Three

Our baby boy is three-years-old and we couldn't love him more! He has brought an unbelievable amount of joy into our lives the last three years and taught us the true meaning of selfless love and patience. Binka, you are one of a kind- my best boy, Daddy's buddy, our little stormtrooper forever!

I'll add pictures first and save the very long-winded written part for the end :)

The day he turned three we had so much fun! We started the day off with sprinkle donuts and headed out to the backyard to play on the new waterslide. Logan came over to play and we all took turns playing on the slide. After chick-fil-a and a nap we went to Target to get a few things for his party and we got him a chocolate cake pop. We ended the day with more waterslide fun then got him in bed around 8:00 so he could get plenty of sleep for his party the next morning.

A little about Barrett as a brand new three-year-old:

He wakes up around 7:30 and is usually singing right away. He will sing and play for around 30 minutes then yell that he needs to go use the potty. He asks for cereal every morning. His favorites are Christmas cereal (frosted mini wheats, either strawberry or blueberry. He calls it Christmas cereal because the box has red ribbons at the top), Cheerios, and Darth Vadar cereal. We like to go out for breakfast at least once a week and his favorite thing is pancakes. He is still a very good eater and usually surprises people with his appetite. His favorite fast food is Chick-Fila and he asks for nuggets, fruit, lemonade, and chick-fila sauce every time. 

Our days at home are spent playing, watching a movie or cartoon, reading, learning, and usually dealing with a fit once or twice a day :) Barrett is the most strong-willed child and will not give in easily. Everything has to be his decision. When he doesn't get his way, he throws a major screaming and crying fit. After he goes to time-out, he will eventually calm down and tell me he's sorry and turn into the sweetest child in the world. He will actually cuddle with me more now than he ever wanted to as a baby, and I still think toddlerhood is a piece of cake compared to when he was a baby. His favorite thing to do is get all of his trucks, cars, and trains out and concentrate on finding the perfect places for them around the house. He will get out towels and make "mud" and "parking spaces" for all of them. He asks me to not clean them up while he naps so he can play when he wakes up. He loves looking out the front window at Na's to see if the neighbors across the street are home. He tells us everyday if Dave and "white car" are home or not. This is hilarious to us because he has only met Dave once. His favorite movie at the moment is Matilda. Despicable Me has become a favorite too. We watch it every time we go to Pops' house. He also likes Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Paw Patrol but will only watch those for a few minutes at a time. He loves being outside and will go get his hat and shoes on any chance he gets. His favorite books are "There's a Wocket in My Pocket", "The Goodnight Train", "Even Pirates Poop", "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and his my baby can read books. He memorizes books pretty fast and will "read" the entire books to me sometimes. Thanks to Daddy, he is a huge Star Wars fan and it's quite comical to me that I've become a little bit of a fan myself.    

Barrett is officially potty trained and it seemed to happen overnight. He has been poop potty trained for a while now, but I just let him wear diapers and pull-ups mainly because I wanted to put off messing with public restrooms as long as possible. His teacher at school asked me to start putting him in underwear at home so I did. He had one accident and that was it. We will have about 6 months with no diapers, then time to start over with baby #2 :)

Barrett's love for music has been apparent since he was an infant. He was singing before before he was even one, and loves all musical instruments. He knows the words to every song he has heard- it's seriously the craziest thing bc I thought I had a good memory with songs, but he knows more than me! He not only knows all the words, but he picks up on background instruments and beats and tries to emulate those sounds as well. He will pick out when there's a guitar or piano playing in the background. One of our favorite things to do while we are cleaning or just winding down at the end of the day is to put on Pandora or Youtube and listen to music and dance and sing together. 

Communication is and always has been his strength, so I thoroughly enjoy having long conversations with him everyday. At night after we are finished with reading books and brushing teeth, he wants to be rocked and asks if we can talk. The whole rocking thing is something I treasure because he NEVER would let me rock him like that as a baby. He started this around two and it's probably my favorite thing. He doesn't ask to talk when Steven puts him to bed, it's just a mommy thing and I love it! He lays in my lap and we talk about everything! He will talk to me about girls, he stills talk about the girl, Emma, that he met on the beach in Destin. He will talk about who he loves, music, and asks me all kinds of questions. I hope these talks continue the rest of my life.

I can't imagine loving him more, but somehow, the love gets stronger and stronger. This is his last birthday with him as an only child, and while it's very emotional, I just want to soak up every day and look forward to watching him grow.