3 1/2 Years Old!

John Grayson is 3 1/2 years old! He's grown up so much in the past 6 months. When I look at him now, I have a good idea of what he'll look like when he's a teenager. The baby fat is gone now and he's grown another couple of inches too so all of his 3T pants are starting to get a little short. John Grayson is full of energy and imagination and is becoming more independent. We're definitely experiencing the Terrible Three's in our house. It's obvious that he wants to be in control of his world, and he has absolutely no problem voicing his opinion. We're working through it and the sticker chart seems to be helping tremendously :-)

At 3 1/2, John Grayson:
* Loves to read. He still sleeps with a giant pile of books in his bed. His favorite topics are dinosaurs, construction equipment and space. He is becoming more interested in learning the words on the page. He'll tell us that we need to read the book to him because "I don't know the words yet." Soon enough!
* Loves preschool. He has a wonderful teacher named Ms. Bridgette and several great friends in his class. He takes music and creative movement classes and brings home beautiful art projects.
* Is becoming quite the gymnast. I signed John Grayson up for a preschool gymnastics class in September, not knowing whether he'd enjoy it very much. Well, he LOVES it! He does wonderful somersaults, walks on the high balance beam, bounces on the trampoline and can even flip over the bar and push himself up. If he completes one more session, then he earns a trophy. Needless to say, he cannot wait to get that trophy!
* Is a wonderful big brother. We had some growing pains when Delia first became mobile (and got into all of his stuff), but John Grayson loves to play with his little sister and make her giggle.
* Loves to laugh. John Grayson has the best laugh. It makes his entire face light up and you can't help but laugh with him. He has started telling knock-knock jokes, and he thinks they're hysterical.
* Has become quite the expert on dinosaurs and space. He knows about so many different types of dinosaurs and can tell you when they lived and what their bones look like. He knows most of the planets and facts about them. Not bad for a paleontologist and astronaut in training!
* Has a vivid imagination and loves telling stories. John started telling him "tall tales" about Paul Bunyan and JGray could listen to those stories for hours. It's great to see him playing with his trucks/dinosaurs/space men and having conversations with them.

It's hard to believe that our little boy is growing up so fast. He brings such joy and laughter to our lives. He makes us enjoy each moment. There is nothing better than an unexpected bear hug, kiss and "I love you" from our sweet boy!

Here is a picture of John Grayson at 3 1/2: