Mac - 3 Years Old

Dear Mac,

Last month you turned three years old and became a "threenager" nearly overnight.  No longer are you a toddling, timid two-year old, you are a crazy, curious and clever kid that challenges me daily and constantly makes me question my sanity.  I alternate between loving you so fiercely it hurts and desperately wanting to give you away to the gypsies.  I've never seen so much attitude, style, drama and stubbornness wrapped up in one tiny person.  You are something, my child.  

Most of the time, you are pretty stinking awesome.  You are hilarious and witty, charming and devious. You seem like such a big kid these days and talk a mile a minute (you NEVER shut up). You finished your first year of 2-day nursery school and your teachers raved about what great progress you made (no more crying at dropoff!) and how smart and sweet you are.  You love talking about your friends at school and the fact that they let you use scissors (OMG)!  That was a huge day for you. I think you were genuinely excited to start summer camp there in June (so long as there are scissors). You go three half-days a week, which is the same schedule you'll have in the fall and you're doing great!  No tears at dropoff the first day, despite lots of other kids having meltdowns.  I was so proud of you (and also slightly sad that you were way more interested in the water hose than in me).

You are still wild, adventurous and incredibly active.  You have boundless energy and both your body and mind seem to be going 100 mph until you crash.  You still take a nap (most days), but could probably drop it and be fine (at this point it's more for our sanity than yours).  If you're awake, you are always moving.  You can't sit still for longer than a minute or two and your attention span, while getting better, is milliseconds.  You are so incredibly physical these days and throw, hit, kick or slam anything you get your hands on.  You are so aggressive and passionate in your play and love and the rest of us are constantly covered in bruises.  

You're finally starting to understand imagination play and it's incredible to watch you play and come up with elaborate stories and scenarios for us.  You love hunting for pirate treasure, battling snow monsters and looking for aliens.  I think you get most of your "play" scenarios from episodes of Paw Patrol, which is the only show you have any interest in watching (for about 3 minutes before moving on).  You still love books and we're starting to read some fairy tales and longer books with more words and fewer pictures these days, which makes me SO excited.  If I have to read "Spot Goes To The Farm" one more time I might throw it out the window.  Bring on the Harry Potter.  

You sing all the time and I absolutely love it.  You can finally carry a tune, remember lyrics and anything you sing in your little voice makes me want to melt.  You can sing about 10 different songs and you also sing silly phrases here and there, which is just adorable.  Wednesdays at camp are your favorite because it's "Music with Robert" day and you get to sing and dance.  You love your bedtime songs and have started asking for more silly songs, which I'm happy to oblige you with.  It makes all those years of sitting around a campfire singing at Girl Scout camp finally worth it.  

You have officially entered the "why" phase and ask me "why" nearly eight thousand times a day.  However, you don't ask regular "why" questions that have real answers (like why is the sky blue?), you ask the most infuriating "why" questions that I cannot even begin to explain to you.  Examples include: Why is school this way?  Why is that coffee?  Why are there worms?  Why is the beach at Florida? Why is this your car?  Why is yellow?   I mean, how am I supposed to answer these?  They don't even make sense!  I don't want to be a curiosity buzzkill, but it drives me nuts!  

You still love being outside more than anything.  You love playing on the neighbor's swingset and slide.  You love riding your new big boy bike!  You chase butterflies, dig for worms, lift heavy rocks and collect rolly pollies.  You love going for runs with your dad in the stroller (especially if you get to stop for a snow cone or see a train).  You pull Mim up and down our street in the wagon.  You play basketball with the older neighborhood boys and drive the Barbie Jeep with the girls.  You've gone fishing with your dad and grandpa numerous times and think it's the greatest thing in the world.  You keep asking me when we can go back to the beach.  

You are friendly to everyone you meet and don't seem to know a stranger these days.  You say hi to everyone and get offended if they don't return the greeting, whether we're in the grocery store or taking a walk to town.  You love animals and give them just as much attention as people.  You talk to the animals at the zoo, know the names of every dog on our street and last weekend you greeted every bird at the Wild Bird Sanctuary with "Hi birdie, cock-a-little-doo!"  You love being the center of attention and will do just about anything to have everyone focused on you all the time.  We can immediately tell if your sister is getting more attention than you, based on your attitude and how destructive you're being.  

And speaking of your little sister, you are finally coming around to her...sometimes.  You love it when she laughs at you and love it when she's paying attention to you, but most of the time you're still very jealous of her and ignore her as much as you can.  Which I'll take any day over terrorizing and tormenting her, which you also do sometimes. Now that's she's getting more mobile and interesting to you, you've tried playing with her a few times.  You say things like, "Come over here Mims and hold this ball while I hit it with a golf club." Of course she has no idea how to play or what you want, but it's very sweet when you try to be friends with her.  Occasionally you will give her a random hug or kiss (which completely melts my heart), but more often than not it's a random punch or shove (which worries me).  She's going to grow up so tough (hopefully tough enough to kick your ass).  However, we were at a park last week and some of the other little kids were talking to her and you got so possessive and keep saying, "that's my sister!" to them and dragging her away from them.  I think you might just be an amazing and protective big brother after all.

You have a MAJOR sweet tooth and no longer seem to be interested in eating breakfast, lunch or dinner...ever.  Well, you will eat breakfast, as long as it's French Toast covered in syrup AND powdered sugar.  That's your meal of choice.  You will eat anything with sugar and do almost anything for it, including potty training, taking photos, picking up toys or being quiet while I rock your sister to sleep.  Thank God you're bribeable, otherwise we'd never get anything done.  

I love you to the moon and back, Macaroni.  You are one of a kind.  I hope you never ever change.

Love,
Your mama

Favorite songs:
1. Ram Sam Sam
2. On Top of Spaghetti
3. ABCs

Favorite foods:
1. Suckers
2. Cookies
3. Ice Cream

Favorite clothing:
1. Babiators
2. Rain coat
3. Camo Crocs

Favorite sayings:
1. Let's do it!
2. I don't want to!
3. Want to play something with me?

(while cooking in his little play kitchen)

"Mama, I'm a good cook.  I never make the smoke alarm go off like you do."

(while playing basketball)

Me: Good shot, you're really good at basketball.

Mac: I know, I'm a really good baller.

Me: I was thinking about making a special dessert tonight...funnel cake!

Mac: Funny snake?

Me: No, funnel cake.

Mac: Funnit snake?

Me: No, funnel cake.

Mac: Tunnel cake?

Me: Yeah.
Mac: I like tunnel cake.

Me: Please don't kick me in the stomach.
Mac: Why? There's a baby in there?
Me: No, there's no baby.  Do you want another baby?
Mac: Yes!
Me: Really?  You want another baby like Mim?
Mac: No, I want a black baby.
Me: I don't know if your dad and I can make a black baby.
Mac: Let's get one at the grocery store.
Me: What would you do with a new baby?
Mac: Love it.  And take it for a wagon ride.

Every night when I tuck you in I tell you to sleep well so we can play hard tomorrow.  Until one night you told me you weren't going to sleep very well because you were going to play gentle the next day.  Touche.