He's Three!

Three years ago today, a sweet baby came into the world, making me a mommy. He was not an easy baby, but he could have been a lot worse. I couldn't understand what I had done in my life to deserve the honour of being the little angel's mother. I was in awe of him. He became one of my greatest joys.

At 1:16am, March 9th, 2007, Monkey came into the world via emergency c-section. He was 8lbs, 11 and a half oz and 21" long. He had a cute, little nose and huge hands and feet. We knew right then he was going to be tall. He grew quickly; he was soon in the 98-99% percentile for growth. He always looked older than he was due to his rapid growth.

He said his first word at 8 months. "Kitty Cat." Closely followed by "dada" and "good." He tried walking before he started crawling. He did crawl, starting at 8-9 months. He was walking on his own by 11 months. I managed to get a picture of his first un-aided steps. Only I was so excited, I cut off my father's head. I love that picture.

Monkey has always been a very curious little man. He has been interested in the world around him since he noticed there was one around him. He takes everything in. When you think he's just quietly playing, he's really listening. Anything said around him will be repeated now that he's verbal. When he was only 16 months old, he watched me kill a spider with a shoe. For months afterwards, everytime he saw a crumb on the floor, he would grab his shoe and "kill" it. Screaming just like his wussy mother.

This boy loves all things Thomas the Tank Engine, The Wiggles and his beloved stuffed dog, Sticks. He knows all his colours, can count to 20 in English and 10 in French and Spanish (I take no credit for the Spanish. That's Dora's doing), he knows all his body parts and will loudly that boys have "peanuts" and girls don't. He knows his alphabet, can read his name, knows 5 books by heart and is starting to learn how to print his name. He can get dressed by his self and likes to wear his pants backwards. He's knows how to use the potty, but can't be bothered to stop playing to use it. He loves grocery shopping and Walmart. His favourite restaurant is McDonald's and he'll place his own order of chicken nuggets, french fries and chocolate milk all by his self; even if we are at Tim Horton's.

Monkey loves sports. He's learning how to ice skate and how to swim. He'll kick or throw any ball he can get near. He likes watching hockey, but can get hockey-ed out sometimes. He jumps on the trampoline and doesn't think twice about running over his friends. He's just happy to be running. He dances all day long. He even has different names for different dances.

This boy has a temper. He's subborn and quick to meltdown if he's not getting his own way. He is also one of the happiest kids I have ever seen at the same time. He loves to laugh and smile. He can be found rolling happily on his back at any given time. He hates it when people laugh at him when he's mad, but thrives in it when he's happy.

Monkey is a funny, little character. And I am so blessed to have him in my life.

I love you, my little Monkey Man!