He Made It To Three!! (How Many More Will He See?)

Our three year old boy!

I was all set to write a sweet and nostalgic post about my sweet Simon who turned three today.  But the boy gives me heart palpitations so often, that even today as I was preparing his birthday dinner he had me wondering if I'll be able to help him survive to adulthood!  (He does, fortunately, also give me heart palpitations of the warm and fuzzy kind.)

Simon requested cheese burgers for his birthday dinner.  I actually found myself a little bit ahead of schedule with the dinner preparations: the patties were made, waiting for the time when Michael entered the door to start cooking them, the cake had been frosted in the morning, mac n cheese was done, table was set... I realized I had time to do the dishes before dinner and show Michael that Yes, Sometimes The Sink Can Be Empty of Dishes When He Comes Home!  Meanwhile, the DVD the boys were watching must have ended, because Simon joined me in the kitchen, curiously looking around and asking to "try" everything he could see... sliced tomatoes, raw hamburger, a hand mixer... "Yes, you can have some sliced tomato.  No, you can't have those burgers, I haven't cooked them yet..."  I return to busily and efficiently washing dishes and then hear Simon sputtering and spitting right next to me - He snatched a piece of the raw burgers and was spitting only because of piece of cracked pepper he ingested along with it!  Blech!  (We have been working on a rule that he must ask permission before touching things on the kitchen counter for quite some time.  Obviously, we are still hit-or-miss!)

Besides this relatively minor encounter with danger, Simon recently injured his face again, which caused me more worry!  We were at the home of some friends for dinner last week.  Simon was outside chasing their dog and climbing up on a brick retaining wall in the back yard.  Then he fell off of said wall and seriously gouged his chin on one of the sharp corners of the bricks.  He had a small, but deep gash under his chin where the skin appeared to be poked in and it was bleeding.  It didn't seem big enough for sutures, so we put some ice on it and eventually a bandage.  It's scabbed over now and healing well.  I don't know if if will leave a scar or not, but I imagine it will leave a small one.  Of course immediately after returning to play outside, he tripped or stumbled and fell and hurt himself at least three more times that evening.  So this is why I wonder how many more birthdays will he see??

Simon with his cooked cheeseburger before him!

Simon's "Yoda cake"

As for a few sweet and sappy remarks, Simon woke up this morning and achieved a new milestone: He reached the bedroom light switch all by himself!  I was so happy for him that this happened on his birthday and I believe he was very proud of himself.  For a boy whose gravest insult that he can muster is to yell "You're smaller!" it was wonderful to have some evidence that at three years old, he really is bigger! 

There is a part of me that wishes that he would stay little forever because he does so many funny, sweet, silly little things.  He gives the best hugs and is my most cuddly child so far.  He loves to hold your hand as he is falling asleep and/or wrap his arms around your neck.  Even though he often finds himself competing (and fighting) with his brother, he frequently shows great consideration and deference for Joseph by making sure Joseph gets his preferred color or that when he is handed two of something he declares, "One for me and one for Joseph!"

Simon is a rough-and-tumble boy through and through.  He will sacrifice his body without hesitation to accomplish his maneuvers with unparallelled panache or simply to make us all laugh.  He usually, inevitably, hurts himself in the process, but recovers quickly once I've asked him if he's OK and given him a kiss.  I especially treasure a memory of him where he came running at full speed into my bedroom while I was talking to Joseph and he turned his body into a little ball without missing a single step and threw himself under Joseph, literally bowling him over.  We all laughed afterwards (thankfully!) and then I watched as the boys played at repeating the move back and forth to each other.  However, Joseph would run, stop, then make himself into a ball and roll into Simon.  Simon just ran and rolled and didn't care who or what was in the way!

Simon also loves sports and especially his team jerseys (Cardinals, Pathers, etc.) which he dons with great pride!  The boy will not wear long pants or long sleeves to save his life and you'd better not do anything for him or help him in the slightest bit if he's decided He Will Do It Himself!  And if he's asked for help, you'd better do it just so - or there will be Hell to pay!  He loves to state the obvious and he enjoys (or at least is willing) to eat all sorts of unusual foods without prejudice.  And although he once upon time called himself "Boy," you'd better not add "baby" or "little" to any reference of him.  

Happy Birthday, Simon!  We love you!