 |
 |
| Preferred eating arrangement on birthday morning...don't ask me... |
Griffin had a wonderful little birthday party, mostly family and a few very close friends. Naturally, we went with a train theme. :)
He got all kinds of goodies. But I think some of his highlights were a Thomas tent from my parents, 3 Thomas trains (Belle, Flynn, and Kevin) from Chris's parents, some flashlights from good friends of ours, and a tricycle and dinosaur helmet from Chris and me.
Then we had a private little family celebration on his actual birthday. This is him trying to get his fingers to make three. So sweet how hard he was trying!
And actual birthday evening at home, with is leftover party cupcakes. :)
Some of my favorite things about Griffin at age three:
- imagination! Griffin can bring anything to life and is getting really, really good at playing by himself. He sings almost all the time when he's playing. Sometimes they are real songs, but most of the time they are made up.
- Griffin also makes up words and names. He names everything "hobby" "bonin" or "monin." It's kind of weird acutally. Or he'll tell me he wants "ba weja moon" for supper. When I say, "Oh. Okay. Remind me, what does that taste like so I know how to fix it?" He almost always says, "ice cream." Smart boy. :)
- Griffin can count up into the forties, and has been able to for a long time actually. He recognizes all the letters in uppercase and knows them in lowercase, too, just not quite as well with the funny shapes of lower case g's and a's and stuff like that. He knows a lot of their sounds, too. He just doesn't get in to trying to write them yet at all. I try, but he's just not interested.
- Griffin is GREAT at doing puzzles. He really good at floor puzzles and it takes everything in me not to get online and buy him new ones all the time!
- Griffin ALWAYS wants to go to the park.
- He always asked to "chase me" with daddy mostly, but when daddy's not available, I try. :)
- Griffin has to put a toy under his pillow every night. We're not sure where this came from or why, but it's what he does.
- Griffin cries out sometimes that he's scared. Lately, it's been the whales in his room. Geez. We're gonna have to get a handle on our housekeeping if we're letting whales in...
- Griffin is still really into trains. He loves dinosaurs, too, and trucks or anything with wheels.
- He wears size 4T and is really too big for his size 10 shoes, but we haven't bought new ones yet. He was 40 inches tall and 38 pounds at his 3 year check up.
- We still really struggle with discipline with Griffin. He's is sugary sweet when he's sweet or he is enough gray my hair in one afternoon when he's not. He's very persistent and loyal to his own ideas. He remembers things for days, or weeks, actually - probably months - that he wants or wants to do. What some people may choose to label as manipulative, I'm going to call problem solving. Yes, currently, it probably is manipulation, but he is figuring out how to solve the problem that he has with what mommy and daddy are saying no to. And he's pretty darn good at it. Fortunately, so are Chris and I. :)
- Griffin is getting really good at sharing and it makes my heart smile.
- Griffin can say prayers. He prefers to just repeat after Chris or me, but if you catch him on a good day, you'll hear one thankful kiddo that will list everything in sight and everything he did that day as something he's thankful for. So sweet.
- Griffin likes to sing "shop ha ye yu ya" (Shout Hallelujah), Itsy Bitsy Spider, ABCs, Jesus Loves Me, Backyardigans, Mickey Mouse, Wheels on the Bus.... I could go on
Griffin, I call you my precious treasure often and I mean it. I treasure you and I treasure moments and memories with you. I've loved being your mommy the past three years. You've taught me so much! I can't wait to see what else is coming our way with you in our lives. We pray that we can guide your strong, unwaivering spirit on a narrow path with lots of followers. I love you so much, G. Thanks for letting me!
