What does a 3 year old look like?

This!!!! 

(I think this is the start of a new tradition to take pictures of you when you wake up on your birthday--insert evil mommy laugh here)

Dear SD:
You are three years old today and we can't wait to celebrate with our friends and families this weekend. You are thisclose to 30 pounds and are over 3 feet tall (you are literally more than half of me!).  You are just awesome and make Daddy and I laugh every single day.  You are still very well behaved, although you do have to visit time out every now and then.

Your favorite things right now are:

• Your UNC basketball that plays the fight song
• Your NC State football that plays the fight song (I'm seeing a theme here...)
• Basketball & Football
• Pushing the button to make the garage door go up & down
• Playing outside on S & S's "park"  (also known as their awesome play set in their backyard)
• Yo Gabba Gabba and Elmo
• Lime Popsicles
• Slides
• Pizza and mushetti (spaghetti)
• Brown Shoes (these have been on the favorites list for more than a year and we're on your second pair)
• Getting food and running from Lucy so that she chases you around the house

You have been discharged from the Special Infant Clinic & Surgery.  You still see Nephrology, but only once a year.  The only therapy you currently get is speech therapy, which is to help you overcome the speech delays due to your hearing loss (the tubes fixed the hearing loss).  

You are such a goofy kid.  You climb on anything you get the chance to climb on and love to jump.  Your laugh is contagious and you crack up about everything.  You still love to sleep and let us know when you are ready for bed; you nap 3 hours a day (making many parents very jealous).  Your smile and dimples light up a room - especially when you bat your eyelashes and flirt!

You've recently met a lot of very scared mommies & daddies with babies in the NICU and have given them so much hope.   Your story continues to amaze and surprise people because there's no indication now that you were given a less than 30% chance at survival at birth.

You continue to be our most favorite thing in the whole world.  You are the best thing that's ever happened to us.

Love you more,
Mommy & Daddy

P.S.  The only bad thing about turning three is that you now have to spend three minutes in time out rather than two!

Here's Mommy & Daddy on their 3rd Birthdays

(don't let the Wonder Woman in Daddy's hand go unnoticed)

adventures in potty training

"It's been said that adults spend the first two years of their children's lives trying to make them walk and talk, and the next sixteen years trying to get them to sit down and shut up.  It's the same way with potty training: Most adults spend the first few years of a child's life cheerfully discussing pee and poopies, and how important it is to learn to put your pee-pee and poo-poo in the potty like big people do. But once children have mastered the art of toilet training, they are immediately forbidden to ever talk about poop, pee, toilets and other bathroom-related subjects again. Such things are now considered rude and vulgar, and are no longer rewarded with praise and cookies and juice boxes. One day you're a superstar because you pooped in the toilet like a big boy, and the next day you're sitting in the principal's office because you said the word "poopy" in American History class (which, if you ask me, is the perfect place to say that word)."  
— Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants And The Preposterous Plight Of The Purple Potty People)

Super Dude has been exposed to the potty for a while and he loves it.  He's not afraid of it (whew!) and thinks that flushing and washing his hands are the best things ever!  The few times he has been successful, we danced and we sang...and he just laughed.  Best. Entertainment. Ever!  His preschool teachers told us that he's exhibiting the signs of "readiness" (whatever that means) and they've been working with him consistently on potty training.  The problem is....mommy & daddy. We're not consistent because we are clueless.  And if he's only getting consistency 3 days a week when he's at school, he's going to be in diapers until he's in high school.  From what I remember of my high school days, it's not cool (that's probably not even a cool word anymore) to wear diapers. 

If you search for "potty training" books on Amazon, you get 869 books; search for "potty training" in baby products, you get 1,214 items. What's a clueless parent to do? Why, turn to the blog of course!

Now's your chance to share your tips and advice.  SPILL IT!  Give us the secrets, oh wise ones. We're not afraid of a little self-humiliation or bribery, so don't hold back.   And if you peepee on the potty, you can have an m&m...oh sorry... got side-tracked for a second.