Tommy is Three!

Two weeks ago we celebrated Tommy's 3rd birthday.  We didn't do anything crazy. In fact, we didn't leave the house except to venture to the backyard.  Still, I think he had a fantastic day, thanks to lots of visitors, and even more spoiling.  I am also celebrating - the end of Tommy's terrible two's.  Three's HAVE to be better with this one.  Tommy tests every boundary possible.  He climbs furniture, hides things, throws tantrums, throws toys,  eats walls and toys, and overall has the attention span of a squirrel.  He is my most snuggly, cuddly kid though, famous for his torpedo hugs that come out of nowhere (like when I am doing dishes).  He still sucks his thumb while curled up with his Boopy blanket when he watches T.V. or is tired.  Each night he insists on getting a forklift kiss.  I am the forklift, and he is getting rather heavy.

In our household, three is an important rite of passage marked by the receiving of one's very own golf clubs.  Patrick got his at 3, and now Tommy will be able to accompany Tom and Patrick to the course (in theory). 

Besides the clubs, Tommy received a Mighty Machines DVD (from his brother), a set of the Mr. Happy series of books (from his sister), and trucks and Playmobil vehicles from other family members.  But his very favorite gift came from the Poison Control Center.  Back in October, we visited a fall festival at a local park, and Tommy picked a Mr. Yuck keychain from the Pittsburgh Poison Control Center booth.  He carried it everywhere.  He also promptly lost it about a week later.  He has asked, "Where is my Mr. Yuck keychain?", nearly everyday since.  I found out I could order a keychain online, and I put it in a small box.  I wish I had his reaction on video.  He has been carrying it around nonstop.  I have two back-ups when he loses this one. 

His big brother helped make some birthday cupcakes-

Looks delicious, huh?

We are riding on the "just turned three" excitement and using this as a chance to start potty training.  We went through 4 pairs of pants yesterday, but today we actually had an outing to the playground and made it home successfully with no accidents.  He used the bathroom once before we left the house, ands once before we headed home.  He is having a lot of anxiety about pooping on the potty, so I suspect he really isn't ready yet, but we'll see what happens (Update since I drafted this two weeks ago: potty training was a huge fail.  Back to diapers).

At his 3-year well check, Tommy weighed in at 39" tall (89th %), and weighed in at 28 lbs (12th %).  That means that Tommy is nearly the same height as Patrick at age 4.