Faulkner Family: Happy 3rd

My little Dashel turned three this month!!! Hard to believe that he is a little man now. He has really been into firefighting so we had him a great party at the new fire department. We got him a fire suit (that had to have buckles) and a fire helmet (that had to have a shield). He was very specific about what he needed. We have checked out 30 books at the library about firemen, so he knows his fire gear and such. He played around driving the firetruck and wearing the head phones (with plenty of "fire calls" that he responded to). My dad was on duty, which was perfect so he gave us the ultimate tour and play time. He got all geared up for Dash, but then Dash was a little scared of him. It was perfect! (Thanks Dad!)

Then we had a taco bar dinner and fire truck cake.

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He has turned into such a loving sweet boy with a wild side that is unpredictable and volatile. When he is good he is so good, but when he is bad he is so out of control and impossible.

He loves to help out and is a good listener to instruction (so long as it jibes with what he finds acceptable). He loves to do things by himself of course. Picking out his clothes and getting dressed to name one. One day he had seven shirts on at once because he kept putting them on over the other. It was funny! He was in a huge jersey phase... wearing them frequently and nearly exclusively (which was difficult since he has so many cute clothes left from Gavin). He had a locker room for about four months that had all this sports stuff piled in it. He would get mad if I cleaned it up, which I always wanted to do since it was in the corner of the living room. No one could "enter" or stand in it unless invited.

He is very inquisitive about everything. He always asks what a word means if he doesn't know. He always wants to know how things work. He has a great memory of things that happened when he was one and two years old (although each memory, no matter how distant, is preceded by "remember last night when. . ."). He is very imaginative and will carry out imaginary play for a long time, revisiting it often.

He loves to cook with me and try all the appliance, gadgets, and tools that look so fun to use.

He speaks so clear and with large sentences. He actually talks too much and if I zone out with my answers and I answer wrong... he will call me on it:-)

He is very specific about everything. Completely type A personality. Which creates a lot of battles with me, but I am learning to work with it with some tricky parenting techniques such as options, asking with "may I please", distractions and "do you want to do it OR do you want Mama to do it".

When he is mad or upset he does this thing where his leg are broken or his arms are broken and he won't walk/stand/feed himself or do anything besides declare his legs/arms are broken. It is frustrating, but a little funny (I laugh inside only), but as soon as he is distracted it is over. Very dramatic!!

He is very sweet and loving with his parents lots of hugs and kisses and nice words. Sometimes he will yell out "mam" --- "just checking on you". Or he will give hugs and say "you are my best friend" ;-)

Gavin and him really have quite the dichotomy in their interaction: love fight love fight love fight.... nothing in between. He always wants to do what Gavin is doing so that causes conflict sometimes. Dash has a major hitting problem when dealing with Gavin, and will frequently be seen chasing him around the living room with a hand raised.

This year he learned how to:

ride his trike

ski

ice skate

dress himself

count to 11

sing ABCs

buckle himself into car seat

recognize about a third of his letters

play football

make up songs -- "train coming into town"

put shoes on