At three, our little man continues to march at the beat of his own drum. He is independent and strong-willed, but also sweet and snuggly. Avery usually knows what he wants but when he doesn't get his way he will just let out a little grumpy growl to tell you about it rather than throwing a fit. Thankfully to date he is not really a tantrum thrower and I'm hoping it stays that way. In that way and many others he is the opposite of his older brother. While Asher at three (& still) could be bossy, difficult to wake, not a big fan of affection, meticulous, organized and would eat us out of house and home Avery is usually willing to follow his older brother, is up at the crack of dawn, is extremely affectionate, a care-free spirit, a bit of a mess and hates to eat dinner (although he does do better for breakfast and lunch). One thing is for sure though, with their differences and similarities we are crazy in love with both of them and love watching them become the boys that God created them to be.
So, now that our little guy is officially no longer a toddler, what is he like? Well...
Avery is a little goofball. He loves to make silly faces and has earned the nickname "Stinker Pinker" as he truly is my little stinker and loves to make others laugh and smile with his antics. He also loves to follow the lead of his Daddy and big brother by being silly and sassy to get a laugh.
Avery is creative and lately loves to color. He also LOVES the color purple and will tell anyone that will listen. Although he is not into making/building/creating things as much as his big brother he does get very focused when he colors. We have even gotten a few separate compliments on his coloring skills from the workers at church saying that he does a much better job than the other kids in the class and is much more focused in doing so. It probably helps though that he is on the upper end of his church age group though with the cut-off being the beginning of September and his birthday being only a few weeks later.
Avery also loves to do the stereotypical "little boy things." He likes to play with cars, loves superheroes and dinosaurs and is into pretty much every sport he comes across (& he seems to have some talents for them). Lately he also really enjoys doing puzzles and playing games with me too, which is what we've been spending most of our Friday mornings alone together doing. He also loves to do things that get him messy like playing in the sand, painting and playing play doh. He fully embraces the mess but then will quickly ask that I clean him up.
When it comes to helping out around the house, Avery enjoys sweeping and loves to help cook. He even insists these days on making his favorite "pea-butter jewwy" "all by myself." When it comes to cleaning up he is not nearly as excited to help as his organized older brother but if you ask him to help he 'usually' will pitch in without too much complaint...although he will also often just pretend he never heard you in the first place. He also does a great job getting his own clothes, fetching and tossing diapers and loves to help us open and close our fence gate (which usually just means he climbs on and goes for a ride while we do the work).
Being that Avery is very affectionate, he loves to play physical. He loves to wrestle his big brother and daddy and loves to get "pony back" rides from me and also jump on me when I am least expecting it...which usually gets him into trouble. Avery will spend minutes (which is hours in the three-year-old realm) shooting a basketball, hitting a baseball and throwing around a football. He also loves to knock you down and get tickled but only for a minute, then he'll ask you "stop it."
At this point in time, our little man is not yet potty trained. We are working on it but he has very little interest. We originally had agreed that he would go on the potty like a big boy when he turned three but since then he has decided that he is still only two when it is convenient to him.
As I mentioned above, he is not a very good eater. For his first 18 months or so he was a great and ferocious eater but a little while before his second birthday that all changed and now getting him to eat is like trying to convince Emma that she should not struggle when Eric takes her to Petsmart and she realizes it is time for a haircut. He is a stubborn little dude and will sit at the table for well over an hour without touching a thing. Almost every evening when I pick him up from daycare he asks me "mommy, what we havin' for dinner." When I reply he inevitably whines and then tells me "I don't like that."
While Avery loves to eat the foods that he likes, the actual list of those foods is very limited. He eats breakfast and lunch fairly well but is not a fan of dinner. He enjoys eating pizza, cheeseburgers, cereal, fruits, some veggies (loves peas), mac & cheese, "pea-butter Jewwy", and pretty much anything with sugar...which basically means that he refuses to eat almost anything that I serve to him at dinner time. Asher has always been a pretty great eater and is frequently rewarded with fruit or a tiny treat after dinner while Avery rarely gets a reward. Instead, he will pout that he wants a treat and sit at the table moving his food around his plate or just give up altogether and leave the table as soon as allowed to go play.
Yet another thing that is different between Asher and Avery (at least at age 3) is their interest in TV. At three Asher had very little patience to sit and watch a show and while he did enjoy sitting to watch Jake and the Neverland Pirates once in a while he typically preferred to be playing instead. Avery on the other hand loves cuddling up to watch shows and movies, so we have to be much more strict about what they watch and how often now. When we do allow Avery to watch something (and he gets a chance to pick the show rather than his brother) he asks for a variety including Dinotrux, Chuggington, Thomas, Octanauts, Rescue Bots, Ninjago, or anything with superheros. In the movie department he loves Frozen, Zootopia and the Minion movie.
Just a little over a year ago, Avery barely talked at all. When he turned two though it was like a switch was flipped and he started talking. Now, some days, it seems that he'll never stop. He is speaking in full sentences and we can understand most of what he says but there are still a few times that he will talk to us with a mouth full or under his breath that we don't get. When it comes to talking he does have some catch phrases such as "I wuv Purple", "I wuv my Mommy", "I wanna tew to sometim'", "You just wuv dat?", "I wufz you" and "Why cuz?" (which he uses both as a question and an answer). Avery enjoys singing too. At bedtime we frequently sing songs like the ABC's, Jesus Loves Me or the Itsy Bitsy Spider. I love to sing with him and love to hear his little voice.
Little Mr. Independent is also pretty good at getting undressed on his own and can put on his pants, shoes and socks with little or no assistance...he still has some difficulties with shirts though. He loves to brush his teeth and insists that he get to do it by himself, but will let me do it after he's had a chance to brush. He also insists on having a say with what to wear which often means Spiderman, Ninja Turtle or R2-D2 shirts, the socks that have fun pictures and his Ninja Turtle PJs (he would wear those every.single.night if he could!).
Since Avery turned one and finally began sleeping through the night, he has been a pretty good sleeper. Unfortunately though things seem to be changing as of late. He used to go to bed and nap without a fuss, but as he gets older he is starting to fight those more. He especially fights naptime and (if we don't just lock his bedroom door) we have to close the baby-gate at the top of the stairs or he will try to sneak downstairs when no one is paying attention...and he can be quite stealthy! When he does fall asleep though he will usually sleep for about an hour but when he is really tuckered out he can sleep up to three! There have been times that he's taken a long nap and I will go check on him. He will then wake up, look at me and then just roll over and go back to sleep. At night time he will whine a little about going to bed but gives in pretty easily. My only real complaint about nighttime is the fact that as I mentioned earlier he wakes up at the crack of dawn...IF we are lucky! Sometimes he will come out of room in the wee hours of the morning ready to start the day and we will have to tell him that he has to stay in his bed at least until the sun wakes up. After that he can play or read quietly in his room if he wants...i.e. Don't wake Mommy & Daddy!
Physically, Avery is above average in size, but no longer off the charts like he was as a newborn. At his three year check-up he measured in at 35 lbs, 6.4 oz. and 38.5" tall (at age three Asher measured to almost a pound heavier and the same height), which puts him at the 75th percentile in both categories. Since last year, he has gained about 5-6 pounds and grew almost four inches! He is doing great with his physical milestones and loves to do (or attempt) everything that his brother does. He especially would like to get into our backyard tree like his big bro. I've caught Asher trying to help him a few times, but I tell them that no one is allowed to go up there until they are able to come up AND down on their own. Plus, after Asher fell out of the tree at Avery's birthday party head first, I'm not so keen on ANYONE going up there! Yet another way that Asher and Avery are different is that at this point we are pretty sure that Avery is a right-hander, but oddly he does typically use is left hand to throw still, and he throws quite well I might add.
Birthday Interview:
- What's Your Name? "Avwy Migwin"
- How old are you? "Dis" (holding up three fingers)
- When's your birthday? "Now?...Friday?"
- How old is Mommy? "2"
- How old is Daddy? "4"
- What's your favorite color? "Purple"
- What's your favorite food? "Pea-Butter" ...I also asked what is your favorite thing to eat. His response, "essert." (So true buddy...so true)
- Who's your best friend? First time: "Um Margie...Ponder's doggie(?)" Second time: "I don't know...Micah?"
- What's your favorite song? "Batman" "...I wuv aphbet"
- What's your favorite movie? "Batman"
- What's your favorite animal? "Ebra" (Zebra)
- What are you afraid of? "I not afraid from anything" (not entirely true, but a good example of his personality)
- What makes you happy? "Mommy and Jesus"
- What's your favorite place to go? "Nards...no Meijer intead" Where do you wish you could go on vacation? "Grammy Gramps"
- What do you want to be when you grown up? "Daddy"
- What's mommy's favorite thing to do? "Color"
- What's your favorite treat? "Kelton Eetos" (Skeleton Cheetos)
- Who is your favorite person in the whole world? "Mommy"
- What is your favorite television show? "Thomas Train and Batman"
- What is your favorite outfit? "Darth Vader"
- What sport do you like best? "Football and Bayball Bat"
- What is your favorite cereal? "Milk Kind...Mix Kind" (We mix all of the cereals at the ends of each bag in one container and let the kids eat that.)
- What is your favorite book? "Don't know...I like struction workers" (Construction Workers)
- What are you really good at? "Paying Football"
- What is your best memory? "Gramps and Mommy and Grandma"
- What would you buys if you had $1000? "Donuts" (This is probably true).
- What vegetable do you hate the most? "Donuts" (giggling)
- What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? "Donut Ice Cream?" (Giggling)..."Chocate...Donut chocate"
- Who is your biggest hero? "Batman"
- What do you like to do best with your friends? "Play"
- What do you want to be able to do before your next birthday? "Make somfin in my woom...get some wapping paper and was up Asher batman book and see what in it."
Video: Interview
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