Peter at 3

I am struggling so much with this little guy growing up. His birthday is about a month and a half away and it fills me with dread every time I think about it.  He has been the sweetest, happiest 3 year old I could ask for.  He is the best little buddy, and tells me at least 10 times a day that he loves me the best and the most and that I'm the best Mom in the world, and so on and so forth.  (It's not true, of course, but it's a great boost to the ego anyway.)

Things I want to remember about Peter at 3:

*Favorite color - blue, followed by green
*Favorite music to listen to - Piano Guys
*Favorite song - "I love to See the Temple", with "A Child's Prayer" coming in at a close second.

*The way he uses "t" in place of the "c" or "k" sound, as in, "Mom, can I please have a tookie and some milt?"

*He loves trains, and building tracks for them.

*The way he walks in  first thing in the morning, with sleepy eyes, and messy hair, with his blanket all balled up in his hands, and gives me a big grin, or a thumbs up or both.

*The way he will say, "Mom, look what I'm showing you."  And give me a thumbs up.

*The way he can't wait for his older siblings to get home so he can play with them. 

*(Honestly, he just walked up to me now and said, "Mom, you are my best mudder (mother)."

*How he loves the characters form Toy Story.

*His love of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

*The way he can work my iphone and the computer better than I can.

*How he asks at least weekly when we can go either to the zoo or to Bear Lake again.

*How he still loves to snuggle and will curl up in my lap and just melt into me - and stay there for longer than 2 1/2 seconds.

*How he walks up to me during the day just to give me a kiss or a hug.

*The fact that he loves to play outside and will stay out riding bikes or imagining or whatever for hours.

*His big, blue eyes.

*His love of stories and reading books.

*When he is sad, he is really, really sad.  It breaks my heart to see the intensity of his sadness.  (Fortunately, it's pretty rare.)

*As nice and pleasant as he is most of the time, he has quite a temper.  It almost makes me laugh when that fury gets unleashed because it's so out of the ordinary.

*The fact that anytime I mention anything about him getting big or having a birthday or anything about growing up, he insists that he stopped growing and he is going to stay 3 forever - just because he knows I am so sad to have him getting older.

Man, I am going to miss this three year old.  I just hope he's as much fun as a 4 year old as he has been for the first 3 years of his life.