I missed Caleb's update last month, since it was while we were in Texas, so here is an overview of the past two months. Caleb is 3 years and 10 months old now...I really can't believe I'm going to have a 4-year-old in just two months.
So Caleb has developed a bit of a competitive spirit in the past couple of weeks. To be honest, its a bit of a relief to me. Caleb has always been a little too willing to have things done for him and to stand on the sidelines. Completely opposite of most toddlers, he never went through a fiercely independent stage, and rarely demanded to do any tasks"by myself". I realized this imbalance in his temperament sometime after he turned two, and started encouraging him to do more things on his own. (Ethan's birth definitely facilitated that change.) Still, he preferred for me to do everything for him and resisted/fought my encouragements on a daily basis. He didn't want to get his own cup off the counter, take a spoon out of the drawer, put a toy away, take his clothes to the laundry basket, throw something away, etc. He always whined, "You do it, please, Mama!" We've been having these redundant conversations that ultimately end in him completing the task, but with a lot of unpleasantness in the middle, since he was two.
Now, more than a year a half later, he is finally starting to take pride in completing daily tasks independently. He buckles himself in his carseat, he picks out his clothes and gets dressed (though he still won't/can't do his shoes and socks alone), he loves to be the "leader" in any activity, and he is always trying to do things faster and be the "winner." (This is not a word we use, but he's picked it up on his own.) He is also very interested in being stronger and bigger than everyone he knows. He asks me regularly if he will be able to do this or that when he grows up. He still resists completing any parent-directed task, no matter how simple, but now, at least half the time, he will do what I ask with minimal complaint. I think going to preschool helped him develop this healthy motivation to do things on his own.
Caleb is still very into playing with his friends, just as he was a couple of months ago. Anytime I tell him we are going somewhere, his first question is "Who's going to be there?" or "What friends will I see?" (Is this a flashforward to teenage years?) His face falls and he protests if I tell him we aren't meeting anyone.
Caleb's not as into puzzles as he used to be, and new on the horizon are computer games on pbskids.org. I've picked out 4-5 number games that he can play, and he has really improved at counting lately. He can even do some very simple subtraction and addition in his head. The games I like are Bring It, Banana 411, Zoo-Mazing, Roly Poly Roundup, and Super Bouncy Blast Off. Another of Caleb's favorite pastimes these days is tumbling. I'm thinking about seeing if we can swing putting him in a gymnastics class this summer. He can do a very smooth somersault, and is working on doing a round-off. He loves to jump and to test his own coordination and balance, so I think gymnastics would be a good fit at this stage.
My favorite thing about the past couple of months in Caleb-land is watching him and Ethan become closer and closer. They are best buddies right now, and I am loving it!
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