Hellobee

I can barely believe our little boy is three years old! He is cautious, sweet, bright, silly and observant. (And occasionally a little monster.) Here’s a snapshot of Max at 3.

Eating

Max has always been a good eater and that is still true at 3. Like any well balanced human he has breakfast 1, breakfast 2, breakfast 3, lunch and dinner every day. I’m thankful he isn’t a picky eater and will eat most things we put in front of him. Of course he wouldn’t be a toddler if he didn’t occasionally swipe his entire plate off the table because we gave him the wrong fork, the plate was the wrong color, or he just wanted ______ (fill in anything).

Doing

Max is potty trained! Woohoo! We weren’t in a hurry to potty train, but when his daycare teachers told us he was ready (~2 yrs 9 months) we went with it. It was tough at first, mainly in that we had to do a lot of laundry. I think the first week we sent him to school in undies we did laundry every night. After that the accidents started getting fewer and farther between. He still wears a pull up (which he adorably pronounces “puuull up“) at night but other than that we are done with diapers!

Everyone talks about the “terrible twos,” and we foolishly thought we lucked out because our two-year-old was so even tempered. Oh, how we were wrong. Max just started the “terrible” part a little later. The first time he had a full blown, lay on the floor screaming tantrum he was a few months shy of three. Initially, Mr. Ice Cream and I were taken aback at how quickly his emotions could swing from loving angel to screaming monster. Now, we get it, he’s a toddler.

Max is in the phase where he wants to do everything himself. I love how proud of himself he is when he completes a task; finishing a puzzle, putting his shoes on, buckling Zoe’s carseat. The hardest part is fighting the urge to jump in, especially when we are in a hurry. Once in a while Max gets upset if he can’t do something, but more often he is incredibly patient and will keep trying until he figures it out. For a while, every time Max wanted to do a puzzle, Mr. Ice Cream and I would brace for an emotional rollercoaster. He would study the pieces, get upset when he couldn’t piece them together, finally get it, then want to do it again, and again. I’m proud of him for sticking with it, because there were a few times I was close to throwing out all the puzzles in our house!

Saying

Max has mastered a lot of the words he used to struggle with. But I’m guilty of discouraging the correct pronunciation of a few of my favorites since it’s *sooo* cute (“Buh-lexa” aka Alexa, “Banana” aka Diana (my sister), “amimimal” aka animal). We’re happy he has finally mastered his name, since he spent a couple of months calling himself “Matt”.

I’m using the Day One app to write down all the funny things Max has been saying at this age. The app is great because it is on my phone, iPad and computer so I can conveniently jot things down as they come up. I recently posted some of my favorite conversations with Max here.

Sleeping

At three we assumed Max would be sleeping through the night. Not exactly. While his bedtime routine is getting better (as in he is asleep by 8 with minimal crying), it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. On a few occasions, Max has gotten so upset he threw his train and dented the wall. Once he slammed the door so hard towards the wall that he broke the door stopper and sent the doorknob through the drywall (didn’t love that). Needless to say, Mr. Ice Cream and I have also gotten really good at repairing drywall.

We have been adamant about Max staying in his room at night, which means some nights Mr. Ice Cream literally picks up Max and carries him back to his room 20-30 times. Not an easy task to pick up a kicking human.

Max is still taking a 1.5-2h nap, but it is a struggle. For the last two or three months it has gotten increasingly hard to get him to fall asleep and I have a feeling we will be saying goodbye to naps very soon. I wrote a little more about his sleep here.

Playing

If there is one game Max can play for hours it’s reverse parenting. He loves to go through his nighttime routine and put us to bed. It is the cutest thing when he tells us “don’t be scared, Max is nearby.” He has our parenting routine down to a tee and he is strict telling us we can only read 2 books, we can’t leave the room, we have to sleep on the bed (even though he never sleeps in his) and we can have one toy. He also loves cooking in his kitchen and making us breakfast.

As much as Max loves to boss us around, he also loves to spend hours laying on the floor rolling a car/train/bus around. Current favorites are Lightning McQueen (we have a hidden stash of extra ones for emergencies!) and Thomas.

Max Stats

Weight: 30 lbs
Height: 38″

Despite the challenges that comes with parenting a 3 year old, it is also the most adorable age!