Happy Birthday Cannon!

I can't believe my baby is three and that he's not a baby!  Babies and kids under three are my specialty, so we're entering new territory here!  With each birthday, I am always amazed at how much he has learned that year and I look forward to the growth of the coming year.

Cannon seems to have more energy than the typical boy his age.  His favorite way to get from here to there is by running.  He runs everywhere and all day long!  However, he loves to dawdle when it's a time I need him to be fast.  Cannon is always moving his body and likes to climb on things.  He is also very touchy-feely and likes to have his hands or feet on you.  He loves to wrestle and do anything physical.

We spend a lot of time outside too. He loves nature walks and going in and out of bushes.  He is a total wanderer and just likes to walk around forever.  He is also a "bolter," meaning he will run away at a moments notice, so I really have to keep my eye on him!  We don't have a fenced in yard and there have been lots of times when I turn my back (to clean up Blue's potty) only to have Cannon quietly run into the front of our building.  Or the time when he ran from the children's area of the library all the way to the front door! Or the time at Disney he bolted and ran into a lady's wheelchair and bruised his face.  He is very quick and sneaky!  He also likes to hide and play chase. 

Despite his high energy levels he does spend a good portion of the day playing quietly with his toys.  Of course, trains are his favorite.  For a while, he was playing this one game he made up about going on a train.  He had a hat and a whistle.  He would direct me and Ryan or me and Blue to go on the train (which was in the bathroom) and then call, "All aboard," and do some other business.  He kept his hat and whistle in the same place every day.  He also likes to recreate scenes from the books we read.  He does this with his trains or just by himself in the grass or house.  I think he is creative with some of the stuff he comes up with.

Cannon still loves reading.  He used to be very picky and selective with the books he would choose.  But now I can read almost anything to him.  I am taking this window of opportunity to check out different kinds of books from the library to expand his interests.  We keep books downstairs on the bookshelf that I read to him during the day and Ryan (when he's home) reads to him at night the books he has in his bedroom.  Cannon used to pick the same few books to read each night, but now he chooses five books each night from his shelf.  When they are done reading them, they put them on the floor next to the rocking chair.  Cannon goes through two shelves of books and then we put them back up again.  His two favorite books at the moment are Hero of the Rails and Misty Island Rescue (both Thomas and Friends books).  We read those multiple times a day.  He also loves a number of other books: any book about trains, and Thomas and Friends book, Knuffle Bunny (especially the second book), Tonio's Cat, Big and and Shrimpy, the Rainbow Fish, any Mr. Rogers First Experience books (making friends, going to the hospital, potty book), Five Little Monkeys, Llama Llama Red Pajama, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, Mike Muligan and the Steam Shovel, I Love You Forever, All the Ways I Love You, Where the Wild Things Are, Bear Snores On, plus many more!  I love that he loves reading!

Something Cannon usually avoids are puzzles.  He just has a hard time understanding them.  He can do the shape ones, like the boat fits into the boat cutout, but the jigsaw type he has a hard time with.  When it comes to his play, I never push him to do anything he doesn't want to.  However, I do place things in his play environment as an invitation and whether or not he plays with something is up to him.  I also don't show him how to play with something, that is up to him as well. I found a puzzle book with a set of five Thomas and Friends puzzles, with 12 pieces each.  I thought that would be just the right challenge for him. One day I set out four pieces of the puzzle, the four pieces that made up Thomas' face.  Cannon was able to work out those pieces all by himself and then he asked for more pieces.  I gave him one piece at a time to let him try and figure it out.  It actually took him a few weeks to finish the whole puzzle.  It was so hard for me to watch him struggle, get frustrated, and give up when he would be so close.  But it was so rewarding to see him finish it after all that time!  He was so proud of himself!  And then he asked for another one.  He was able to complete the next puzzle in less then 10 minutes and then he went on to do two more puzzles.  I still wouldn't say that he likes puzzles, but they do pose a rewarding challenge for him.

I have come to realize that Cannon gets overstimulated easily.  That can be from too many options, too many people, or too much noise.  Usually when he gets overstimulated he gets a little bit hyper.  This can happen when we go to new places too.  Instead of having a kid that clings to you, he wants to run around.  I'm sure a part of this is his natural curiosity and need to explore.  It helps a lot when I prepare him for situations and tell him what is expected of him.  This is also why I try and keep his available toy options simple.  He has more toys in his closet then he does in his play area, but it works well for us.  When he has too many toys out or when the room is too messy, he stops playing.  I only keep out the toys that he is thoroughly interested in and everything else rotates through.  He plays so much longer-up to two hours!  Every month or so I go through his toys and change up what I need to. 

Cannon has a good memory, especially for names.  He want to know everyone's name!  Whenever we read book, he asks what their names are.  Our dog calendar, he asks what their names are.  Anyone around us, he asks what their names are.  And an answer of, "I don't know," is not acceptable.  So sometimes I just have to make up names.  Cannon also loves to talk about past events.  He is getting good at remembering details from the day, past weeks, and even months ago.  I think it helps too that I take a lot of pictures of the things we do.

Cannon recently learned the word cousin.  He likes to look at our family picture we have on display.  He names everyone and understood aunt and uncle.  I don't remember how we got on the subject of cousins, but it came up.  We talked about who his cousins are and now if you ask him to name his cousins he can.  He sometimes gets a little confused about a cousin versus a friend, but for the most part he understands.

For a while now, Cannon has known the difference between a boy and girl.  We use the correct terms for boy parts and girl parts and he knows what he has.  Then he learned that boys and girls don't have the same parts.  This rocked his world.  So then he kept asking about all other body parts to see if they were the same and we often have conversations like this:

C: "Daddy has a penis?"
Me: "Yes, Daddy has a penis."
C: "Mommy has a penis?"
Me: "No, Mommy has a vagina."
C: "Mommy has agina?"
Me: "Yes, Mommy has a vagina."
C: "Blue has agina?"
Me: "Yes, Blue has a vagina."
C: "Daddy has eyes?"
M: "Yes, daddy has eyes."
C: "Mommy has eyes?"
Me: "Yes, Mommy has eyes."

He would cross check every body part between me and Ryan (a boy v. girl).  I love to watch him think about things!

Oh, what else about Cannon?  His favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate.  He loves anything mint flavored.  He likes pretending he is a cat. He likes to sing and make up his own songs.  He is starting to say funny things too. The other day he randomly told me that he knows about 15 and 17.  Okay.  He likes to be funny and make people laugh.  He does these weird faces and he knows that it will make me laugh every time!  When he is feeling very confident he struts and will walk around like he owns the place!

Cannon is always keeping me on my toes!  He drains every bit of energy I have, but it's worth it!  I love that guy!