For now, and the next few weeks, George is my baby. He's looking so much older these days and will look even bigger once baby sister arrives. Oh how I love this little munchkin. He's three years old now and I seriously long for those squishy days when he was just under 2 feet fall, round and chubby. How I loved to just snuggle him, nurse him and watch him fall asleep in my arms. Lucky for me he's still my cuddle bug and loves to be near. The memory of him, his two little fingers in his mouth while he strokes his "brown bah" under his nose will forever be etched in my mind and heart. Sometimes I have to chuckle when I put him to bed for a nap in the afternoon and watch his eyes convert into a trans-like state as his "bah" is placed on his face. He always seems to find that perfect little nub at the bottom that immediately releases all sorts of happy, sleepy feelings. We gave him two new "brown bahs" for Christmas and they have since been called "impostor" bahs because he won't have a thing to do with them if his original, stinky one is around.
George's favorite things right now are garbage trucks, any truck, and basketball. If Chase is watching football on the television, George will tell him he wants to watch basketball instead. He's got a pretty good shot too. He wants his Little Tykes hoop raised to the tallest setting at all times and will shoot balls in there like nobody's business. Occasionally he'll throw his arms up and declare "I did it" or "it's good" which he clearly got from Chase. He used to say "babal hoop" but has since learned to say "bassball". Such a little genius! He used to also say "re-ee" when he was about to shoot, but now just runs around shooting like crazy.
He's still a mama's boy and will give me snuggles and kisses whenever I want them. He'll also take the nub on his "bah" and stroke any "owies" that I might have. Still, he loves his Daddy and will run across the room when he gets home from work or meets us at the park. If Chase is watching a game, George and Jack will be right there watching it with him.
His favorite thing to do with Chase right now is to go up to him and say "na na na boo boo, u can't get me" except for it comes out a little more slurred "nanabooboo youcangetme." Chase will then pretend to be a monster and chase the little whippersnapper around the kitchen and living room. George has the funniest little prance of a run. His shoulders hunch, his arms go out and his little feet just bounce along. I absolutely love watching him run away from his dad!!
His bedtime routine has changed drastically over the last year. For a while I thought he was dropping his nap about 6 months ago. He would just play in his crib instead of sleeping. So every afternoon I would sit up in his room and rock him in the rocking chair until he fell asleep. Sometimes all he needed was just one song, but most of the time it was 7 or 8. Little stinker. He would also blurt out requests behind his finger stuffed lips, like "adavice (Edelweiss)" or "starsong" (twinkle twinkle). But the norms were always La La Loo, So This Is Love, A Dream, Stay Awake, I love You For Sentimental Reasons, Somewhere over the Rainbow and he usually started closing his eyes around "The Street Where You Live."
It was exhausting, especially on nauseated days, but it was always worth it to me if I could get him to sleep for a few hours because then I could take a much needed nap as well. Besides, George can get pretty grumpy if he doesn't get a nap. It was best for all involved to rock him to sleep those 5-6 months.
But now my belly is so big, I can barely hold him and he must feel bad for me because all I have to do now is lay him down, give him bah, and tell him "night night." This is about when the "bah" molestation happens and he's well into his euphoric trance. For a while he would say "nigh nigh" every time we closed the door. If we didn't open the door and say "nigh nigh" back, he'd start to cry. This would go on for a while, us opening the door over and over again to say "nigh nigh" or I love you" after we'd hear a little "i ov oo." Lately he's also loved having Sadie sing him some songs if we can't get him to go to bed. She'll go in there and sing her Kiker Keynote songs WAY off key, while we sit downstairs and just chuckle. We love hearing George say "nudda sung" when Sadie tries to leave his room. It's hilarious!! He'll also let Sadie snuggle him if he's sad. She's pretty good at comforting him but also very good at driving him crazy when she steals his bah on purpose, or brushes her teeth with the scary electric toothbrush just to make him scream. And boy can that boy scream!
He can be quite feisty!! I think it's funny that he likes cats so much because sometimes he's as moody and feisty as one. I still love that he comes into our room on Saturday mornings and "meows" us awake. I have so many videos of George just meowing. That's another memory etched in my mind and heart. George the meowing cat! He can also be quite a stinker when it comes to eating...still! He usually requests a YouTube video of garbage trucks or Baby Einstein before he'll open his mouth. I am however pretty impressed with what he will eat. The kid will eat avocado plain and loves raw almonds. He's also the only kid to eat eggs, drink milk and try my green smoothies. He has stopped eating my green "super porridge" but now likes oatmeal with chia seeds. He calls it "mama oatmeal" and requests it every morning. Either that or banana slices with peanut butter.
Now George wants his door WIDE open. He will wake up VERY upset if we happen to close it while he's sleeping to keep the other kids from waking him up when they go to school. This has become quite a challenge because now he wakes up at 6:50 every morning with the other two and is DEAD tired at noon. It's definitely cut into my "go back to bed after the kids go to school" routine. Now George and I are up with the sun making oatmeal together and having ample time to get to our appointments or playgroup for that week. It's kind of nice actually. I'm rarely late to anything anymore. Thanks George!
He and Jack are still the best of buddies and have become even more so over the last few months. Anything Jack says, George will often repeat. If they're throwing rocks in the river and Jack says "kacheega" while he throws his rock, George will say the exact same thing. Seeing these two little men play and run around together makes my heart so happy. Every boy needs a brother and every girl a sister. So glad we were able to provide that for them (with help from above of course). George has picked up on the bossy side of the older kids as well. Often we will hear him say "no no no jah" when he doesn't want Jack to do something. Or he'll say "don't go yet..K?" Most of his sentences usually end in "K" unless he's asking for a snack or a treat and says "awwww" when he's denied something he really wants.
He wants to be and do everything his big bro and sis are doing. If they are swinging in the big kid swings, he wants to "gehout" of the baby swing. If they're running upstairs or outside to play, that's where he wants to go too. It breaks his heart when they go down to the Steigers to play with Avery and Evan because he has to stay here with boring old me!!
He's a great playmate and has lots of little buddies who adore him. He's at the glorious stage where he can have play dates with friends and I won't see him for an hour because they're upstairs having so much fun.
Can't imagine a world without our little George. He's always so happy to see me after naps and in the morning. I love how he whispers and talks inches from our faces when he wants us to do something. I love how easy he is with babysitters and new friends, but I also love how he'll hide his face in my chest when he's decided to be bashful at Daddy's work. I love how he'll go outside and play with his trucks for hours and how easily entertained he is. I love his bright blue eyes and luscious eye lashes. I love his open mouth kisses and big grins when we ask him to show us his teeth. I will forever be grateful to my Heavenly Father for sending me this precious little boy. Happy Birthday my sweet. Love you forever and ever and ever!!
