Friday: Three years old

Joshua turned three years old today!

Due to VBS his party has been postponed until next week, but I did send some birthday cookies with him so he could celebrate at church.  He also kept telling people that he was three and a half until early evening, when he finally realized he was only three.

Mood: Joshua was finally in a good mood for a photo session.  Lately he's been a bit hit or miss with his mood.  Since he is slowly giving up naps, he tends to be more tired and then a bit more prone to crying.  However, if we're doing things that he at least somewhat likes then he is happy.

Play: he loves Duplos and playing with Isaac the most right now, I think.  He likes doing Legos with Ben, but that isn't happening quite as much due to a busy few weeks.  He enjoys playing in the sand.  Usually games with Isaac involve running around the couch a lot, although today Joshua was tugging Isaac by a sash.

Work: Joshua's daily job is to water the flowers, and he often takes this very seriously.  He does appreciate it when it rains and he gets to skip it though.  The last few days he's come in after watering and said something to the affect of "I did it before it rained!"  He is also starting to clean his bedroom.  If he's in a cleaning mood he does it well and if he's not it's about as you would expect for a three year old.

Toilet training: Around the beginning of the month we were having some problems as Joshua would wait too long to go to the bathroom and then would need help with his pants.  That has resolved itself.  Phew.

Bear: Bear, or Grey Bear as he is sometimes called, is still a semi-constant companion.  We hear "Bear!" shouted often as Joshua realizes that Bear was left somewhere and wants him.  (The other day Isaac hid Bear and then forgot that he had done so until the morning.  After Ben and I went on a bear hunt for 15 minutes Joshua had to use Elephant for the night.  That was ok, but Joshua wondered almost first thing in the morning if Grey Bear had been found yet.  That's when Isaac remembered.  The good thing is that I would have found Bear later in the day.)

Repetition: Joshua repeats what we say often.  Even when we're reading books, which is something that Isaac never did.  He is also very good at song lyrics and some book fragments also show up.  "What a beautiful day.  We're not scared." from We're Going on a Bear Hunt is the case in point.

School stuff: He can count somewhat up to 20, although he misses a few.  When counting actual things he can do some, although the number is under 10.  He knows the letter names, but can only put a few names with the actual letters.  I hope to work on this a bit more once September comes, but we'll see.  Maybe we'll just play instead.  Oh, colors.  He has most colors down, but mixes up orange and yellow sometimes.

Happy Birthday to a goofy and cute three year old.