my little boy will turn 3 years old. Is it possible to feel nostalgic when only three years have passed? Today, as I watched him pour his own cereal into his bowl, I realized that the little baby I gave birth to three years ago, is no more. He's not even a toddler. He's a boy.
I have to say, I'm enjoying the heck out of him right now. Three is a fun age (minus the tantrums and assertiveness). I'm having a little birthday party for him next week and he's been very involved with the planning-he told me which 4 friends he would like to have, he helped me "write" out the invitations and we put them in the mail together. He's excited about his party-it's a construction theme with games and a construction cone pinata that he helped me make and he's requested a "flat bed tractor trailer" cake. (Thankfully, I'm a certified cake decorator!)
The neat thing about all this is the milestone he's developed: anticipation. At Christmas time, he was excited about Santa coming, but only because we made a big deal about it, not because he understood it. At Christmas time, he hadn't really developed anticipation and now, 5 months later, he has.
With a baby, the milestones are pretty obvious-rolling, sitting, crawling, etc. Of course, there are more subtle milestones, too (pincher grasp, some of the cognitive processes, etc) but with a little boy (or girl) the major milestones can almost go unnoticed because they are so subtle (the use of prepositions in language (as well as other language developments), the understanding of cause and effect in a thought process, the concept of time becomes more relevant, etc) but they are no less significant and important. I love watching these things develop and emerge.
Anyway, it's hard to believe that in just 7 days, my little boy will turn 3 years old. I'd be lying if I said there haven't been days when I've wanted to pull my hair out and cry, but for the most part, the past 3 years with my little man have been wonderful and full of fun-so much more so than I ever imagined they would be!
