We recently went on a date night and left Axel with our old neighbor Suzanne, who has babysat for him for a while now. We just said goodbye and left, figuring she knew the bedtime routine as always. When we got home, we found Axel asleep on the couch next to her in his underwear, no pajamas. What happened? According to Suzanne, Axel had told her that he no longer wears a diaper to bed, so she put him in his pajamas without one. So he peed in his bed, and somehow gave Suzanne some reason that was good enough to let him sleep on the sofa. She still didn’t think he wore a diaper, which was why he was in his underwear. We laughed and told her that she got fooled by a 3-year old. He wears a diaper to bed. But he figured he’d try to fool her into letting him get out of bed, and it worked. So apparently, not all of us are smarter than a 3-year old. But I can’t really laugh, since I remember my nephew convincing me to take a toy out of the closet when I was babysitting him, only later to have my sister-in-law tell me that that was his Christmas present. Fool!
I have to preface this entry by saying that we thought the two’s were wonderful. Not terrible as everyone says. They were pretty much full of easy bedtime routines, good sleeping, staying in bed, and relatively good direction-following, with an occasional tantrum here and there. I’m sure it wasn’t that glorious, and all I need to do is read an old blog entry to remember, but that’s how we remember those days.
We reached a couple of milestones during the two’s. Actually, all happened at around age 2 ½. Axel gave up the pacifier, moved into a big boy bed, and he started riding a two wheel bike with no training wheels. The easiest of these three was learning to ride the bike. We had very little to do with that. It was just his sheer motivation to be like the other big boys on the street who ride their big boy bikes, and was mostly due to the fact that he started riding a glider bike at age 1 ½. Unfortunately, as we’ve told some of our friends who are following suit with giving their 1 ½ year old glider bikes, he was too young to really be good at following directions and twice ended up flying down the street and into the next street and into potential traffic. That was a terrifying moment, which, afterwards, left me sitting at the kitchen table traumatized for a good hour, trying to get the terrible “what if” visions out of my head. But now, at 3 years old, he’s got amazing maneuvering skills and even flies down the driveway and hops the curb.
The pacifier was a little trickier. The reason we wanted him to give it up was that he needed help with his enunciation, and he was getting increasingly attached to it and demanding that he constantly have it. We had a rule that he could only have it in his bed or in the car, so he would constantly just go lay in bed or sit in the car so he could have it. We had to give him credit for that. So the plan was to convince him that all of the big kids were giving up the paci. I bought a book in Spanish called “Adios Chupete”, that talked about a little baby who grew up and gave away their paci. It included stickers and a prize ribbon once they finally give it up. The first night he cried a lot and we didn’t sleep much. But by day two, he asked for it a couple of times, but slept well. We couldn’t believe it. And that next day he proudly wore his ribbon on his shirt to preschool and everyone was proud of him. He was very proud.
So on to the 3’s. We were totally unprepared for the 3’s. We thought the 2’s were supposed to be terrible. But something happened just two or so months before he turned 3. It’s like he turned into a master negotiator/ manipulator overnight. He started getting rebellious and mouthy. I like to call it toddler puberty. He likes to stick his tongue out when he’s mad. He’ll say “I no LIKE my mamma”, whenever I say “no” to something he wants to do, and he just seems to enjoy being a snot sometimes. But also, sometimes he can be an absolute angel and so incredibly sweet. I’ve noticed that the sweet Axel usually appears in the morning, and snotty Axel appears in the late afternoon. He still takes at least a two hour nap each day, so he’s not tired.
He is also so so strong. I can almost not physically force him to do anything (like get in his car seat) because his sheer brute strength and determination is pretty close to totally overpowering me. I told some friends, "it's like we're raising a barbarian". His favorite games are wrestling, putting people (and by "people" I mean his little girl friends) in headlock, and running around with his armor and sword and pretending to stab everyone in sight.
Up until a couple of months ago, bedtime has almost always been a breeze. In fact, I always enjoyed it. We had a routine and he went to bed pretty happy. But lately, it’s just a constant battle. One thing we realized a long time ago is that parenthood is so full of trial and error. You just have to see what works for your kid because one solution does not fit all. You figure something out and it works for several months and you think you’re a pro…..then they change on you, humble you, and you find yourself fumbling for another parenting book.
But other than the constant negotiation, this age is really really fun. We can do more things together as a family, and Axel is talking so much and says the funniest things. I took him to his 3 year checkup yesterday and he weighed 35 lbs and was 39 inches tall. The Dr. said he would be about 6’2”, which is pretty much Johan’s height. Johan was happy about that . Another funny thing is seeing how his language is developing. He canspeak sentences in all three languages. He speaks mostly English, since that’s what he’s learning at preschool. But he mixes it with Spanish and Swedish. We went to home group on Sunday and one of our friends asked Axel how his birthday party was and he told them he had a piñata and that he got “Mucho Candy!!” He also speaks English with a Spanish accent, which is so stinking cute and funny. The best thing is seeing how much life he has in him. Everything is exciting and fun (unless he hates it, in which case he’ll let you know). He just wants to play all day long and be as wild as possible. One thing is certain, life is not dull when there’s a three year old barbarian in the house.
