He is THREE.

As I was getting Tucker out of the shopping cart last week, he hugged be back. Tightly. Deliberately. And said, "You are my Mama." It was enough to cause me to cry in the middle of a parking lot. It was also the best part of my entire week.

Putting on sunglasses is harder than you might think!

As we know, time continues to march on and in the midst of our madness, Tucker has had his third birthday. He is changing very fast. Considering how worried I was a year ago about where he was on the spectrum with speech and occupational skills, right now I feel like he is exactly where I would like him to be... and to stay. He is just really fantastic. He loves to run and being chased is definitely one of his favorite activities. While he is still not the kind of kid you will find climbing up your countertops or getting themselves stuck in a tree, when he is in a place where he feels comfortable, he is more willing to try new things. I think that he will be swimming on his own sooner than his brother. His speech is clear and very cute. He will over enunciate most words. So after his fake belches and real toots, he will say, "Ex-cUse Me."

Of course he is still obsessed with Cars (Pixar specific), but his interests have broadened to Planes (yes, Pixar too). Every single character is a friend to him. He knows all their names. He also loves IndyCar racing. In a pinch he will settle playing with anything his brother already was playing with. 

My biggest stress with him these days is how little he eats. He is about 10 inches shorter than Hudson, but just light as a feather. He would survive on popcorn and ice cream if allowed. The McDonald's logo is sure to elicit a shout of "SpriteandaCoke" from the backseat. He will watch America's Test Kitchen with me and say "Yum" but I am sure he will still never eat any of it. Most of the time at the dinner table he wants to pseudo-sword fight with his spoon. I don't know any other kid his age that knows what "en garde" means!

He is not sure about big dogs, but as my friend pointed out, the head of a tall dog is taller than Tucker's, so it is kinda like us walking around with horses. 

At night he always asks me to sing a couple of songs. And while I do think he loves music, he is probably just trying to delay going to bed. He also loves to be read to. It is pretty common to find him reading to himself.

He absolutely HATES having his fingernails and toenails cut. Or having people touch his toys. Or getting told no. Or talking about being potty trained. 

I would describe him as independent and tenacious, opinionated and cuddly, ornery and funny. I don't think that he could be any prettier. His head full of curls stop strangers. I adore his perfect nose. I hope that as he begins to be understood by more people, his little personality will also entertain them. For being just three, he knows several great KnockKnock jokes.

He does not always say no. He likes to make an "eeee-awww!" donkey-ish sound to express his lack of favor with your request.

I think that three was my favorite age with Hudson, so I am really looking forward to this year!