Changing

C turned 3 on Sunday. He was sick the morning of his birthday. Poor guy. I had given him cow's milk the day before, and he generally drinks soy. He's never been diagnosed as having a milk allergy, but he sure does seem sensitive to it. I think we'll just avoid cow's milk from now on.

That's not really the point of this post though. :) Just lately, I'm seeing C change so much. He's definitely moving from the toddler stage to the preschooler stage. Listening to his talking, which has become so much more conversational lately, is so fun. I love to listen to him talk with his siblings. He really looks up to the older kids and he's enjoying that P is getting big enough to really interact and play with him. Last weekend we were at a family reunion. C wanted to go and pet these cute little dogs, and we were standing just a few feet from them. P was chattering excitedly, but was probably feeling a little nervous about approaching them. C kept gently nudging P forward, saying "P, go pet the doggies". I think he wanted P to check it out and then he'd join him if it all went well. I wonder how many other things P will be C's guinea pig for?? That's kind of a scary thought.

C is also looking older to me these days. We cut his hair last week and having shorter (but thankfully, still curly) hair always makes his face look more mature. I also notice him looking bigger when he's doing things like being brave at the playground, running around outside, helping to dress himself and things like that.

Oh, and then there's the whole independence issue. It brings along it's fair share of temper tantrums, which we're beginning to see. C has always been such a laid back child, so I was hoping we might avoid the tantrum stage that often comes with 3. But, I don't think we're going to be so lucky. Why do they call it the terrible twos?? Two is awesome. Sure they're little busy bodies at 2, but they're so fun. 3 though.... that can be terrible. Oh well, at least I know that 4 is waiting for us on the other side. :)