Kip turned 3 1/2 on Wednesday and he just feels so big! I honestly can't believe he is nearly 4. Four feels like a big kid age to me and while part of me is excited to leave toddlerhood behind, the other part wants to hold onto it for dear life. I can't be the mom of a big kid! I don't know how!!!
Kipling at 3 1/2 Years
Weight: ?? (31.2 lbs. at 3 years)
Height: ?? inches (38.2 inches at 3 years)
Personality: Sweet and SPICY!
Sleep
Kip has always been a pretty great sleeper, all things considered. Since he turned three we've seen a huge change in this area. He is afraid of the dark now, "scared of the night," and resists bedtime with endless delays. Since he stopped using the pacifier about a month ago, he no longer naps and he struggles to self-soothe in the night if he wakes up. Dan is repeatedly in Kip's rooms throughout the night for various issues. Nose wipes, needs more night lights, wants his socks off, wants his socks on, needs covers, too many covers. Lately he has been waking up at 5 am and insisting his OK to Wake 'green clock' is not working and he can't go back to sleep. WE ARE TIRED! And an overtired Kip makes for a cranky Kip.
His bedtime routine grows and grows. Before we did almost nothing. Just brushed his teeth and put him in bed. Now we fight to get him upstairs, brush his teeth, force him to go potty. Then it's three books in the chair and one book in bed with the flashlight. He has to turn all his lights off, pick his color of stars for his ceiling nightlight, turn on his sound machine, and arrange all his friends in bed. Then one of the adults lays with him and snuggle for a bit, maybe listen to a song. Then the adult sits in the chair for a few minutes, then leaves and returns and leaves and returns over and over until he finally goes to bed. It's exhausting.
I'll admit it here: I want the pacifier back.
Eat
Kip is a good eater. He still loves his cup of milk first thing in the morning. Then he eats breakfast after playing for a bit. He likes waffles, oatmeal, toast, cinnamon rolls, muffins, square cereal (Life), and bars. He usually has a morning snack of a tiny juice box and a bar. He loves to help prepare his food too. For lunch he has been obsessed with "swam-wiches." This is not a sandwich by any definition. It's a piece of bread covered in mayonnaise and honey mustard and cut into squares. He eats this nearly every day and if you make it "wrong" watch out because a tornado tantrum will hit you in the face. He also eats chips. Lots of chips. I'd say a year ago he was obsessed with yogurt and applesauce pouches. He lost his interest in those for the most part but will still each them on occasion.
Every day at 3 o'clock we have "coffee o'clock." He calls it that and he is always ON TIME. I know it's a terrible habit but we give Kip a tiny cup of iced coffee. It's a sugary diluted mix from a bottle of Dunkin iced french vanilla coffee. He enjoys it with a snack. His current favorite it Cheez-its. Go ahead, judge me. I honestly don't care. We are struggling right now and I don't want to battle Kip over a few sips of coffee.
We have dinner at 6 every night. Mandy and I trade off and Dan will make dinner on occasion. Kip eats with us at the table and he does really great and usually eats a ton. It's the most balanced meal he gets all day so I'm grateful he tends to enjoy it. I think his favorite dinner right now is anything with a southwestern flavor. He loves salsa and sour cream.
He loves to help cook and bake and his favorite treats to help make are cinnamon rolls and pumpkin bread.
Play
Kip lives for play. As every kid should! Now that we have a house with much more space, his play has physically expanded. His absolute favorite thing to play is trains. He loves his wooden "little trains" and makes massive elaborate tracks all day long. He also loves his Duplo Lego train sets. He makes sheds, and tunnels, and buildings with his other Duplos to add to the set-up. All day long all trains. If you try to get him into playing something else, it's usually a struggle. Lately I've been making different sensory trays for him to play with and he likes those but he adores his trains. There is no competing.
He enjoys playing with Ivy too! He is a sweet big brother and eager for her to get bigger so she can play more.
During his "Kippy time" (quiet time) he plays in his bedroom alone. The toys he has access to up there are Magnatiles, Little People, dolls, and his big trucks. All his books are in there too. He struggles to play with these toys alone for very long but it's good practice in independent play and he tries every day.
Outdoor play is a favorite for Kip too. While we all miss our playground days back in Brooklyn, we do try to get him out daily for at least a walk or to go run in the field in the park by our house. The last several weeks have been very cold so we've been cooped-up and snowed-in. We are all looking forward to the return of sunshine and the opportunity to burn Kip's energy outside.
Talk
There is no barrier to Kip's vocabulary these days. He chats all day long. He sings, he repeats things he hears from us and things he hears on his shows. He can asks Alexa all kinds of commands too! He can communicate very well whether he chooses too or not is the kicker. He is learning to express his emotions but he is still little so screaming and yelling and crying are still a default. Some one my favorite things he says these days:
"Pretty good" when asked how he is or how his lunch is or really anything
"Hey, Mama Mama" this is how he addresses me
Some funny Kip-isms and pronunciations:
"Necked" = connected
"Broker" = rake
"Google bottle" = glue
"Cin-min rolls" = cinnamon rolls
"Swam-wich" = sandwich
"Casey-dea" = quesadilla
A couple of funny moments:
We were walking in the park and Kip said "hi" to a woman who walked past. She responded, "hey honey!" We walked away and Kip said to us, "I'm not honey, I'm syrup!"
Mandy was trying to get Kip dressed in his pajamas. He was being a floppy noodle and she said, "Be like a tree" meaning to stand straight. He got upset and responded, "But I don't have leaves on my head!"
One morning we were snuggling in family bed and Kip turned to me and said, "Grandma's baby looks like a dog." Dan's mom's dog's name is Baby. Kip was confused by the name of her dog and his knowledge of a baby vs. a dog.
The other night I was trying to reconnect with Kip after a tough tantrum moment. I said to him, "You're a good kid having a hard time." He responded, "I'm a good kid but a tricky kid." Phew, no truer words were spoken.
What's next?
I am attempting to register Kip for Pre-K at the local elementary school for the fall. Who knows where we will be with the pandemic at that point but we want him to stay on track with his peers and so whether schools are still remote or not, we want him enrolled. That's really all that's on the horizon for Kip at the moment. We try not to plan ahead too much since everything feels so much in transition.
If you have the time and are interested, go back and read the little update I did last year when Kip turned 2 1/2. HERE. It's wild. I wrote that about a month before the pandemic hit and life as we knew it went down the drain along with all the hand soap and sanitizer we've been bathing with for the last year. Our life is 1,000% different and Kip has grown and changed so much as well.
Now reread his update from his birthday when he turned 3, just six months ago. HERE. This was written right before we moved out of Brooklyn. I feel like every six months this kid hits not only an age milestone but along with it a huge life change milestone. Last year it was the pandemic and the arrival of Ivy. Since he turned three it was moving to New Jersey, living in a house, adjusting to a lifestyle that was completely different than what he knew.
For all of us, the last six months have been a bumpy transition to put it mildly. It's hard to know if all the behavior and emotions we've witnessed from Kip since turning 3 are because he is 3 and that age is hard or if it's because he is absorbing all the stress from the adults around him? It's been tough and every day has both bright spots with laughing and joy and other loud and alarming outbursts of tantrums and rough behavior. As a mom, I feel like this age has been the most difficult and that's while I'm juggling so many other changes and transitions myself. Many days I go to bed feeling like I've failed Kip. I wasn't my best mama self for him and I worry about how this year will change him permanently. I love him SO SO SO much and that still never feels like enough.
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