Noah: Ch Ch Ch Changes!

As promised (and in record time), a post about my favorite three year old! 

This Guy!!!

Three has proved to be a year of changes, and quickly, for Mr. Noah. 

A chilly day in SF but still smiling!

Potty Training: I think I blogged about this before, but it was yet another change after turning 3 so I'll do a quick recap. One weekend we went for it. Said no more diapers, pull ups, etc. and just told him it was time to go on the potty. He had TWO accidents and was trained (one at home, one at school). He even trained himself to sleep through naps dry. He still wears a diaper for bedtime although he will wake up occasionally to go in the night...then again, sometimes he wakes up with a full diaper. We'll get there. It was amazingly easy and it made me so glad that he was ready for the change and didn't have a single issue with it.

I decided to spare his future teenage self of any "on the potty" pictures but this is from the big day! (I prepared for the day by doing absolutely nothing with my hair or make up!)

Rocking his chart and working towards some prizes! Pretty sure he completed the whole thing in two days...joke was on us!

Big Boy Bed: When in St. Louis for Christmas, Cooper got to take over the crib so we were left deciding what to do with Noah for sleep. Ultimately, we decided to get a couple of rails and go ahead and let him try a big boy bed. He did perfectly. He napped and slept through the night like a champ. He called for us to get him out rather than taking it upon himself to just leave the room as he pleased. I don't know that I was surprised, but I was so happy it went well. 

One of his last rests with both paci and his crib.

I just love the way he crashed out the wrong way in our bed. Who can blame him...there is a lot of space for a little guy!

Upon returning home, he was back in his crib but quickly realized that he was able to climb out (he had never done this before) and we were anxious for the conversion kit to make his bed a toddler bed to arrive quickly. Unfortunately, the rail was on back order so after waiting and dealing with him yelling to get out one too many times (and waking Cooper), we just took the side rail off. We pushed his soft little chair up against the side and it has proved to be just the perfect (and free!) solution. He never got out of his bed without permission until...

He is cracking me up with the insistence on wearing my sunglasses lately.

Paci: We have talked about taking Noah's paci away at least once every few month since he was born. I was not willing to mess with anything sleep related so we let him keep it. Then, an opportunity presented itself. Noah told me he wanted a new toy. Since he had just gotten a million toys for Christmas I told him he didn't need anything BUT if he wanted to trade in his paci for said toy, I would take him to the store. He happily obliged. I waited another day, told him countless times that paci would not come home with us and that when it was time to go to bed he would no longer have paci to sleep with. All good. We went, shopped, he flopped paci up on the counter, and away we went. 

On our way to the toy store with our paci money!

Until nap time. The reality that it was gone set in and he was so so sad. It absolutely broke my heart not to go and get it out of the bag (of course I saved it for posterity!) and tell him we would try again a different day. We napped together that day and come bedtime that night he seemed ok with the concept that the paci "went to the bank with all of the other pacis that bought toys". No more tears but we still occasionally hear about paci. Actually, we drove by our bank yesterday and he said, "that's the bank, that's where my paci is"! 

You tell that face he can't have his paci back :-(.

The fall out from paci being gone is that naps are also over. He began getting out of his bed and playing instead of sleeping and while quiet play in his room is ideal, Cooper naps at the same time so we have abandoned the nap time routine. It's not as bad as I anticipated but there are days where I, admittedly, park him in front of a show or movie so I can get some work done around the house. 

Or he helps me work!

SO, there you have it. Some pretty major changes for our big boy. I am really proud of how well he has handled all of the above as he can have a hard time adjusting to change. Add to that the age three is like some kind of mental torture testing for parents and I say we got even luckier. I guess I should elaborate on that sentence...

Most of the time he is happy!

Noah is incredibly good. I realize that we got very lucky in having a boy who is insanely active and athletic but isn't crazy. He is very kind and rarely acts out in an aggressive manner. We don't have to talk about biting, hitting, or kicking others and he gives the absolute best snuggles. That said, three is HARD! I keep saying, whoever said "terrible twos" didn't have a three year old. The amount of talking back, testing limits, insistence on independence after we are halfway through a task, requiring us to start over, is painful at times. I have yelled at Noah and given myself a time out because I just couldn't bring myself to deal with the situation any more! The hardest times are meals and getting dressed for the day/ready for bed. The power struggles that ensue are something for the record books. I have never had to search so deeply for patience and calm in my life. There are times where I can handle his antics and we get through it with zero tears and desired results. There are times where he ends up in hysterics in time out. It's by far the hardest age we have experienced, but according to what I am reading, it should even out in about six months (to be replaced by 4 year old antics shortly after, I'm sure). It does amaze me how much I can be ready to walk out the front door one moment, and be ready to scoop Noah up and keep him in my lap forever the next.

This is the face of a three year old who is melting down because you are trying to take his picture!!!!

And then he'll surprise you and cooperate like he is always obliging!

And then he insists on wearing his goggles so that they pull his lower eye lids down. I tell ya, it's an adventure!!!

At the end of the day, life is good. Noah is an incredible big brother 99% of the time and makes my heart happy each and every day. 

These two...

Teaching Coop how to push the buttons. Oh, and matching PJs are like kryptonite to me. I can't resist!

He truly makes me proud of him and that is something to be remembered in the tough moments. The good far outweighs the bad and this time won't last forever. Might as well roll with all the three has to offer...because most of it is the most amazing boy I could ever imagine.

My guy!