he requests this the moment he wakes up from his nap)

9. What is your favorite animal? Monkey.  And tigers!  

10. What is your favorite song? Twinkle, twinkle, little star (and then he broke out into song)

11. What is your favorite book? Baseball book (all about the Royals)

12. Who is your best friend? James and Tommy!

13. What is your favorite cereal? Frosted mini wheats

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Baseball with Daddy

15. What is your favorite drink? Water

16. What is your favorite holiday? My birthday!

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Night-night

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Bar (Kids Cliff Bar) and Milk

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Balloons, cake and the train park.  

20. What do you want to be when you grow up?  I want to be a BIG Daddy!

A few thoughts from Mommy

1.  What is your favorite personality trait? William is sweet, cuddly, loving, kind.  He absolutely loves his mommy...do you think he will still prefer to sit on my lap for a "nuggle" when he's a teenager?
2.  What is your favorite memory this year? William is all boy, and loves anything sports related.  My favorite memories this year are watching Ryan and William share these passions together.  They love to play catch, shoot baskets, watch the Royals and "Go K-State".  I love these two boys of mine!
3.  What is your favorite book to read together?  I love to read his book all about the Royals.  He has it memorized and says things like "Papa Kurt and Uncle Matt go to Kaufman stadium" and "George Brett is a hitter".  And then he ends with singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame at the top of his lungs.  Too cute!
4. What is your favorite activity to do together? Train park!  This boy loves his trains, and seeing his face light up at our favorite park is awesome.  We do the exact same routine each and every time - first ride the train, then the carousel, and end with a visit to the train table.  We stopped by the model train museum for the first time on his birthday, and he was is absolute awe.  We'll definitely be back as it's nice and air conditioned, ha.  
5. What is the most difficult part of parenting this year? Sibling fighting.  William and Lily have started truly playing together, and the fighting over toys/electronics/TV show/parental attention is exhausting.
6. What is the best part of parenting this year? Watching William's personality continue to develop.  He is quite the talker and I just love having conversations with him.  The thoughts that come out of three year old mouths are hilarious!
7. What is your favorite song William sings? Take Me Out to the Ballgame!
8.  What is your favorite 'William-ism'? He calls snuggling "nuggling" and begs to crawl up into my lap multiple times a day.  Seriously the sweetest boy.  
9. What is one parenting trait you wish to improve.  Encouraging William to do things on his own.  He is so sweet and asks so nicely, I will do just about anything for him.  Plus sometimes it's just easier to do things myself than to take the time to teach him how.  If this continues, I will be doing his laundry while he lives in my basement as a 40 year old man.  
10.  Any last thoughts?  William bring us so much joy and we can't imagine our little family without his silly shenanigans.      

A few thoughts from Daddy

11.  What is your favorite personality trait?  Favorite personality trait…he can always make you smile.  He’s an ornery boy, but in the best way possible.  Even when he’s doing something he shouldn’t, he has an innocence about him that makes it seem ok.    

2.  What is your favorite memory this year?  Couple favorites for me – either when he learned how to swim or when he learned to ride his Strider bike.  Big accomplishments for a 2 year old and I was proud that he overcame his initial fears…especially w/ swimming.   

3.  What is your favorite book to read together?  I feel like I don’t read as much with William as I did w/ Lily, but I would say his Thomas the Train books, just because he loves them so much.  It’s fun to see his excitement when he picks out his Thomas books.  

4. What is your favorite activity to do together?  Favorite activity to do together is to play catch.  He absolutely loves playing catch or hitting the baseball.  Right when I get home from work, it’s the first thing he asks to do…”Please Daddy, can we just play for a little bit?”  

5. What is the most difficult part of parenting this year?  Probably having the ability to stay calm and not get upset over the little things.  It’s much harder to do now than it was with Lily because there are two of them.  Because of my lack of patience, his “small” things seem to be a much bigger deal. 

6. What is the best part of parenting this year?  Couple things – seeing him happy and watching him and Lily get along.  There is nothing better than watching them play together nicely.   

7. What is your favorite song William sings?  Two of them come to find:  “Geronimo” by Sheppard and “Shut Up and Dance with Me.”  It’s so funny watching him yell the 2 or 3 words he knows.  The second song, I know he shouldn’t be singing, but it’s too funny – I can’t tell him to stop. 

8.  What is your favorite 'William-ism'?  The way he always asks to “nuggle,” which in William’s world, means that he wants to snuggle.  He is such a sweet, kind boy.  As a Dad, it melts my heart to see him sitting on the couch with his “night-night,” sucking on his two fingers, asking, “Daddy, can we nuggle?”   

9. What is one parenting trait you wish to improve.  Staying calm and not overreacting.  With two kids it’s much harder to stay calm when he is doing something he shouldn’t.  Even when he does things that I know are just part of being a 2 or 3 year old.  I can’t imagine how parents balance everything when they have more than two.  

10.  Any last thoughts?  William is such a sweet boy.  My concern with him is that because of his demeanor he would allow himself to be pushed around a little bit.  But throughout this past year, he has shown signs of having a little fire in his belly.  It takes a lot for him to reveal it, but when he lets it out, you know he means business.  For both my kids, I want them to have an attitude to stand their ground, to compete, to be passionate.  With Lily, I’ve always known it was there (she doesn't hide it)…now that I see the same thing in William, I’m confident he will stand his ground and stand up for his beliefs.  That makes me happy.   

Three!!

I can not believe this boy is three years old!  He promises he's still my baby and will always cuddle with me, even when he's 16.  When asked what he wanted for his birthday, he consistently said "balloons, cake, and the TRAIN PARK!"  We can definitely handle that, little man!

First off, a birthday wouldn't be complete without a stop at our beloved Starbucks for chocolate milk and a donut...thank you Grandma O for this special treat!  Then off to the train park we went - a train ride, the carousel, playtime at the train table, and a new-to-us visit to the model train museum.  A perfect morning with my sweet boy!

It was also the first day of school for Lily, so after we picked big sister up, ice cream was of course a necessity!

Once Daddy was home from work, the "party" began.  Thanks to Nanny, William had a bundle of birthday balloons and Lily was thrilled to find a bundle of back to school balloons for her as well.  A few gifts, including lots of basketball gear, and then William found his big gift outside...a larger basketball hoop for the backyard.  Not sure William could have imagined a happier birthday - he was truly in heaven!

Happiest of birthdays, William Tommy.  We love you more than words!

A week of firsts!

First day of 1st grade for our special girl.  She was a bit nervous on our (hot!) walk to school but positive and happy to meet her teacher as well as see which friends were in her class this year.  After one week down, we had a few sad and teary mornings.   Change and new situations are hard for Lily.  However she has been one brave and strong gal, pushed through those nervous moments, is loving her new class, and is ready for an awesome year! 

1st day of preschool.  VERY cautious at first, but once his buddies James and Tommy showed up, was happy and ready for me to leave.  William Tommy had a great first week of school with absolutely no tears!  Proud of this brave boy.  

School pick up continues to be the best part of William's (and my!) day.  We decided to walk to the back gate instead of driving to the (cooler) front gate this year, and it's been fun seeing our friends, the Whitson "four", each afternoon.  I know we mom's are ready for the cooler temps to make this a bit more pleasant experience.  

OUCH

Our very first break (and cast)!  Lily fell while playing kickball at summer camp, and came home complaining that her wrist hurt.  We iced it, and then quickly forgot about it, continuing on with life.  Until the following evening, when she swam for a couple hours then attempted a cartwheel and tumbled to the ground in pain.  Of course this was a Friday night, so after a quick visit to the pediatrician Saturday morning, we both agreed to wait until Monday for x-rays.  Which showed a small fracture in her radius.  She was finally casted on Tuesday...five days after the actual break.  Mommy of the year!  

{We are three weeks into the cast, and she is doing awesome.  It's the perfect break for Lily...no pain, but LOTS of extra attention.  A little over a week to go!}