Happy 3rd Birthday, Leander!

Well, I spent last night reading back thru Leander’s birth story, his one & two year birthday posts & let’s just say, Mama had quite the moment. My sweet little man turns THREE years old today (and I can hardly believe it).

You’ll notice (as I pointed out last year): we still don’t have baseboards – and thus there is still a very noticeable line where the wall meets the floor. Maybe by this time next year we’ll have baseboards? (I’m not holding my breath – we have much bigger projects we hope to tackle in 2022, baseboards are literally at the bottom of the list, even though they would look amazing & truly finish the bedrooms that we renovated SIX YEARS AGO.)
You’ll also notice: Leander’s shirt changes mid-way thru our photoshoot – that’s because we had a little “wardrobe malfunction” half-way thru & had to get a new shirt – OOPS!

How about some updates on our little man?

• The biggest news of the week (and year) – potty training!! Leander has been ready to be potty trained for weeks (probably even a few months) now, but we’ve been holding off until we had a good, long stretch of time we could spend at home & really get it. When we potty trained Braelynn, we made the mistake of jumping into it a little before she was ready, and also before we went on a big trip, and so we un-did all the progress we had made & had to re-train her a few months later. We didn’t want to do that with Leander – so we waited until this week! And WOW has he done AMAZING! I am just beyond words with how impressed I am in how well he’s done! He’s really gotten it & we’ve made the most incredible strides (for context: we started potty training on Monday – we went all in – and by yesterday, he was taking himself to the potty & even pooped on the potty for the first time!) I am just so so so proud of our little man (and SO thankful to be moving away from diapers!)
• Leander is absolutely obsessed with Mickey Mouse. (It makes my little Disney-heart so proud.) He sleeps with small Mickey & Minnie stuffed animals & a soft Mickey Mouse book (another fact that makes my book-loving-heart all aflutter). There is only one thing he wants to watch on TV: Mickey Mouse – and so of course: we are having a Mickey Mouse themed birthday party tomorrow (duh). We are planning a visit to Walt Disney World in the spring (shhhh) and I literally melt into a puddle at the thought of taking my sweet boy to meet Mickey Mouse for the first time. Oy, see – I’m tearing up now, just thinking about it. I will never make it thru the moment actually happening!
• As much as he loves Mickey Mouse – his beloved blankie still remains his absolute favorite possession. We almost lost it in a store while Christmas shopping a few weeks ago & I literally had a heart-attack. I honestly don’t know how we would survive if it was ever lost (which is why we don’t take it into stores – he had fallen asleep though, so an exception was made & I very quickly remember why we don’t make exceptions!) He still calls it his “gankie” & yes, he still sucks his two fingers while holding it & rubbing it against his nose. It’s just so sweet (and I keep trying to get good videos of him doing it, because I know that one of these days, he’ll grow out of it & I don’t ever want to forget it!!)
• Leander is way too brave. He will push chairs around, find the step-stool (I have to hide it behind the basement door or he will pull it out), stack things up in order to get what he wants. Snacks in the cupboard? No problem. Candy in the cabinets? Easy. Toys that his sister has put on high shelves? Sounds like a fun challenge. He has no fear.
• Speaking of snacks – his favorite things to eat are chicken nuggets, pizza, pancakes, and ranch dressing. I bought these cheesey rice-cakes once (in trying to find healthier snack options) and he is obsessed with them. He will attempt to eat the entire bag in one sitting (if I let him).
• He loves anything that “roars” – that includes dinosaurs & trucks. He loves trains & motorcycles & cars – if it has wheels & an engine (or teeth) – he’s all in. He will sit & play for good long stretches of time – running his trucks along, playing with trains, and stomping his dinosaurs around. He plays so different from Braelynn – it’s so fun to watch!
• Leander LOVES Kennywood (which is good, because obviously we do too). He loves to ride roller coasters & kiddie-rides and asks to go ride “coasties” on (pretty much) a daily basis (which makes his Daddy very very happy). He does amazing at amusement parks too – we’ve visited so many in his little life & he just loves it!
• Along with that – he loves to swim too! We visited lots of waterparks along with the amusement parks this year & he is down for ALL of it. He is a regular little fish & just LOVES the water.
• He still sleeps in his crib (he’s never attempted to crawl out & never complained, so we’ve just never attempted to transition him to a big boy bed!) He sleeps SO good & still takes an afternoon nap – by the time Braelynn turned 3 we were already WAY past the napping stage, but Leander loves his bed & his sleep, so why stop? I’m sure the end of naptime & a big boy bed are coming up on our horizon here soon, but until then, I just keep enjoying my little boy who loves his sleep.
• Leander can count to 10 (it’s super adorable), he knows some of his colors, and some of his ABC’s. He’s unfortunately fallen into the “second child” category where I was super obsessed with teaching Braelynn all of these things, but have just kind of “forgotten” to spend the time teaching Leander (oops). So, it’s totally my fault that he’s a little behind in those things, but I’m not too worried.
• He loves to play hide & seek, and tag, and tell knock-knock jokes (well, sort of – neither her nor Braelynn truly understand how to tell a knock-knock joke, but they both sure try!) He also loves to sit & read books and he loves bathtime!
• Speaking of Braelynn – big sister is Leander’s BEST friend. If she isn’t around, he’s completely lost. Thankfully, that doesn’t happen very often, but a few times now, Braelynn has gone to my Mom’s for some special “craft-afternoons” and he just doesn’t know what to do when she isn’t around. Thankfully, that works both ways: Braelynn is pretty lost without Leander as well (if he’s napping, she’s usually happy for the first 30-60 minutes, and then she’s ready for him to wake up!) I’m so thankful that they’re the best of friends & I hope that they stay that way forever.
• Along the lines of friends – Leander also adores his cousins Alethea & Layla – he’s closer in age to Alethea, but she’s usually preoccupied off with Braelynn somewhere, so he loves being the “big” cousin to Layla. They all play together so well & it’s precious (& hilarious) to watch!
• He absolutely hates getting his haircut (oy) – getting his haircut always ends up in me holding the “rabid raccoon” down (and getting covered in hair).
• Otherwise: our boy is just about always smiling. He’s such a happy, silly boy – constantly laughing at something. He (along with his sister) are little rays of golden sunshine.

If you’d like a trip down memory lane, you can go back & see past “birthday” (I put it in quotes, because that encompasses the half-birthday photos I do in the summer too) posts here: 2 1/2 Update, 2 Years old, 1 1/2 Update, 1 Year old, Leander’s birth story Part 1 & Part 2. Because he’s my son & I see him every single day (duh), I don’t really see him as grown up as he is, but comparing him now to the photos I took last year (& even to the photos I took 6 months ago) – my sweet boy is growing & changing so much!

Happy birthday, Leander Roxas – we love you so so much!

And of course: what would photos be without big sister sneaking in on a few?