G at Three

Today, Griffin is three. I am not quite sure how this happened. The last three years have past in a blink of an eye. My home is empty of babies and full of boys.

At three, Griffin is as independent as ever. He prefers life done his way, at his pace, with his rules or else. He is a child of extremes. When Griffin is happy, he is really, really happy, but when he is not happy, well, let's just say he lets us all know. Loudly.

He has, from the moment he has been born, been intent on keeping up with his brothers. He refuses to be left behind. His keen intellect, outgoing personality and immense will have made this possible for him for most of the time. I am not sure I have ever had to stop and teach him something. If anything, Griffin has taught himself - from shapes, to letters, to counting and adding. He just seems to just know it how to do it, how to say it and how to get it done. There is a reason he is known as a "little old man" because he is truly an old soul.

Griffin loves life. He loves to dance and can bust quite a move. He loves to sing his own, silly, made up songs and listen to music. In the car, he prefers to listen to jazz on our local NPR station, but will often request I sing with him, telling me to "hit it Mommy" because we are "rock stars." He constantly asks I turn on music for him to either listen to or dance to when we are at home. And he also isn't shy to ask me to skip a song because it doesn't have the beat he needs for his groove. (He can bust quite an impressive groove.)

At three, his favorite book is If You Give a Pig a Pancake. We read it almost every night before bed and he still giggles at the pig getting sticky and needing a bath.

He loves to watch Blues Clues, the Wonder Pets or Curious George. He loves to play with "guys" in his Batman castle or pretend he is a super hero, flying around the house. Griffin loves hockey and play-dough. And he loves to pretend to build and fix things around the house.

Griffin loves food. He will try anything and everything edible. He adores veggies and would rather have a sliced apple than a cookie. He admits to not caring for the resident kiddie staple mac n cheese. Instead, Griffin's favorite foods are yogurt, sliced tomatoes, bananas, apples, grilled chicken and cheese sticks. He is an food enigma to us after so many years under Aidan's junk food reign of terror.

For most of his life, Griffin has remained a Daddy's Boy. But lately, he has been Mommy's little shadow, requiring that I be the one to get him dressed for bed, read him bedtime stories or snuggle up under a blanket when he is cold. I treasure this transformation, soaking up every moment my sweet, independent boy will give me.

Welcome to three our G. We love you dearly. No matter how big you get, how independent you are, you will always be my baby boy.