Preston, Preston, Preston

Ah, three year olds. I can already feel the age sneaking up on us. Preston will be 3 on March 15 and I can hardly believe it. In some ways, he still feels so much younger than that to me. He has been so content to let people help him and very much the type to do things at his own pace. But in other ways, I feel it approaching more quickly than I would like. I don't know about the rest of you, but three was hard for me with Dylan. He turned 3 right before Preston was born and I was going through a really rough time in my life. I never knew whether or not to blame the age or our circumstances on that difficult year, but after talking to many moms, I think three can be rough. I have a major love/hate relationship with it though. I LOVE the things kids start to say as they figure out how better to express themselves and I love the fact that they are starting to be able to do some things for themselves and trying to be a bit more independent. What I could live without is the stubbornness that seems to come with the age and the increased mischief. With Dylan, mischief started at 14 months or so and is just barely getting to a bearable stage. Preston, however, has not been the type of child to test every child-proof door or push my buttons until I thought they would burst. He has just been content to go with the flow. Unfortunately I feel that may all be coming to an end. I'm going to miss you, my sweet little 2-year-old Preson!

Yesterday was laundry day. That's right, I try to have days so I don't get too behind with anything. It doesn't always happen, but I try to follow a basic schedule. I went downstairs to get the laundry and bring it upstairs to fold. And there was nothing specific entertaining Prestonian. I came up the stairs to see my brand new roll of paper towels completely unravelled. Preston had a huge grin on his face and was clapping. Apparently he was pretty proud of his accomplishment. GRR.... I grabbed the camera, snapped a shot and put him on timeout. Kind of counter-productive, but I have to document these moments.

It could not have been 30 minutes later and 5 minutes until Dylan came home from school that he took my 1000 piece puzzle I'd been working on (which I had made a pretty good dent in the past two days) and swept it off onto the floor. I was even in the same room. Are you kidding me? I'm not sure if he needed more attention or what. I'll tell you what though. I have never been more excited for Dylan to come home from school before. Preston needed his brother.

I put Preston in his room to think about the puzzle. I didn't know if I could actually handle the off and on that comes with the naughty mat so I just put him in his room. I could hear him crying and then he settled down. I left him there for a few minutes and went up to talk to him. And here's what I found this time. The basket with all of the "baby" stuff like lotion, diaper rash cream, little bags for dirty diapers, etc. was EVERYWHERE! Seriously, child! I don't know how much more of this I can take. And it all took place before lunch. It's no wonder I'm so exhausted and feel like nothing ever gets accomplished. I worked all day long just to get the house looking like it did before the day started. Ahhh...deep breath. This too shall pass.

As a quick update, today got started off rough too. The kid LOVES the kitchen sink. I turn around and he's got a bar stool over there with the scrub brush and water saying, "I scwub it out." He is also obsessed with his little Nemo underwear. No, we are nowhere near potty training, but I got out the underwear to use when the time is right. He LOVES the Nemo ones and figured out how to get them out of his drawer today. Unfortunately, he thought Nemo needed a swim. This is what I found, as well as soaking wet sleeves halfway up his arms. Honestly, child. We have got to find some balance here.