At three Clayton is fun-loving, silly, outgoing, smart, chatty, loud, fast, snuggly, a dancer, an organizer, tough, impulsive, caring, observant, and loving. Clayton loves anything that is fun, rowdy, and loud! I guess this is the nature of a fourth born and a third boy, but he loves to have fun being rowdy with the boys. He falls and gets hurt like any three year old, but he is SO tough that he rarely cries-even over some recent skinned knees. No tears, he just talked really grumpy saying, "Why'd that do that to my knee. Grunt!"
Clayton loves to be silly similar to how Carter has always been, so the first person Clayton always tries to get to laugh is Carter. All the nonsense jokes Clayton makes up and silly stuff he does, all of it always gets Carter to laugh first! Clayton's favorite joke is to say, "Want to hear a joke? Peter Rabbit!" I'm not sure why this is a joke, but it is and he's done it so much that now we all laugh every time because it's just silly. Clayton's eyes just shine when he's getting laughs for his jokes or from doing something silly. When he can't think of something silly to do he relies on his fall back jokes-saying potty words like poop and pee and you can be certain these always get a laugh from his siblings-and Clayton has decided that it's worth it to get a laugh no matter how much trouble he gets in.
In addition to being silly, Clayton's also VERY outgoing. He's not shy at all. I love this about him because he's always so happy to talk to others, and he seems to have a lot of fun playing with friends when I'm with him and when I'm not (ie church nursery) because he's not afraid to talk and interact with others. The only downside to this outgoing nature, is that he talks to EVERYONE! I told John that the construction workers building the house nextdoor to our's are going to complain that they can't get their work done, because any time we are outside Clayton's always standing at the edge of our yard yelling things like, "Hey man! Hey, whatcha doing?! You hammering? You got that digger? Whatcha doin over there?! Hey worker! Hey man!" Seriously it goes on and on and he's not shy even when they talk back to him. He's also very loud in everything he does so you can be certain every stranger or person he talks to hears him. He has no problems projecting his voice! Hah!
Clayton is also very smart, while I'm sure every parent says this about their kids we constantly realize that Clayton is so observant and smart watching, learning, copying, and reciting more than we even realize. Clayton recently finished memorizing Psalm 23. He did is very fast and was so proud. He has now moved on to memorizing the Lord's Prayer, but we haven't finished that one yet. He likes for us to quiz him on his Bible verses. His siblings cheer him on and he loves the attention.
This is just a random side note, but lately Clayton doesn't really like any of our books that are storybooks, he likes factual books. For example last week at the library he picked out a book all about how to play baseball with real pictures in it instead of a story.
I listed that Clayton was a dancer because he (more than anyone else) loves for me to turn on music and let him dance around the kitchen and family room. He is always on beat, and is a pretty good dancer. He loves music and easily learns the words. Clayton loves to yell out to Alexa what song he wants. I love watching his little dance moves!
Clayton is also so snuggly. He may be rowdy, tough, loud, fast, and silly, but he's still more than happy to snuggle on my lap and read. Sweet boy. He's always moving so these still, snuggly moments are my favorites.
I also wrote that Clayton's fast and impulsive. Dawson was somewhat of a runner, and Clayton is most definitely a runner. This often times gives me a run for my money, he's so fast and impulsive that I cannot take my eyes off of him for a minute. He's so confident and sees his siblings doing such big kid stuff that he wants to copy. All of this makes me not take my eyes off of Clayton for a minute! He's getting better about not running from me and just in the past month, I've been able to let him walk along side me (not ride or be carried) through stores when we are shopping, so this is improving.
Clayton is much like Dawson in that he's an organizer. He likes to make sure his shoes are in the right spot, his things are put away, things are tidied up, etc. This is very nice and helpful. Clayton has recently started having to make his bed each day like his siblings did at 3, and he's getting good at this! The big kids have their daily chores, and Clayton LOVES for me to give him chores to help with too!
Clayton is oh-so loving! He loves us all so much, and it's so sweet. My very favorite time of day is when he's going to bed and he yells out "GIVE HUGGIS" He started calling the bedtime hugs and kisses "huggis" a long time ago and hasn't changed it. He always wants to give "huggis" to Dawson, Carter, Nora Kate, John, and I all at bedtime. So sweet!
Other things we LOVE at three-cooking with mommy, food-all food! always hungry and wanting to eat, coloring, construction equipment, building blocks, jokes, and playing kerplunk.
I always feel like between the ages of 3 and 3.5 kids change so much, so while I'm sad that our baby is growing up so quickly, I am excited to see all the changes along the way!
Our sweet Mr. Baby at three....
