Walker is 3-1/2!

The kids LOVE taking Reagan on walks. For some reason, I'm sensing that the feeling isn't mutual. :)

Walker is 3-1/2! And oh my. What a funny, confusing kid he is. To all who know him, you know exactly what I'm talking about! This kid is particular, emotional, sensitive, and shy in front of strangers. I can never predict how he'll act in a situation or on a given day because he continues to throw me curve balls. However, he has the sweetest, kindest, most loving little heart. One knows if one is in his circle of trust. :) He has a few friends (Gage, Brayden, Evan, Kasen, and Grace) that he's let in there...a few moms...but mostly his family members. He LOVES his grandparents and his cousins and his aunts and uncles. And, of course, his mommy and daddy and sissy. :) He also loves babies. He's very sweet to them.

A few things to note about our growing boy:

• He is always quick to say "thank you" and "I sorry" if he needs to. Except if his sister has made him mad and then he flat-out won't apologize until he's ready. Stubborn.
• He is a lover of trains. He LOVES looking at Thomas and Thomas engines and Thomas playsets on the computer. He would do this for hours.
• Mama's Pizza is his absolute favorite restaurant. I think it's been in Plano since Ben was a toddler.
• He calls the "checklists" for Thomas (the little fold out pamphlets that come with new trains) his "maps." I have since laminated all of his "maps" because they kept ripping. 
• He wants his jammie pants pulled all the way down, not halfway down, but all the way down.
• He doesn't like Band-Aids or taking medicine. Even when he REALLY needs to.
• He can spit out toothpaste (finally!), he can blow his nose well (when he wants to), he's getting better at putting on his shorts and shoes, and he can almost go potty by himself. Almost. He's still a little short.
• He is not nice to our dog. Our poor Reagan. She's just not in a good place. :( She's annoyed with the kids 100% of the day. I don't blame her...they bug the snot out of her. 
• I wish he and Lainey played well together more often. I think they are two different kids with two different interests. It's not that they're constantly fighting (they do that, believe me) but they just really want to do different things. Sometimes, just to mess with her, he'll say he wants the thing she wants (for example, the pink popsicle holder when he doesn't care for pink in any other situation) or he'll say he wants the green car cart at the grocery store because she wants the blue. When normally he probably would've chosen the blue. So weird. Just wish they could agree to make my life easier. Ha!
• He no longer sleeps till 9:00 in the morning. No way. He's up early...usually between 7-7:30 a.m. and he always slams his door shut before coming downstairs. And of course Lainey gets mad that he wakes up before him. That will soon change, my love...Kindergarten is right around the corner!
• Sometimes Walker gets up at night...right after we've put him down. It's strange because neither of our kids have EVER done that unless they are sick or hurting. Which doesn't happen often. He'll come out, say that he saw something "scawwy" (scary) and we just walk him back into his room, turn on his Dream Lite, press play on his CD player, and then he's good.
• He has listened to the same CD since he was a baby. Thinking that he has become used to hearing something when he sleeps. So when it goes off, and he awakens, he gets concerned because he can no longer hear anything (as in, the music). Oops...may be time to transition out of that one....
• Walker will still take a nap. He still NEEDS a nap in order for all of us to be content in the evening. :)
• He is a follower. Especially if it's just the two of us...when Lainey and Daddy are not home. He follows me everywhere in the house and constantly asks where I am. If I'm unloading groceries, he has to follow me out to the car and back in again. He won't go into another room without me and he will definitely not go upstairs by himself. We're working on this...I need him to be slightly more independent. He will say, "I can't do it by myself" or "I want you to come wis (with) me" or "It's too scawwy (scary) in dere (there)." I sometimes wish he'd sit and watch a show while I did something in another part of the house (like work on the computer) but he won't...he has to be close to me. 
• He loves going on stroller rides (when either Ben or I run) and tricycle rides. He's a good pedaler but doesn't like pedaling because he can't go as fast as Lainey.
• Sweet boy that he is, he will play Barbies ("Baw-bies" as he calls them) with Lainey in the bathtub. I love that he will do that with her. 
• He rubs the embroidered part of his sleep sack (his blankie) for comfort. It's cute. And it's a new development. He carries around all four blankies with him at all times.
• When he's excited about something, he'll squeeze my cheeks with both hands and put his forehead against mine and talk in a funny, excited voice. He does get excited very easily!
• He would live on pizza, cookies, candy, fruit snacks, juice, any other kind of "snack" (like crackers, cereal, pretzels, granola bars...), and milk if given the chance. :)
• Funny words/sayings:
• "sfrew" - screw (Thomas likes carrying these in his boxcars.)
• "You my best best fwiend." (He has said this about Cally, Mommy, Lainey, Daddy, and a few other people.)
• If something is leaking it's "melting."
• He gives a name to each train track configuration. Example: "Wibbly Wobbly Track Saves Thomas." (Like the TV show or the book.)
• Loves to say, "Smell ya later!"
• As I've mentioned before, Walker likes to talk "Thomas talk" and does so frequently. It's hilarious! I think it's funnies when he says, "Oh no! Thomas' couple-ins (couplings) come loose!" This is when a train gets separated from its boxcar. Just so you know. :)
• He always tries to one-up his sister. For example, if she says that she saw 4 turkeys on the driveway (like when we were in Colorado) Walker will say, "Last morning, I saw a chicken in the sky!" Not true. Many of his "one-ups" are like this. Not true. But they almost always start with the phrase "Last morning...":)
• He's started to call Lainey "Lainey" as opposed to "Sissy."
• If he has a cold, he'll proclaim, "I don't like my sniffy nose."
• Once, when he had been sick, his cousins asked him how he was feeling (he had had a fever) and instead of saying "sick" or "yucky" he said, "I feel happy." :) He's very literal!
• He counts in the following way: He can properly place the numbers 1-14, but then skips to 16, then 19, then he'll say 21-29, but then it's 20-10, 20-11, 20-12 and so on. :) 
• He'll turn on the fan in the bathroom so I "won't be cold in [there.]" I think he means hot, not cold, but whatever. It's funny.
• Sometimes he gets a privacy streak and won't let us be with him when he goes potty. He'll say, "Don't see me!" or sometimes I have to turn out the light. So random. And potentially disastrous. 
• He loves "lemonlame" (lemonade). 
• Somehow, in Colorado, he made up a "favorite place." This was literally something he created. It was located next to the gas station, and his "favorite place" served chocolate chip sandwiches, liquors (licorice), cream cheese sandwiches, jalapeno sandwiches for Daddy, and chocolate milk. :)
• He calls his new train "Normous" instead of "Norman." :)

Sweet Buddy. I love you to PIECES. I can't believe you are halfway to four years old. Maybe we should think about giving up your binky? I don't know if I am ready for that. I'll face that beast when I am ready...maybe when you're twelve. :) LOVE you, Bubby! I could eat you sometimes because you are so cute. And then sometimes, you make me want to pull my hair out. :)

He often falls asleep on the couch. :)

 Hi, Buddy! You're 3-1/2! Love you, sweet boy.