Will at 3.5 Years

Okay, the first half of "three" was a bit tough. Or, more specifically, the second quarter of age three. Will was testing and whining and falling apart over nothing like we'd never seen before. Literally--we'd never seen him act like that before, ever, which was lucky in retrospect but horrifying in the present. And now he's back (perhaps temporarily, but I'll take it).

He had been doing things like coming out of his room every few minutes at bedtime because he needed Chapstick, and refusing to nap even though he really needed a nap, and piling all of his blankets and animals in the corner of his bed and then complaining that "my bed is messed up and I need help fixing it." He was also crying after purposely knocking into Finny, because Finny was crying and he wanted to avoid blame, or at least avoid a harsher punishment. It was SO annoying.

Who, me?

Now his most annoying behaviors are things like coming out of bed because he needs to pee, and playing too long in his bed before nap so that when he does fall asleep he's groggy when it's time to wake up; he sometimes still pushes Finn or cries at the drop of a hat, but he also is doing things like finding pacifiers for Bridget when she makes the faintest of whimpers, or reporting that "I told Finn to go to sleep, I told him and told him. That's my job because I'm his big brother."

He says things like "I'm just gonna pause dinner for a sec, 'cause I have to go pee. OK?" His tone is the funniest shade of blasé when he says it.

Or, when I tell him I don't want him to grow up because I love him just the way he is, "But Mom, I HAVE to grow up to be a grownup!" 

He also tells elaborate stories (just like I reportedly did as a kid) and I have to purse my lips to keep from grinning at them. He knows I know it's fiction, but he gets embarrassed when my expression betrays how cute and clever I find him.

So I try to keep a straight face.

It's so hard, though, with this guy around.