Colton is THREE!

Where do I start?! I cannot believe I have a three year old. It feels like yesterday I was writing down all the words he could say and now he just talks non-stop in such a grown-up way. It is so much fun to listen to his questions about everything and watch him soak up each and every new discovery!

3 Year Old Stats:
Weight: 31 lbs (50th%tile)
Height 38 inches (90th%tile

Here's what Colton's been up to as of late:

• Sn-ACK - Loves to eat snacks. Sometimes we have to call dinner a snack so he will eat it... And after eating any meal, he will say as soon as he's done - it's time for a snaaack! His favorites are granola bars, fruit snacks, "lemon"-m's (M&M's), cookies, raisins, and cheetos
• Here's a story to illustrate just how snacky this boy is: His dinner consisted of fishsticks, yogurt and broccoli. He ate his fishsticks well, had a couple bites of yogurt and then proceeded to announce that he "needed a snack, Mommy!"  I told him he could have one if he ate all his yummy broccoli (he had even helped me cook it, and I had added a little cheese to the top). He declared that he "did not like broccoli" afterall and so I said "no snack" and he seemed to accept that. Well about an hour and a half later, he said he needed a snack. I said, "I'm sorry, you didn't eat your broccoli." He looked at me and said, "Where's that broccoli?" Lazily Luckily, I hadn't cleared the dishes, so I handed him his bowl. He then shoved all the broccoli in his mouth with a terrible look on his face - but he did eat it. Then he looked at me so serious and said, "I need a snack!" It was all I could do not to laugh!  He chose a granola bar and all was well :)
• When it's windy outside, Colton says, Oh no, I'm winding away!"
• "Come play with ME, Mommy! Stop talking to Daddy, talk to ME, Mommy!" These are the phrases I hear everyday! Some days he will play well by himself, but some days he can be rather high-maintenance... I'm looking forward to the day when he and Caden can play together (safely)...
• He loves to play with his toys. I am amazed how long he can play trains, animals, cars, etc. His imagination is amazing and funny. Most of the time his play consists of emergencies, wild animals, crashing trucks and trips to the hospital.
• Along those lines, we often get these questions, "Are _____ (insert animal name) nice? Do they have teeth? Are ______ wild animals? Can I pet them?"
• We just finished the Why? stage and have now entered the How? stage.
• Great sense of direction - remembers which way our old house is and knows all the landmarks on the way to our house.
• Loves to read... Our latest library themes have been: Dinosaurs, Fairy Tales, Trains, Animals, and Potty books
• Really ready to potty train - Mommy is just waiting for a calm week. This summer has been busy! I think next Tuesday is the day of no turning back. We've been talking it up for months, watching videos, reading books...
• Enjoys Dora and E-ego (Diego).
• Just today he was talking about his trains and said, "These are banatastic (fantastic)!"
• Really doing better about listening and obeying.
• Started sleeping in his big boy bed about a month ago and has just lately started getting up right after we put him in it. It usally just takes not talking to him and just putting him right back in, tucking him in "snug as a bug in a rug" and he stays for the night.
• Will say "I was worried about you..." when he is scared about something. So sweet.
• While we were in our "Fairy Tale" mode, Colton LOVED the stories of "Three Billy Goats Gruff" and "Jack in the Beanstalk"... He often wants me to be the scary troll when we play and Caden usually has the role of the Baby Giant. 
• Caden is pretty much in the middle of everything and at first Colton would get really upset with him, but once we started calling him the Baby Giant and saying, "Oh no, the baby giant is destroying the train!" he seems to roll with the constant interruptions a little better.
• Caden is getting so close to walking and everytime we get excited for him, Colton will remind us, "I can walk, too! Look at me!"
• Is very quick to remind Caden to obey and gets a little bit giddy when we discipline Caden. One night we were halfway joking and put Caden in timeout because he kept touching something we had told him not to. Colton kept saying over and over, "Caden is in timeout, ha, ha!" We've got to work on that one :)
• When something is sharp, he will say, "No, no Caden, you are too little and that is too shark!"
• He does stand up for his brother's rights and will tell us that Caden is not tired (at bedtime) and wants to play two more minutes. Two more minutes is still the magic number for him even if we offer him 5 he will say, No, two minutes, Mommy!
• Asked about who turned the rain off, and I told him, God did. He responded, "I cannot see God, Mommy. Where is he?"

Oh, I love this boy!  He is so curious and joyous and makes me laugh every day! I love his spirit of wonder and his kind heart. He loves his family and cousins so much and thinks his grandparents hung the moon! We are so, so blessed to be your parents, little boy! I love watching you grow and pray that you will always know that you are loved and that you will grow in stature and favor with the Lord! We love you, Colton!