Lets Talk about my boys: Ryan 3.5 years old

My Ry-guy!  I don't write about him nearly enough, so I decided he needed a 3 and a half year update.  First off, this boy has a HUGE personality.  He is loud, and outgoing, and silly, and dramatic, and smart.  He literally amazes us every day in some way or another.  He walks through the grocery store saying hello to everyone we pass.  He tells a detailed story to a stranger in a waiting room.  He is Mr. Personality.

-  We have definitely entered the "Kids say the funniest things" phase.  Some recent examples are...
"Wow Mom, this is a beautiful street" while driving in his friends neighborhood
"I love this driveway, its so fancy" talking about a friends pavers driveway
"I really, really, so much love you mommy" he is a mush with the I love you's these days
"Oh man, is crap really a bad word??"  "What about goofy, is that a bad word" as he is trying to figure this bad word/good word thing out
"And then... suddenly..." he uses suddenly in his story telling now

-His imagination is in full force.  Every day he makes up new scenarios and stories.  He wakes up each day pretending he has a new person coming to spend the day with him.  Sometimes its his real friends, some times its one of my friends, it could be a TV or movie character, or it could be a total made up person.  But he will stick with that scenario for the entire day.  As he builds his legos or blocks or trains, he has stories to go with everything he makes.

-His memory is scary good.  If you mention something one time, he will hold you to it.  He also recalls the very small details or the most random things.  I love to pick his brain and see what he can tell me and how he can retell a story about something that has happened.

-We have been recording all of the old Disney movies on our DVR, so he goes through phases of loving all different movies... Peter Pan, Aladin, Tarzan.  Also Cars, Toy Story, and Finding Nemo.  This week his favorite is "How to Train Your Dragon".

-He is loving the beach and the pool this summer.  Daddy invested in some super soaker water guns, so that's the newest favorite toy.

-We have had a busy summer.  He went to gymnastics camp, Blue Claws games, Kite Night, beach Sundays, Breakwater Beach Water park, the boardwalk rides, weekend in Baltimore, lots of play dates.  We have definitely been making the most of any free time we get.

-Ryan is a great eater... like better than most toddlers I know.  The other night I was shocked when he ate my stuffed peppers (red and green peppers, onions, sausage, quinoa, diced tomatoes, garlic).  He ate every bite and asked for more.  I am lucky that with all of his eating restrictions, he is not a picky eater at all.

-He has hit another troublesome sleep phase.  His naps are getting shorter and he has a very hard time falling asleep at night.  Sometimes it can take him 2 hours to fall asleep at night, and then he wakes up early.  I'm thinking its part of the eventual switch to no nap.  If he takes a good nap, he can't fall asleep at night but if he doesn't nap he is miserable by like 3pm.  So I"ll take the late sleeping if it means he will nap and be happier over all.

-I'll save the allergy, sensory, hyper activity updates for another day.  I want this to be about the fun things he does, not the stresses.

-He is a very proud big brother.  He likes to make Patrick laugh, and show him how to play with toys.  They are cute together right now.

I'm sure I could go on and on, but that's whats coming to mind right now.

And here is my big boy-