3 Years Old: Dear Beckham

Dear Beckham,
Wow! 3 years old. I just can’t believe it. So much has changed in the past year. I honestly don’t know where to begin! I wrote you a letter at 2.5 years and even then, things have changed so much.

Life is crazy right now. You became a brother shortly after you turned 2.5! The first month you pretty much welcomed it and had no changes in your behavior. I counted myself lucky. Then it happened. You must have realized he was here to stay and your behavior got really hard. In addition to me splitting my time between you and Maddox, as well as being sleep deprived, it’s made for some major disciplining. But you are the sweetest thing to your brother. It’s amazing how protective you already are of him. You tell me “I need to keep baby brubber safe.” It’s really cute.

You’re still that wild, crazy 2.5 year old, but more mature. And by mature, I mean you just seem so grown up. You put on your own socks and shoes (sometimes). You help me out all the time by bringing me things for Maddox. Your language has increased so much. It’s adorable the things you say. With that though comes more tantrums and talking back. You’ll tell me “No sir” and are repeating many things we say, as well as some mannerisms. I really gotta watch it now 🙂 And your favorite word right now is “WHY?” You ask why after everything I tell you to do. It’s frustrating when trying to discipline you. You walk so many more places now too…you’re such a big kid (except for when you disobey me and walk off).

You are finally potty trained when it comes to pee, but the other…oh the other! You refuse to go in the potty. I think you legitimately are concerned, but you will come up to me smiling after you’ve gone in your underwear, so I just started taking your bunny away if you do it. Not sure if that’s the right move, but we’ll see.

You started back at your preschool in September in the 2 year old class (most of y’all are 3 now). You love it and your teachers are great. You talk about “friends” at school now. I love seeing you in a social setting with kids your age. I haven’t received any bad notes, so I’m assuming you behave much better there.

Your bunny (aka Buppy) is still your best little buddy that you take everywhere. You still suck your thumb with him. We will visit the dentist for the first time soon, so we’ll see what he says about that. I’m slowly trying to scale back on Buppy and only give him to you when you sleep, but you ask for him all the time.

Speaking of sleep, you just started skipping your naps. I’m tired just writing that. You napped great, but if you had one, you wouldn’t fall asleep till 10 or 11pm. So, I decided to eliminate it and am trying out “quiet time” instead. You fall asleep so fast if you don’t nap, which is great since Maddox goes down around 7:30/8:00pm. You usually get down by 8:30 or 9:00(if daddy’s home). You sleep about 12 hours. The things you pull if you have a nap and won’t go to bed…you’ll come out of your room every 5-15 minutes with a million excuses. “I need new water.” “What’s that noise?” “I’m hot.” “Read me a book.” “What are you doing mommy?” And the list goes on. We moved you into a twin bed (from your crib) shortly after Maddox was born. Here you are in your bed hugging brother.

This sums you up at 3 years old (except your 34 pounds…I had to make this before your dr. appt and our scale didn’t work so I guessed). Speaking of, your weight is in the 70-80% and your height is in the 20-30%.