Babysoroos

I just realised that I never posted anything about Timothy’s third birthday back in February. I am rectifying that now, but at some point I will edit the date for this post to put it back in February.

We had a few friends over for a little party. The kids painted rocks, outside (!) in the sun (!!), in February!

Timothy chose “pupcakes” for his birthday cake this year (I think influenced by the cupcakes Ben had taken to school for his half-birthday a couple of weeks earlier. He wanted vanilla, with chocolate frosting, and sprinkles. When we went to the store to get the sprinkles, he was faced with the Valentine’s display and chose these heart-shaped ones.

And he still tried to hide a little while we sang Happy Birthday to him, but not quite as determinedly as last year.

At three years old, Timothy is talking really well, which is a huge change from six months earlier. We had about four months of speech therapy, which ended right as he turned three. He still has some funny pronunciation issues, but he can talk, and talk, and talk, and mostly he’s intelligible.

He climbs and jumps and swings (he can even sort of pump by himself) and rides a bike and digs and plays in the sandpit. He likes to help plant things in the garden (and by help, I do actually really mean *help*), and loves to prune bushes and trees. He spends a lot of time outdoors.

Indoors, he likes to draw and can write a decent version of his name. He *loves* to cut things — we’ve been through several phases of finding patches of tiny cut up pieces of paper on the floor. And some ruined clothes. He spends lots of time playing with his cars and trucks, lining them up in traffic jams or sending them off to emergencies. Quite the imagination. He likes to dress up as a fireman. He loves to look through books and listen to stories.

He’s a pretty darn sweet, cute, funny little guy.

He’s rolling both ways with ease, and starting to try to get up on his feet and hands. He clearly knows what to work on next — he’s trying to bend his knees but it upsets his balance and his face ends up in the carpet.

He can sit up for an extended period, although he sometimes launches himself forward after a toy with enough force to land on his face and hurt himself. I don’t remember the others doing that. Flopping backwards or toppling sideways, yes, but not forward over his legs.

I had him sitting in a laundry basket a couple days ago and he managed to pull himself up to standing. Nearly tipped the laundry basket in the process, but I was sitting right beside him. Hard to believe that in just a few months he’ll likely be walking!

We’ve tried offering him food on a few occasions, but despite his passionate efforts to grab food off our plates, he’s not been terribly enthusiastic about the reality of anything on his tongue. He holds his mouth open, his tongue frozen in place, with this funny distressed look on his face. As long as he’s got a spoon, though, he’ll sit happily at the table with us.

He got a new bathtub the other day, an inflatable one that’s easier for him to sit up in, and a softer landing if he tips over. He enjoyed his first use of it so much that he had a massive blowout poo and got a second bath in one day. He was quite pleased with himself.