Tristan & Kristin: mckai

Hooray! He's three!

I love this smart, slightly OCD, funny, absolutely adorable, sweet and occasionally feisty little boy. I can't believe he's not technically a toddler anymore. And I certainly can't believe that he is THREE. Life with him is a busy and exciting adventure! I'm grateful for my little best friend.

weight: 25 pounds 12 ounces
length: no idea anymore :)
diaper size (yes we're still in diapers!): five
clothes size: pants- 18-24 months, shirts and pajamas- 2T, shoes- 7

He finally started talking the last two months, hallelujah! His vocabulary has exploded and I'm so proud and relieved. He has been seeing Kids on the Move since March (when we started, his vocabulary was about 75 words) and has qualified for speech therapy with the school district starting with the school year. He qualified before his speech took off (I can't even keep track of how many words he is saying now! hundreds, thousands?) which I'm actually quite happy about. Now that he talks, he never stops. Never. And in the last few weeks he has developed a bit of a lisp (especially noticeable when he says yes and faster). It's too cute right now!

my favorite mckai-isms:
- "I want to hold you, mom" (when he wants me to pick him up)
- "yes, I did!" (when he's proud of himself - ie: when I ask him if he beat dad in the race)
- "happy birbay!"
- "I'm okay!" (if he falls or runs into things or gets mildly hurt)
- "I know, mom/dad" (he says this before he does something that he knows we will tell him not to)
- "Remember?" (when he wants something to go his way, ie "no food, remember?")
- started saying "oh my dosh!"
- sings the PJ Masks theme song and Clean Up, as well as a bunch of nonsense songs.
- adds "right?" to the end of every sentence and won't stop repeating it until you respond in the way he wants.
- calls himself, "me, kai boy" and frequently talks in third person.
- "so......" this one makes me laugh every time I don't know why!
- "mom, talk!" when I don't talk to him enough. Just talking to him all day is both interesting and EXHAUSTING. All the "why's?" and "why nots" make me run out of responses really quick.
- "mom I'm going to get you cause I love you!"
- "cool, huh?"

Can point to and name all the letters of the alphabet and has started to learn to write a few of them.

Counts to five (including the fingers) and sometimes counts to 10.

Knows all the basic colors: red, yellow, green, blue, white, black, orange, pink, purple

Started wiping away my kisses or says, "don't do that!" but still gives a million hugs a day. Loves holding my hand, giving eskimo & butterfly kisses, and begs to sit on my lap with every meal time.

He recounts some of his favorite experiences over and over again. Things like shooting the bugs at lake powell with Parker and having fun at the pool splashing Abby.

Started imaginary play a few months ago and it is so much fun. My favorite is when he fights the monsters.

Walks up and down stairs like a champ without holding onto anything. Is always running and jumping, riding his scooter or on his bike. Sometimes it feels like he never stops moving. He loves doing somersaults and walking on his hands (with me holding his feet). Is the best little swimmer with his floatie on and loves jumping into the water from the wall. He loves soccer and has really great aim when kicking that ball!

Has become so social! He makes friends everywhere we go, the pool, airports, you name it!

Says "hi!" to literally everyone who walks past. One of his favorite pastimes here in Arkansas is sitting on our balcony and yelling hi to people out walking below. And he actually gets kind of offended if people don't say hi back.

Loves reading books which makes me happy. We often find him in the rocking chair reading books when we go get him in the morning. His favorite thing to do right before bed is read to one of the dogs. I'm no longer allowed to read them to him anymore but he loves reading them to me and saying, "what's that?" to everything... that's what I used to do to him and now he has turned it on me...

Food:
He's still picky as can be but I'm slowly learning to relax a little bit about it.
Likes: all berries and most other fruits, yogurt, smoothies, chocolate milk, most breakfast foods (eggs, bacon, french toast, pancakes, waffles, etc...), quesedillas, grilled cheese sandwiches, mac & cheese, and if you didn't catch on yet... cheese, "cupcakes" aka muffins, noodles and onion soup from tepanyaki type restaurants, peas, edamame, corn bread, fruit/veggie pouches (thank goodness he still eats these!) and all things sweet and snacky.
Dislikes/Refuses to try: meat of any kind, vegetables, every dinner I've ever made.

Sleep:
Dislikes going to bed and tries to stall any way possible. Mom read books (where he then proceeds to point out every. single. letter. on every. single. page.), mom I'm hungry, mom lay by me for a minute, etc... but goes to bed between 8-9 pm and sleeps until 8-9 am. Naps have been hit and miss for what feels like a long while now. If he sleeps its usually about 3 hours long. But if he doesn't, we just do quiet time in his room for an hour or so.
Has been in a big boy bed since before the new year sometime and did well with the transition. He loves mommy Ellie the most (he has a baby Ellie and a nice Ellie too but they probably wouldn't replace mommy if we lost her....)

Potty Training:
For awhile there he was doing really well at going pee on the potty but that's slowed down over the last couple months. We ask him constantly but he always says no :( Tristan tried last Sunday to put him in underwear and see how he did. He peed on the floor once, peed in the potty once, and refused to pee in the potty again. Ugh... I just want to get it over with! But I'm trying to be patient because they say that kids do better when they are ready.

Favorite TV Shows: PJ Masks, Dinosaur Train, and Daniel Tiger.
Favorite Movies: Cars (all of them) and Boss Baby.
Favorite Toys: cars, trucks, trains, books (especially his PJ masks book with flaps).
Travel Stats:
States Visited: 10
Countries Visited: 1
Flights: 21