Our Noah turned three last month. We love you, Noah!
Noah is so very bright! He's observant and notices the smallest of details. Sometimes we'll be reading a book or outside somewhere and he'll show me something and I think it's so interesting that he is fascinated by this little detail. It's kind of hard to explain! But he notices stuff other people probably wouldn't. He's also very good at reading people's emotions. It reminds me how I need to be extra careful with the way I react to situations. He really notices people's expressions and the things that they say, and how they say it.
He has gotten quite shy over the past while. When he meets people, he is very quiet and reserved. Once he warms up he turns on his wild side. He also doesn't like when people kind of put him on the spot, if a stranger were to start talking to him directly and asking him questions in front of other people, that would make him very overwhelmed. He doesn't like when Jessie smiles at him. And when he tells her that she laughs because you'd think one would like someone smiling at them, haha.
Noah will be starting preschool this Fall and we're so excited! I think it'll be really good for him. He has a hard time getting along with friends, and although I understand this can be normal at this age, we're hoping he learns to get along better with others. We're excited for him to learn and experience new things. We think we found a preschool that we are going to go with.
He can recognize a few of his letters (like N & S), and recognizes most of his numbers 1-9. He can count to around 13 then starts saying random things "13, 17, 16..". He knows things like when his birthday is, his family member's full names (with middle names), how old he is and how old other people are, what season it is, and simple gospel truths. He can completely dress himself from top to bottom - although sometimes he needs help if he's not feeling motivated that day. He knows a heck of a lot of nursery rhymes and has always loved music and people singing to him. Every song on the radio that he has heard at least 2 times becomes his "favorite song". If I change it, he's VERY unhappy. He is getting more into books. Right now he loves story-books that are a little advanced for him. I think since he doesn't understand everything it keeps him more interested. Which is normally not like him. But it makes me happy because I just love reading with him.
He makes all kinds of faces right now. He scrunches his nose and forehead and makes a "scary" face. all. day! He does this when he's being a stinker. He has a lot of energy for sure. He likes to be silly and everything is about poop. Poop this. Poop that. Me: "Noah, how did you get to be so handsome?" Noah: "Because I pooped on you!!!". Me: "Noah, do you know where we're going today!?" Noah: "To the poop store!".
Speaking of that, it has definitely been a roller coaster ride with potty training. We started when he was 22 months and he did really well at first. And then it was just up and down for a long time. Last year we went through all kinds of phases and for the most part he did good, but then he'd go through a few weeks where he'd start not caring again. Then around this last Christmas he started doing really good CONSISTENTLY. For about 3 months he was pretty much 100% (besides the rare actual accident). He was going to the bathroom all by himself all the time (usually we had to bug him to go) and he was staying in the same underwear all day. We thought we were in the clear, finally. Then in March he suddenly started peeing everywhere again! I couldn't believe it! It lasted two weeks exactly and then he went back to normal. So weird. And now he's kind of in between. He usually goes on his own but has his moments where he wants to just pee in his pants and does not care! Anyway, it taught me that we're never really in the clear when they're this little I guess. Well at least for him. And I have to say, at least when he does have a problem, it's just pee :)
Noah surprises us all the time with new phrases or words he's picked up. The other day Derek told Noah he needed to go on the roof to fix some things (with the AC) and Noah said, "Daddy, don't give up!"
Noah is completely and totally a daddy's boy! And it becomes even more so as he gets older. His daddy is his everything. Mommy is the boring, mean one and daddy is the fun and more laid back one. He LOVES helping Derek with stuff around the house. Whenever Derek is working on something with the house, Noah is his little shadow. He has his own play tools that he loves. He likes to pretend to fix and work on stuff. He's a total boy when it comes to these kinds of things. One of his favorite things to do is wrestle with daddy!
Of course Noah loves Oliver but has been really struggling with sharing with him lately. Oliver isn't allowed to touch anything. That causes a major problem since Oliver obviously wants to touch and play with anything that belongs to Noah. It makes playing difficult. Noah wants me to play with him, but doesn't want Oliver to touch anything we are playing with. It Doesn't work. So that's something we're trying to work on.
That's all for now. We think it's crazy that we have a three year old already. We do our best to cherish every moment and soak it all in because we're leaning it goes so fast!
