Kai: 3 years, 3 months

Okay, so two and three (so far) have not been as tough as I had been warned. <insert 'knock on wood' here>  Yes, he is stubborn, willful and can occasionally scream, hit and throw things.  Aren't these things we all want to do from time to time?  However, more often than not, Kai is laughing, playing pranks, entertaining anyone who will watch and listen to him, and giving hugs and kisses.  A sweet boy.  Here are some of things he is up to lately:

1.  playing 'money': this has emerged just in the past week.  We dump out a pile of change of all denominations on my yoga mat.  Kai sits on one side with a good number of his Hot Wheels cars lined up nearby.  We take turns buying and selling these cars.  It goes something like this - "Would you like to buy a car?"
"How much is the red one?"
 "Two nickels."
"The one with the beaver?"
"Yes."
Customer counts out money, gives to seller.  Money gets put in the 'bank'. Car given to buyer.  Change roles.  This goes on for a LONG time.  SO much fun!

2. Is beginning to be interested in letters for the first time, and understanding that they make words.  He is working on writing his name by tracing dotted lines, and likes to type names of people he knows on  my computer.

3. Playdate obsessed! Every day he wants a play date, even as we get in the car right after a playdate!

4. Pretends to be a puppy.  Wants us to throw a ball, and he will chase it on his hands and knees, pick it up with his mouth and drop it for us.

5. Mimicking phrases we use.  Recent favourites are "That's the deal!" and "First things first."

6. Growing so fast.  He is getting taller and thinner by the minute.  He has gone from size 3 to size 4 pants in what seems like a few months.  We still have to roll up the 4s, but 3s barely fit...crazy.

7. Finally he is falling asleep by himself at night.  We bring him up, read him a book, kiss him good night and turn out the light.  He likes us to check on him 'in 5 minutes', but mostly he doesn't need us to.  Very exciting!

8.  He is painting objects more often now and tells me what they are. Although what they are is not always obvious, when he tells me what they are, the colour and shape make sense.  He really likes trees and the sun.

9. He often gets up in the morning by himself, and if he's not coming to crawl into bed with us, he gets himself fully dressed.  Then he decides what he wants for breakfast and we pack most of it into a bag for him, as he wants to eat at daycare like Lukas.

10. Again, every time I write, it seems like his stories are getting more and more elaborate.  He is always telling a story, mixing what has really happened with something he saw on a video or heard about once.  Very funny kid.  We love you, buddy!