Carter - 3 1/2 Years Old

Potty Training
In his 3 year old post, I mentioned that Carter was tee tee trained 100% and that we were working on pooping in the potty.  My big boy is now completely trained for everything!  I also mentioned in that post that even though he was tee tee trained I was still having to help him put his clothes back on.  He used to be big into completely taking off his pants/shorts and underwear instead of just pulling them down so I was constantly having to help him put them back on.  He’s been doing this all on his own for a while now.  These days, if Carter does have to go poo poo, he will literally go into the bathroom and close the door and turn on the fan.  Such a boy.  We do still leave his little Elmo potty in his bedroom with him in case he needs to go in the middle of the night or something.  He’s not allowed to leave his room once he’s in there (we have a child-proof lock on the door).  We do this because Garrett’s room is right across from his and I just don’t want him going to check on his brother without my knowledge.

Shoe Size
Last time we got him measured he was measuring around a size 9.  His foot is also narrowing too.  Some of his shoes are still wide, but some of them aren’t.  It just depends on the brand.

Clothes
At his last doctor appointment at 3 years old, Carter was 50% for weight and 40% for height.  As of now, he’s wearing 3t shirts and pants/shorts (though some shorts are still 2t-depending on the brand).  We’re even starting to buy some 4t pajamas because his 3t ones are getting a tad snug already. 

Eating
Carter’s always been a picky eater, but everyone has told me that as he grows up he will be more willing to try  new things and will like them.  I have found this to be true.  In his 3 year post, we mentioned that he just started liking pizza.  Carter will eat pizza under the right conditions, but he just really doesn’t like it all that much.  I’m sure this is definitely one of those things that he will learn to like as he gets older.  Pizza is what most kids have at birthday parties and what kids order when there’s a large group.  So I do think that he will eventually hop on board the pizza train.  He recently tried a hot dog for the first time and liked it.  No bun on the hot dog though, obviously.  The kid still doesn’t like bread.  He loves lunchables though, even the ones with meat.  He used to only eat the ones with cheese, crackers and oreos, but now he really loves the ones with ham, turkey and bologna.  It’s usually what we send him to eat at school.  He also has tried pork chops and liked that too.  We do still have to try to convince him to eat the pork chops though.  He’s also eaten roast!!  And one of his favorite breakfast meals now is oatmeal (I’m still working with him on eggs-as of now I think it’s a texture thing for him).  All this to say that he’s becoming more and more open to trying new things.  But he is overall a big health nut!  He’s not doing it intentionally, but he prefers lean meats with veggies and fruits.  He’s not big into things like bread, macaroni and cheese and pizza and hamburgers.  I’m still hoping he gives those things a shot in the future but we’ll see.

**This was the first time I’ve ever let Carter help me make a cake.  It was for Justin’s birthday.  Carter picked out the flavor (blue of course-it’s still his favorite color) and he also decorated it, as you can probably guess by looking at the picture.**
Sleep
Everyone told me that age 3 is when they drop the nap.  Carter isn’t even close.  He loves his nap…and so do I!!!!  He still takes a solid 2 hour nap every day!  Some days I will let him skip the nap, particularly if there’s a reason we need to skip it.  On days that he takes a nap, we still put him down for the night around 8pm, but he usually won’t fall asleep until closer to 9.  On days he skips the nap, he goes to bed right at 7:30.  He wakes up anywhere from 7am-8am most days.  Our night time routine hasn’t changed much.  He still loves to read books except now he actually points out words that he recognizes.  We’ve been working on spelling and reading and he’s already picking up on it and can point out words he knows in books.  We pray with him every night before bed.  We usually ask him to tell us 3 things he’s thankful for every night and we incorporate that into the prayer.  At naptime he says the “As I lay me down to sleep” prayer all on his own.  Carter is still in his toddler bed that has a rail.  Not sure when we’ll give him a twin or full size bed yet.  My guess is that we’ll go straight to a full size bed so that we don’t have to buy another one.  No plans to do that on the horizon though.  He’s content with his bed right now.

Mother’s Day Out
Carter is out of school for the summer.  He was in the Older Two’s class last year and went to summer school for a month but is now out of school until September.  Also, he “graduated” from Mother’s Day Out and will begin preschool in the fall.  I can’t believe he’s already had his first graduation!  He got a diploma and everything! 

I will say this-my kid is really smart.  And I know most parents say that about their kids, but mine really really is.  He can already spell so many words that I can’t even count them all.  One day I came up to his room and he had used his letter books and spelled the word “Washingto” on the floor.  My jaw just dropped when I saw it and he looked at me and said “I only had one ‘n’ mommy, I need another one to finish the word”.  He’s three y’all.  Three.  He’s known the alphabet for over a year now and he can count up to 40.  Carter has an extreme interest in learning new things, particularly spelling.  He’s always asking how to spell stuff.  Well one day I saw a preschool packet for sale on Zulily that had flashcards and DVD’s and everything so I bought it because I wanted to encourage his desire to learn words and be able to read.  Well come to find out, some of what I bought is for kindergartener’s, not preschooler’s.  Didn’t stop my kid though.  He knows about 60% of the sight words by heart already.  Where we do need work is writing.  He’s really good at tracing letters, but struggles to write them on his own without a template to follow.  So we’ll have to work on that, however none of that is expected by preschoolers.  I’m just trying to work with him while he’s showing interest.

**Carter demanded taking a bath with Garrett one time.  He didn’t realize how cramped the quarter would be so he hasn’t done it since then!**
Statistics
Carter won’t have another official appointment until he’s 4 and I’m dreading that because that’s when he’ll get his first tetanus shot.  Eeeeeeekkkk!!!!  As of now he weight roughly 34 pounds and is about 39 inches tall.  This puts him in about 50th percentile for both height and weight.

Chore Chart
I was in a mom’s bible study on Wednesday nights at my church and the book we were reading was about parenting (duh) and in the book it suggested doing a chore chart for kids Carter’s age.  So I started one.  They weren’t hard chores, but more like things I wanted him to work on personality-wise instead of physical labor.  So his chore chart included things like manners (saying yes ma’am and no ma’am and please and thank you), being kind to others, sharing, trying a new food, obeying mommy and daddy (this means no time-outs), cleaning up toys before naptime and bedtime, cleaning up after he eats a meal (putting plate and cup in sink), etc.  He had to get so many checkmarks at the end of the week for doing these things in order to get a surprise (a doughnut from Krispy Kreme, cookie from Great American Cookie company, a trip to Yogurt Mountain, etc.).  It has worked REALLY well.  He loves the challenge of trying to get checkmarks!  I highly suggest this for anyone who has a kid preschool age!

Other Abilities/Random Things to Note

• He still loves the states.  He can look at a map and tell you where the vast majority of them are and can even tell you some capitals.  Like I said, he’s kind of a genius.
• When I say this kid is obsessed with cars I don’t mean the little hot wheels cars (though he is obsessed with those too) but he’s really obsessed with pointing out cars on the road while we’re driving.  He can identify Buicks, Toyotas, Hondas, Jeeps, Chevy’s and Mazda’s.  Worthy to note:  Justin has a Chevy Tahoe.  So Carter would look at the Chevy symbol and call it the “dying cross” (because it looks like a cross and Jesus died on the cross…you know…a conclusion any three year old would come too!).  So we did have to teach him to call it the “Chevy Bowtie” which is what he now calls it.

• He can put all of his clothes on and off by himself.  Sometimes he struggles with putting on the shirt and getting his head in the hole, but most of the time he can do it.  He also sometimes struggles to put his socks on by himself. 
• He’s gotten several big boy haircuts at Sports Clips.  He’s no longer scared to get his hair cut because he is ALL ABOUT the sucker he gets afterwards!

• As far as drinks goes, he still likes applejuice, milk (we don’t heat it up anymore thank God), Hawaiian Punch (he drinks all of the flavors of HP but he doesn’t call it that, he calls it “red drink” or “orange drink” or “blue drink”…whatever color it is).  Any juice that we give him is 50% diluted with water.  Overall we’re lucky with Carter though because he loves water and will frequently just ask to drink water instead of some sugary drink.
• ADORES his baby brother y’all.  I’ve listed so many things with Carter in this post but in the past 8 months I think what can define Carter is being an amazing big brother.  He loves Garrett so much and is always wanting to be with him.  If Garrett cries, Carter will drop what he’s doing and run to him saying “it’s ok brother.  I’m here!!” (As if the reason Garrett was crying had to do with not being able to see Carter instead of the fact that he had a diaper full of poop).  Garrett is the first thing Carter asks about when he wakes up every morning and he requires giving brother a kiss and a hug before every nap and bedtime at night.  He talks to him in the backseat of my car all the time and I find it incredibly heart melting.  He is so kind to Garrett and to me when I’m dealing with Garrett.  He’s a great helper!  He gets me diapers, throws things in the trash, puts Garrett’s clothes in the laundry basket, puts Garrett’s bottles in the sink…he does so much for him and I love it!

• He remembers EVERYING.  And I mean…EVERYTHING.  We can’t promise him something and not follow through because he will totally call us out on it.  He also repeats absolutely everything he hears so if you come around my child and curse, be prepared to see the bad side of this momma!!  **This bullet point was on the three year post and I’m leaving it here because this is still so incredibly true!!  He absorbs EVERYTHING you tell him.  Everything.  He asks questions all day long about random things and I think most parents brush it off when their kids start asking questions non-stop.  Sometimes I do that if I’m really busy trying to get something done, I just tell him we’ll talk about it later and I end up forgetting.  But most of the time, I try to take the time to answer his questions.  And I can tell that he listens and remembers for MONTHS. 
• He is now riding a big boy bike with a helmet and loves it!  By big boy bike, I mean that it’s not a baby radio flyer, but that it does have training wheels.

• He still likes Elmo and Cookie Monster, but just not quite as obsessed with them.  We have Brighthouse Cable at our house and they just picked up this channel called Baby First Channel.  We let Garrett watch that a lot and Carter is now hooked.  He is WAY more interested in it than Garrett is.  So Carter now watches this Baby First Channel more than he will watch Sesame Street.  I actually can’t remember the last time we watched Sesame Street!