Kippy || 3 years old

Today Kippy is 3 years old!!!! Ahhhhh! My baby!

 

When I sat down to write this post I went and looked at Kip's 2 1/2 year post (back here). After I read the post I literally said to myself, "okay what happened in the last six months?" Uhhhhh....the world collapsed in on itself like a dying star. That's what happened. And it just keeps spiraling. Geez.

World events aside, Kip conquered his own big transitions in the last six months. Year two was a big one for this buddy. I can't believe he is THREE!!!

Kipling at 3 Years

Weight: 31 lbs. 3.2 oz (30 lbs. at 2 1/2 years) 

Height: 38.23 inches (37.99 inches at 2 1/2 years) 

Personality: Friendly and creative

Sleep

Kip has been sleeping in his big twin bed since February! We also moved his bedtime from 6 pm to 7 pm during the early weeks of quarantine. He continues to wake up at 6 am and respects his OK to Wake clock. He still takes one nap a day from 10 am to 12 pm-ish. He loves his bed and can be found "taking a break" in it regularly throughout the day and often says his bed is "so cozy." He is still obsessed with the pacifier. Yikes.

Eat

Kip does pretty well at mealtimes and can sit at the table for 10 minutes + provided he has an appetite for whatever we are serving. If he isn't interested, he will last 2 seconds but has learned to say "'manny escuse'" which means may I be excused? before leaving the table. He tends to eat several breakfasts, eats barely any or no lunch, enjoys lots of afternoon snacks, and dinner is often hit or miss. He loves waffles, "baby" toast (cut up toast), cinnamon rolls, "hamburgerers" (cheeseburgers), pretzel crackers, "diamond" crackers (graham crackers), "train" crackers (saltine crackers), strawberries (freeze dried or fresh), broccoli trees, cooked carrots, "ma" (applesauce pouches), yogurt, and any and all chips! He also loves condiments and eats them with a spoon. Ranch, ketchup, BBQ sauce, and his new favorite - salsa! 

 

He has picky moments but for the most part he does pretty well. He will eat something one day and love it and refuse the same thing the next day. He sits in a booster seat at the big table or often eats at his small kids table. He still loves milky the most and even though we had to ration him during quarantine, all bets were off when Ivy arrived. He gets FAR too much milk during the day. Strong bones though, right? Oh, and he loves iced coffee.

Play

Kip has turned into the most imaginative player the last six months. His current favorites are tiny trains (wood trains) and his small die cast trains. He loves to run them across the table while simultaneously watching one of a dozen "train shows" on Amazon and reenacting the scenes. These shows are mainly just footage of steam and diesel trains around the world set to music or train-themed songs. I feel like all kids at this age have a fixation. Maybe dinosaurs or outer space, Kip is ALL ABOUT TRAINS and makes some awesome sound effects. He also enjoys Duplo legos, his play kitchen, his Mama doll, kinetic sand, his stuffed animals which he calls "friends," and cars. Basically, anything with wheels has his heart. At the end of February I would say going to the playground was Kip's favorite thing to do and starting in March he was cut off from that. It was a big and sad adjustment for him and he still talks about playgrounds all the time. I hope some time soon he can return on a regular basis but for now it's just not something I'm comfortable with.

Some unique things Kips likes to play that I want to remember about this age:

"Toe Toes" with Dada - a game where his stuffed animals eat each other's toes for breakfast

Baby with Mandy - a game where Mandy crawls around and talks like a baby

Larry with Mama - a game where I make a large apartment out of Legos and we play with a character we named Larry who loves bagels

Town with Dada - Dan drew a town on paper and they play with matchbox cars

"Do the dishes" with anyone - a game where Kip wastes a ton of water with cups in the kitchen sink

Picnic with Dada - post bath game where Kip and Dan have a play picnic on his towel in his room

Sleep - a game where Kip puts one of us to bed in his room with the lights, sound machine, etc.

Rescue team - a game where he puts any toy, car, or train in a perilous situation and calls for a rescue team

Talk

In the last six months Kip went from a few common phrases and conversation responses to a full blown talking human. The communication light bulb went off and I am so grateful we were all able to witness it in person since we were all together in quarantine. He says the funnest things, repeats everything (watch out what you say), and has some really adorable catch phrases. In the last couple of weeks we've noticed he picks up on people's moods and will comment on it. One day he said to me, "so, Mama...how you doing?" I said, "I'm okay, how are you?" He replied, "I'm just Kippy." It was the sweetest thing ever.

We try to keep track of his little sayings in a small book and I adore all his mispronunciations. Some of the things he says right now that I want to remember:

Last night - a phrase he uses to refer to anything that happened in the past whether it was literally last night, weeks, months, or even a year ago. Everything happened "last night."

No thank you - whenever he gets in trouble he will get upset with whatever it was that got him into trouble by saying "no thank you" through tears. So if he threw a train toy out of frustration and got scolded for throwing it he will throw it again and say "no thank you" to the train.

Five minutes - what he says whenever he wants to keep doing something or watching something. He will say "Five minutes" and go set his timer for 5 minutes. Surprisingly when the timer goes off he does whatever we've asked quite willingly. Timer train your kids!

Beeep - Mandy has the habit of saying "beep" any time one might say a curse word. I picked up the habit from her. So now Kip says "beeeeep" if he drops something or something breaks! He knows exactly when using the word is appropriate, it's hilarious and much better than repeating actual curse words

I'm just Kippy - what he says when you ask him how he's doing

Haf good dea (I have a good idea) - This is my absolute favorite little phrase of his. He will run off and say "I'm hafing a good dea" to let us know he has an idea for play. He will also say, "that's a good dea" if one of us does something he likes

Gosh I wish I could bottle his little voice at this age. 

Milestones of age two

- Big bed

- Potty trained

- No more stroller riding

- BIG BROTHER

The last six months have no doubt been crazy and confusing for everyone and for a little kid with so little understanding of the world, I'm sure it was alarming. I hope Kip didn't sense any fear or uncertainty about his own life but rather felt safe and secure and happy to be with the people he loves. He truly relished all the attention he got in quarantine going from one adult with him all day to three adults every day all day. He made huge developmental leaps in language, play, and social growth - even though he has not interacted with other children since March. Perhaps the thing I'm most impressed with the last six months is how seamlessly he transitioned into the role of big brother. He adores Ivy and greets her every morning with a high-pitched "hiiiiiiiii...you awake?" He talks to her, plays with her, gets worried and upset when she is fussy, and wants to do all the things to help with her. I can't wait to witness their relationship blossom over time.

Kippy - I'm so proud of you and the sweet, empathetic, playful, friendly, and inquisitive little guy you are growing into. You are funny and affectionate and so much fun to play with. I wish you were starting preschool this fall because I know you would love it, but I'm also glad we get to keep you at home and witness your development first hand. It was a wild year and I can't believe how much you've changed. As you grow it's hard to know you're getting closer and closer to the world and farther and farther from me. Its that bittersweet part of parenthood that makes me ache for the past and the days you nestled in my arms as a baby. But you are my baby. My Kippy baby. Little monkey K-man. I love you bud. Happy Birthday!