Being Three, oh me oh me

I love this boy.  I have to write some stuff down about him before I forget. He is three now and I can't believe it. 

PHOTOS BY HOLLY (my soon to be sister in law)

Despite the many pushes, pinches, yanks and tugs, Talmage loves his little brother.  He gets a bit jealous of him at times when I'm spending too much time with Tristan.  When I'm not looking I see he's giving him kisses, hugs, singing him songs, dancing for him, talking to him, making him laugh and my favorite, fixing him (he got a play doctor set for christmas and gives Tristan shots and checks his temperature). 

Tristan is a little reluctant at times when Tal is around (can you blame him) but I catch him smiling and giggling in response to Talmage on occasion too.

Talmage is in a bipolar stage: He is both a shy and pondering boy, and or he is loud and rambunctious.  No matter what mood he is in, he will always be my little sweetheart.  He has his moments, but he always knows how to warm my heart and make me laugh.

He is also my little helper.  This kid loves to help his mommy (as long as mommy is helping him that is). We cook, clean, fold laundry, make crafts, visit teach, go on walks, get the mail, unload the dishwasher, bathe Tristan, read books... the list goes on.  He is happy fetching things for me though.

He has a sweet tooth.  Loves candy and fruit and hates vegetables. He is a stubborn little cuss too.  I have to hide the veggies in his food, but he somehow, no matter how small I dice them, finds them and pulls them out and puts them off to the side.

He's a smart kid.  He picks up on so many things so quickly.  He has a great sense of humor too.  The other day he says to me, "Mom...we have a problem." I respond, "uh oh Tal, what's the problem?"  He looks at me and responds with a grin, "Me! I'm the problem."   Of course we have NEVER told him he was a problem, but he must've seen how frustrated me and Cody were with him one night as we chased his naked butt around the house attempting to get him to put on his jammies and brush his teeth and then from there decided he was a problem. 

I love how far along his speech has come.  I can almost have a real conversation with him now.  Here and again I catch him saying things that I don't quite understand still, but I still find it quite endearing.  He was "fixing" me the other day with his doctor bag, checked my blood pressure and looked at the toy scale, looked at me with concern in his eyes and said in his most resolute doctorish voice, "14 pounces."  

Some of his "talents" or whatever you wanna call them, his skills.  He can actually carry a tune.  His favorite song is I am a Child of God which makes me happy. He is actually pretty good at dancing.  He has his own style of course that looks part tae-bo, part par-kor, and part zumba.  He thinks his bum is cute, he will shake it at us while chanting, "cute bum, cute bum, wanna pinch my cute bum?" Okay guilty...maybe me and Cody give in to this little chant and actually pinch him and Tristan's bums a little too often.

 I'm also very impressed with his energy level.  I see tri-athalons in his future. He loves to run and run and run and run.  We have taken him on mile long walks to far away parks. He will run the whole way there, play on the playground for awhile and then run the whole way back.  Did I  mention I am looking for a trampoline for this kid?

He is also a Sunbeam this year.  The youngest in his class, but his teacher reassures me honestly that he is very respectful and listens.  Of course even in church he has to have his moments. The teacher told me this story at playgroup the other day: They were having a lesson on their bodies and how they were sent to earth and were given a body to use.  They were talking about different things the body does, the eyes can see, the ears can hear, you can use your legs to run etc.  The teacher asked them, "What else can your bodies do?" Talmage raises his hand and says, "My body can poop raisins!"  They bust up laughing.  I explained to her that Tal likes to check his poop every day, ya know, to see what color it is...one day he had one too many raisins to eat, and decided that was important enough to share with his class.  At least it was on the same topic, so I know he was listening.  

He also has gained quite the imagination.  I love hearing him play by himself or shall I say with his imaginary friends and carry on full dialogue with them.

What else am I missing?  Oh yeah his stats:

12/02/12 = 3 YR OLD

Weight: 35 pounds 

Height: 39 inches 

and I love every inch and ounce.