Our little guy recently visited his doctor for his three year old check up. I was stunned when I realized he hadn't had a sick child visit in seven months, actually it was probably last spring. In fact, part of the reason we decided I would quit my job to stay home was in part due to the constant string of illnesses he suffered picked up from day care.
Dr. Anderson said he looks great, although we discovered that he has "
trigger finger" in both of his thumbs. Evidently this means that his tendons are too tight, so when he gives you a thumbs up his thumbs don't straighten all they way but instead continue to bend forward a bit. It does not seem to cause him any pain. We are going to see a pediatric hand specialist on Thursday, hopefully with some sleeping splints they will stretch out although surgery is recommended in extreme cases. Here are Harrison's stats:
Height: 37&7/8 inches (60th percentile)
Weight: 33.5 lbs (70th percentile)
He usually measures on the taller side but this was the first visit where he was measured standing up as opposed to lying down and the nurse said all the kids appear to "shrink" a bit standing up. I am surprised his weight is 70th percentile, his shorts would just fall around his ankles all summer and I have to get jeans and ratchet the adjustable waist band fairly tight.
He is getting better at eating a variety of foods, although vegetables are still his nemesis and I still give him veggie and fruit purees in fun to squeeze pouches. We push him a little during meal times and tell him he pretty much must try one of everything on his plate and after pushing food around and eating all the stuff he likes first, he will begrudgingly try it. The cool part is that he will usually admit to liking the previously despised foods and continue to eat. Recently he learned how to properly give the thumbs up and thumbs down signs so he will turn to me, often on his own, and say, "mommy, you made a good dinner" and flash me the thumbs up sign. In fact I don't think he has ever given me the thumbs down. Also he loves to help me make dinner (it's just to bad it takes twice as long, makes twice the mess and causes me twice the frustration) and tries to be helpful (this often includes eating the chicken I'm shredding, dipping his fingers into sauces to lick his fingers and sneaking any cheese I am working with).
Harrison is speaking well and picking up a lot of colloquial phrases from us. This morning he told dad to come downstairs by yelling, "come on, dude!" out of nowhere; we don't really use "dude" all that often but he has good "listening ears." Recently I started to ask him, "do you have your listening ears on?" when he clearly isn't paying attention to me and he will stop what he's doing, look at me and cup his hands over his ears kind of like he is putting on headphones and then nod his head... yes, mom he is listening.
That said, he spends a lot of time not listening to me. He has adopted the "ignore and keep on keepin' on" tactic of dealing with us and generally will not acknowledge our requests until we raise our voices and/or threaten him with a time out if appropriate. It. drives. me. batty.
His imagination continues to flourish. I mentioned previously that he pretends to be puppy from "101 Dalmatians" but it goes much further than that. Daily, he tells me he is someone from a movie and then asks or tells me who I am, who daddy is and who Winston is. Some days he also assigns friends roles as well. This is more than a mere game to him , he takes it very seriously to the extent that he will refuse to hold a conversation with you if you do not address him properly. For example:
Me: Harrison, please pick up your toys.
HJ: No, I'm Peter Pan.
Me: Peter Pan, mommy really needs you to pick up your toys.
HJ: No, your name is Wendy.
Me: Peter Pan, please pick up your toys or Winston will eat them!
HJ: Winsty is Nana, Wendy... when is Mr. Darling
(dad) coming home?
Many parents dread the stage when kids ask "why" in response to anything you say to them. For me, Harrison constantly asks "what does that mean?" even though he knows exactly what something means. Also lately, in the car he will ask me "where are we going" when he knows full well exactly where we are going after I have answered that question twice already. This has led me to start teasing him. For example, we may be going to Red Robin (his favorite restaurant on earth) and he will ask "where are we going" so I tell him "we're going to the zoo/airport/driving to grandpa's house" to which he will reply, "nooo, Red Robin mom!" If I play dumb and keep up the charade he will eventually say, "stop teasing me mom!"
Harrison has a map of the U.S. in his room as well as on a place mat and he can point out where people live as well as places he has visited. Basically this includes Seattle, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Denver, Anaheim (Disneyland), Florida (Disney World) and Alabama. Why Alabama you ask? Because currently his favorite song on the radio is, "Sweet Home Alabama"! It came on three times in a a few days and I told him to listen to this cool song about a place called Alabama and since then he asks for it daily and I had to impose a three song play limit. He will tell me to "Turn it UP mom!" especially if we are in the car. He will also tell me "mom, don't sing. DANCE!" Can't blame him for knowing what's good for him, no one wants to hear me sing!
Regarding his "formal education" he has made some big moves. This month Harrison was moved into the 3 year old class at The Little Gym which means there are no more parents playing with them during class, instead we sit and watch behind large windows. The first two classes he ran over to the window a lot to say hi and he looked a little sad during parts of the second class, but by class three he was enjoying himself throughout the 60 minute duration and his instructor assures me he is right on track and learning the more rigid format by watching and doing. I'm really proud of him.
Last week he had his first swimming class with the 3 year olds without mommy in the pool. That said, mommy spent 25 minutes of the 30 minute class crouched directly next to him to encourage and keep him calm. He seemed a bit freaked out but by the end he was starting to have fun and understand how class works now. It just happened we got the same instructor from last session so he recognized her and was willing to let her hold him and swim, which he didn't really like doing last session.
Another big step is Harrison is now officially registered for preschool in the fall, two full days a week (about 6 hours a day) at a lovely nearby facility. Since school will start about the same time baby arrives, we thought it best to get him used to school rather than shipping him out the minute baby arrives; in June he will attend their summer program two days a week for 3 hours in the morning. Harrison toured the school with me and absolutely cannot wait to start. I told him he has to wait until summer and to show his understanding he says, "I'm not bigger, yet."
Most importantly he is a kind, loving friend and son and shows it throughout the day. At Little Gym he will look over at me through the window, smile and flash the "I Love You" sign with his hand; coincidentally he just mastered holding his fingers correctly and is so happy about it he gives us the ILY sign through out the day.
He is coming close to dropping his midday nap and the other day he refused to take a nap but
I really needed one. He agreed to have quiet time in his room but then immediately needed to use the potty. I told him to go by himself and he ran into my room a few minutes later saying he did it all himself, even washed his hands and just needed me to help put his pants back on. The really sweet thing was he smiled and said, "thank you mommy, you rest now, I am going to have quiet time." Melts your heart, especially when you're exhausted.
When we go to a friend's house, before we go in I ask him, "Harrison, are you going to be a good friend today? Will you be nice and remember to share?" and he always promises he will be and he has been following through every time. My friend Irene watched him with her 16 month old while I was at the doctor the other day and when I came to pick him up she said, "Harrison makes having two kids seem easy!" which was honestly the biggest compliment to him that I could ask for. When our kid is a good kid when we are away, that makes me so happy and proud of him.
Harrison, you are so much fun and we love watching you grow up and experiencing all the fun things you do and say. You will always be our big little boy in our hearts!
