THREE YEARS

Wow! Leif is three years old already! I've been calling him my three-year-old for the last month or so, but I can't believe it's really true.In some ways Leif seems so little to me- probably because I sometimes unconsciously expect him to be at the same level his brother is. But in other ways he seems so grown up to me- probably because he has a big brother to imitate and seems to have met a lot of developmental milestones earlier than is typical. He seems caught between being  little and being a big kid and he tells us so all the time. He goes back and forth between the two many times a day just depending on which suits his purposes for the moment. If he wants to skip his nap, he is big. But if I ask him to sit on the toilet, he is suddenly little. (We are working on the potty training thing, but it's a tricky subject with him).
One of Leif's defining characteristics is his silliness. Leif just loves to be silly- he loves to make up words (including an entire song of made-up words that seems to be the same every time he sings it, but he denies that he knows what any of the words are or that he even sings the song) and he loves to call people names- not when he is angry-just because he thinks its so funny to call someone a name. When Leif is upset (which, lets face it, happens quite a bit :) the fastest way to get him out of it is to be silly with him. Austin figured this out much sooner than I did and is a pro at getting Leif to cheer up or forget about whatever upset him by being silly (this typically involves the word "poop" or some absurd story). Being the mom I am, I'm more likely to try to sooth Leif out being upset or get irritated that he is crying about something so silly, neither of which is a great option for him. I find that when I try to act like Austin would and just be as silly as I can Leif is more likely to get back to being himself (although I refuse to use "poop" to do the trick).
Leif absolutely loves cuties oranges. We bought a box a couple weeks ago only to have them devoured by the next day. Asher helped eat some of them, but Leif ate the majority of them and even opted for an orange over a cookie that Austin offered him. When we go to the store Leif requests a box of cuties every time. A few days ago I decided to buy regular sized oranges instead of cuties because they were on sale at a much better price. I figured getting 7 of them would be plenty and should last a week since the boys would share one and only eat one a day. I was very wrong- Leif ate two of them as soon as we got home (he wanted more but I said no) and the rest disappeared in the next couple days. This boy just loves his citrus!
Another funny little Leif-ism is his tendency to wear his pants backward. Leif has been getting himself dressed most of the time for months now. The boys enjoy going into their room, picking out their own clothes, and getting dressed. Very often Leif comes out with his pants on backward- it happens well over 50% of the time so I have to assume its not just chance. He also often gets upset if Austin or I try to turn his pants around for him. I'm not sure if he feels like its an insult on the way he did it or if he truly does enjoy having his pants backward. Maybe its a little manifestation of his love of silliness.
Leif loves to talk about time- and in a way that makes it obvious he doesn't really understand it. He's always talking about "next day"  or "last day" or asking if something is going to take a certain number of hours. Instead of telling Leif "no" I often tell him that maybe he can have or do something next time, so he has started telling me he will do it next time if I ever deny him. Its really nice for him to reassure himself this way instead of having a fit about it, but there are some things that I'm never going to let him do or have that he is convinced he will get later (although he usually forgets about it by the time 'later' comes around).
Leif loves to hang upside down. Its not hard to catch him with his feet in the air-usually on the couch. I guess this isn't surprising since even as a baby he loved to arch his back and hang his head upside down.
Leif has recently taken to saying "Hello, Mr. Gump" all the time and out of the blue. Sometimes he says it to me with a sly little smile on his face, but other times he doesn't seem to be talking to anyone- he's just saying it for fun. I'm not sure who Mr. Gump is, but I'm guessing he got it from a Dr. Seuss book we read.
We are sure glad that this kid is part of our family! Here are some pictures I got of him-although the one with his "birthday pie" didn't turn out very well. (Poor kid will always get pumpkin pie for his birthday with it being so close to Thanksgiving)