Smarty boy.

It amazes me that no matter how much TV and Leapster this kid loves, not matter how disinterested he is in drawing, art, or anything else academia besides books, he just absorbed all the letters and numbers anyway. I took so many measures with my first child, and nothing like her hunger for knowledge really showed up with number 2. He's very typical, stereotypical really. First his passion was balls. The race cars. A minor offtrack into dinosaurs (way out there, I know :) ) and back onto race cars. He loves sports. I mean He. Loves. Sports. He's a very physical kid, physical "love language," physical learner. Therefore when we assemble this huge floor puzzle of an alphabet train, he has to tap each letter while he says it's name. In a rock and roll beat, because he loves that too.

But even while he's all boy and very predictable as far as all that's concerned, he's still a three and a half year old that very much wants to be like his big sister. Which explains the orange toe nail polish with blue glitter on top. Dark blue. Because he's a boy. :)

Thanks for the date, little dude.

While big sister was at camp, T and I snuck in some special time. Well, let's be honest. Mommy snuck in a lot of internet time, a lot of scrapbooking time, and True got way too much TV time. But one day I made the effort and we enjoyed a date spot that never gets old. REI in Seattle lends a beautiful structure, a fabulous climbing tree for kids, and tasty smoothies at World Wrapps, all which makes for a super happy kid. And Mommy.

Joy.

Wanna know what pure joy looks like? This is all it takes to make my little man happy.

Tuning forks.

My friend Nikki is an acupuncturist and she has had a profound impact on the quality of my family's life together. She has helped me, as a person who has struggled with depression for years, not only manage my symptoms but find joy in my everyday life and peace in my mind. She has helped my three-year-old son tremendously as he battles strong moods, power struggles, and the given challenges that comes with being three years old. He went from daily tantrums that made mornings so unpleasant for us to having just enough distance between his patience and his anger to identify his feelings and begin to succeed in using his verbal skills to label emotions and frustrations. My husband and I are thrilled and awestruck at the peace she's brought to our little guy, after a very long stint of looking into every option for parenting styles, diet, etc. Thank you Nikki for stregthening our family unit and enriching the quality of our lives!!

And Mr. Bean has some news too!

Boo. Mr. Bean. Tootoo. Our little guy is little no more.

He's nearly three.

Not to mention a superstar race car driver "Rock and Troll" singing Big Guy.

Just see for yourself: he's in swim class- without Mom, he's on a soccer team- the Hoppers, and he has his own Big Guy work to do. My sweet pea is sure growing into a big three year old!

He says:

"Mom, check out my cool moves!"

"Mom, I put my head under water!"

"Mom, I drew a rocket por Dad." And he did.

Meanwhile, I am sadly wondering just when I turned into plain old Mom. Where or where are the days of Mommy?

tootoo.

my little man. it's all about the journey with you, isn't it?