Colin turned the ripe old age of three on Feb 5th. In my ripe old age of 41, I'm just now getting around to writing about it. Hummph.
This was an easy birthday for me to handle, emotionally. I am so glad to leave the two's behind. You have no idea how glad. I am totally torn up inside that our babyhood days are long gone, but I am tired. Bone tired. Colin is the two year old that broke the mold. He defined the terrible two's, and I will forever have the gray hairs to remember it by. But now, after (almost) seven looooong years, the end of diapers, booster chairs, cabinet locks and sippy cups is near. In the past year we have already bid a fond farewell to the diaper bag, stroller, and most triumphantly - the binkie.
A few months ago, after several repeated attempts to encourage Colin to give up his binkie, we just let the issue rest. It was not worth the tantrum that would ensue, or the late night visits from Colin - in search of his binkie. He would fall asleep without it at times, and we would put him to bed. Then sometime in the night he would wake up, and search for it. When he couldn't find it, he would either sit up in his bed and howl until Dean or I came to help or he would take matters into his own hands and come find me to help him. Then, one morning, I heard Colin get up. I was still pretty groggy with sleep, so I dozed a bit, even though I did register that Colin was the only one up, and therefore unsupervised. Sure enough, when I found him downstairs, he was putting the scissors that Rylan had left out the night before to good use. He had taken the scissors and lopped off most of the silicone part of his binkie. He looked stunned, and a little sheepish. He wanted me to fix it. Ah-ha! A teachable moment! That afternoon, at nap time, Colin was beginning to understand the deeper implications of his actions. No binkie. It was now useless, and he would have to throw it away - AND there were no more in the house. He was going to have to go without. He looked sad, but he didn't cry. He accepted this new reality with adult-like resignation and went on with life. He never asked for it again.
At Christmastime, during a final search of the grandparents' house for lost toys as we packed up to go home, I found one of his binkies under the tv cabinet. It had been left there most likely during our previous visit last summer. I pocketed it rather quickly so that he wouldn't see it. When we got home, as I was cleaning out the kids' travel duffle bags, I found another binkie tucked away in a random pocket. Then I found a third one the next day, as I was searching through an seldom-used cabinet for something else. Weird - all of a sudden it's raining binkies! So many nights,at bedtime, Dean, Jordan and I would have to turn the house upside down in search of a binkie. We would even have to strap on a headlamp and go out to the backyard and search... most often it was left behind in the sandbox. It was imperative that we find it, for the little urchin would not go to sleep without one. Yes, this is one vestige of babyhood I was only too happy to see fall by the wayside.
Now he is three. He's contemplating toilet training, but only seems mildly interested. He can't distinguish the difference between pee and poop yet, so I don't think he is totally ready yet. In his own time... He is done with sippy cups, but whenever Kool-aid is served, you can bet a sippy cup will be pressed into service. Did I mention that Colin has a mean throwing arm?
He is bright, funny and he laughs at his own jokes. He argues constantly with Owen and 'stupid' is his favorite word. He loves to wear Rylan's princess dresses as equally as he does a Spider-Man costume. He Loves, Loves, Loves trains, cars and playing in the sand box. He pays rapt attention whenever Dean is working on a building project and then 'builds' his own stuff when he plays. Of all of the kids, he - by far - is the most dramatic with his imaginary play. His favorite characters to use are our vast collection of Cars - I think we have something like six different Lightning McQueens alone - and he creates very elaborate story lines. His favorite place to play is on the stairs. That was my favorite place to play too...
Colin's favorite meal is a banana, followed by an apple, followed by another banana. Even having been through these strange eating phases three times over now, I still don't understand how toddlers/preschoolers survive on what little they eat... Colin is also my coffee buddy. He will sneak a sip (and polish off the whole cup) when I'm not looking.
Colin's favorite book is a Thomas book that has noises. His favorite tv show is Team Umizoomie. He loves music - we've got another Coldplay fan in our midst... and his favorite movie is Cars2.
Colin has no reservations about talking to people. He will introduce himself ("I'm Colin!" - as he taps himself in the chest) - and all of his other family members - well, to anybody who will listen. I feel sorry for the store clerks who must suffer through his long list of the people who live with him. I am an introvert, so I have to work hard at not squelching his desire to be social with any and every adult we come into contact with in a given day.
Colin gets up early with me and quietly watches tv as I launch into the day. He loves to snuggle and he still likes to rock to sleep - although the past few nights he has gone to sleep in his bed on his own, so those days may be over. That is the one vestige of babyhood that is the hardest for both Dean and I to let go. We love those quiet, peaceful hours of rocking. Colin is a good rocker, he doesn't (usually) squirm, and he nestles right in and goes to sleep. I got to do the afternoon nap, and Dean got to put him down at night. We are both sad that our rocking days are practically over, but then again it meant that the entire bedtime process for all of the kids pretty much dominated our evening and we never got that quiet time to attend to bills, budgeting, mail, to do lists and so forth. We have been some very nonproductive people for quite some time, so it's nice, in that respect, that Colin has reached this stage.
Remember the many faces of Colin? Here are a few more...
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