LIFE AND LOVE: Ted the Threenager

Oh man...this kid. I honestly can't remember what life was like before he came along. He makes me smile through my hardest and darkest moments of grief. Not only does he make me smile, he makes me laugh like no one else can. Even on the hard days, the frustrating "threenager" days, I am in complete awe that I get to be his mother.

I love every. single. second.

So to celebrate my sweet, little threenager, I share some fun(ny) Ted-isms with you.

1.) He is such a creature of habit. We are going on six months of the same bedtime routine that includes prayers, hugs (Mommy first, then Daddy), followed by songs, "Lord I Need You", "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", and "Your are My Sunshine" and then "Nigh-night, sweet dreams, I love you!" In that order. ALWAYS. Every time. Did you catch the Rudolph song? I honestly don't even know where or when he first heard it, all I know is that I have had to sing that song every. single. night...since November.

2.) He F-I-N-A-L-L-Y gave up the Wubbanub (his "Bubbies"). On his second birthday, we went to the dentist for the first time and I thought I was the "best mom ever" because he had never had juice, off the bottle, and no thumb-sucking. Then the dentist asked, "what a about a pacifier?" So I quickly crawled back in my embarrassed mom hole because Ted was still carrying around THREE of them. Dentist said get rid of it by his next appointment.

I tried once to take it away and I just couldn't do it. He wandered around the whole house crying and looking for it. He kept checking the washing machine, more crying and looking at me with these sad, weepy eyes saying, "bubbies, mama?" Totally caved. I just couldn't do it so I gave it back to him. That lasted about seven minutes.

We went back to the dentist and I was humming, "please don't ask, please don't ask" and sure enough he did. I tried to make it sound like he barely used it...thankfully the dentist didn't follow my Instagram to know what a Big. Fat. Liar I was. Once again, "Get rid of it."

So we planned to make a "beanie bear" or some other cute elaborate and Pinteresty way to get rid of it. But then magically one night...it just broke! And he didn't want it anymore! He threw it across his room and said, "No like it!" Thank goodness, because honestly, I never could have taken it from him. I still miss hearing him say, "Bubbies."

3.) His bestie is still his sweet Lucy. We don't babysit her anymore, but at least EVERY single day of the week he asks to go over to her house. They have the sweetest relationship and you can see them sharing jokes and stories that only the two of them understand. He loves to look at her and with a deep voice say, "Luuuuuu-cy!" Seriously, it's the cutest thing ever.

4.) He loves his sister Lily and he is the best big brother. He sees things all day that remind him of Lily and he's always quick to point them out. He loves to decorate her marker and share some fruit snacks while we visit. It breaks my heart and makes me beam with pride all at the same time.

5.) He won't eat vegetables. Any of them. Ever. I try every single day. He takes whatever vegetables I give him off his plate immediately and will say, "No like it mama." They are not even allowed on the plate with the rest of his food! Luckily, he hasn't caught on to the fact that his smoothies I make are chock full of all kinds of veggie goodness and we have those several times a week. So I will still consider him a "healthy eater."

Which is a complete lie because he rarely eats dinner too. Unless it's pizza, mac and cheese, or chicken nuggets, he won't eat what we are eating for dinner. We rarely have those things, so he rarely eats dinner. I remember when he was a baby and my kid was going to be the best eater and eat all the good organic veggies and fruits. NOPE, not even close. Now he has an opinion and it changes every single day! But of course, he will always eat ice cream. ;-)

6.) He wants to go to the park every day. Or to a pool. Or on an airplane. He will look up at me and say, "Mama, I go on a airplane? Pleeeeeeease? I go on a airplane to Iowa? Pleeeeeease?" I mean, it's a wonder I haven't maxed out a credit card just to take him for the day because it's so stinkin' cute how sweetly he asks to go!

He also loves helicopters, trains, cars, watching fire trucks and school buses drive by. Seriously, he's the cutest.

7.) He has a toddler bed and he slept in it exactly...ONCE. He still prefers his crib even though I totally splurged on super cute Aden + Anais bedding. He doesn't care. He prefers being able to climb in and out of his crib with all of his animals...or sleep wherever he wants.

8.) He was so excited to pick out a costume for Halloween! We bought it weeks ahead of time. He even threw a tantrum in the store because he wanted to wear it home. He played in his costume for weeks...until it was actually Halloween. He was the only kid who was not dressed up. Maybe next year!

not Halloween

HALLOWEEN ;-)

9.) He loves to help me bake! I love spending this time with him, even though most of Ted "baking" is trying to eat whatever we are making. He will sneak tastes when I am not looking and say, "Mmmm...mama, that's delicious!" It is simply impossible to be mad at him.

10.) Even though he is now a big THREE YEAR OLD, he still looks up at me every night before bed and asks me to, "Hold you like a baby?" He still wants to snuggle and cuddle up in my arms and I am terrified for the day when that stops.

He still loves to snuggle. Most days he has to sit as close to me as possible or right on top of me. Sometimes he will just rest his arm on mine. It's usually when I am having a rough day missing Lily. I know he knows, even though he can't say it yet. He is so sweet and so loving.