Three and a Half

He absolutely refused to take a picture with his moose. I took this one while he was taking a break from playing in the gym. With sunglasses on, natch.

It occurred to me over the weekend that I should do a half birthday post for Christopher, since I usually do a Clare update on her half birthday. Well, he is now three and a half. And as any kid will tell you, once you reach that "and a half" stage of the year, it is a big deal. (Whenever we get together with a group of friends, the kids all immediately compare ages and whoever is the oldest is pretty lucky. Maybe adults should do that, but the opposite would be true, right?) Anyway, I think Christopher is pretty great. I might be biased.

He loves cuddling, still. We spend many afternoons curled up on the couch watching baking shows, at his request. I am planning to start doing some baking with him weekly as well.

He is funny and sweet. When we were at my parents' house last weekend, our good family friend Ruth came over. She had lost her voice, and he kept giving her crackers dipped in cheese. "This will make you feel better," he solemnly told her.

He can, of course, be whiny and throw tantrums, but he gets over it pretty fast. He is easily distracted, and if he is ignored he gives up. He is also still very attached to his blankie (which is now two blankies because it ripped in half) and his thumb.

Christopher and Clare love to play together, although it usually ends in a fight. Ah, siblings. I love watching them have fun together. They also enjoy inventing jokes and alternate lyrics to songs, usually involving the words poop and pee. Sigh.

His other favorite things include the playground, dinosaurs, "Peppa Pig", reading books, playing with cars and trucks, making pancakes with Daddy, singing, music class, eating fruit and his cousin Josie. Dislikes include tickling, picking up toys and getting dressed by himself. (That will happen before he goes to college, right?)

I've been interviewing Clare on her half birthdays, so I thought I should do the same for Christopher. For some reason he insisted on talking in baby talk and not using his normal voice, but it took so many attempts to get him to do even this that I gave up.