Birthday Boy

On Monday, we got to celebrate McKay's third birthday. It's hard to believe he's already three. It seems like he should still look like this:

But he's growing up, and couldn't be happier about turning three. I love how easy he is to please.  A couple presents, some cupcakes and peanut butter pie, and Colleen's family and BOOM. Party.

Massage line

Love my baby boy

There are so many things I love about this boy. He is the sweetest thing ever. He wants everyone to be happy, and is always giving things to his siblings. I've never had a three year old who is so good at sharing. Maybe it's because Carter has such a strong personality, but McKay will let Carter have whatever he wants.

He still loves girl stuff, but has really worked hard to convince himself that he doesn't. He told Tara that he couldn't sleep in her girls' room, because he's a boy. He has somehow lost all the ponies he used to play with, so my mom bought him a family of horses while we were in Mexico. He really loved them for a few days, but hasn't been playing with them as much lately. 

He still sucks his thumb and loves his bunny, Kenzie, although he told me he wants it to be a boy now, so maybe it will become Jonny now. 

He never gets to make a decision for himself. If I ask him what he wants, he'll let Carter or Kyla answer for him, and he almost always agrees with what they say. He likes Paw Patrol and Daniel Tiger on tv. He likes to sleep in in the morning. He still tells me all the time that he wants to be my baby.

On his birthday (when he and Carter were wearing their St Patty's day shirts), I told McKay it was time to get potty trained. He has been fighting me about this for a while now, telling me he wasn't ready because he wasn't three yet. He had even started changing his own diapers for me by wiping himself and leaving poop streaks all over the carpet. Yep, it was time to get him potty trained.

He has done very well so far. The first day, he had one pee accident in his underwear, so I took them off and had him run around bare butt. He was getting really good at peeing in the toilet (he's highly motivated by candy), and stayed dry the rest of the day. BUT he had a hard time with the pooping. While he was bare, he pooped on the carpet. Seriously?? Just pooping on the carpet like a dog? He also pooped in his underwear later in the day. That was fun. I had him dip his undies in the toilet to clean them out, but he was crying, saying he needed to be back in diapers.

Tuesday, he woke up dry and did really good all day staying dry. I had stuff I needed to do, so I put him in a pull up (so he wouldn't have an accident at the neighbor's house), which he managed to keep dry. He did poop in the pull up later in the afternoon, which was kind of a bummer. I wasn't sure if he was getting it or how long it would take him. But at least it was much easier for me to clean up. I am typically against pull ups, because I think they are just like diapers, but since he was doing so well with the pee (and I had a bunch left over from when Carter used to wet the bed), I decided to use one. 

Today, he woke up wet, but no big deal. After breakfast he told me he needed to poop (which he has said several times) and Allie took him to the bathroom. Surprise, surprise, he did a big poop on the toilet. Celebration! We made a big deal about it, and I gave him a box of Mike and Ikes. Which he "shared" with all his siblings because they asked him to. He has done really great today. He loves candy (he gets one every time he pees), so he goes every hour or so. Even when we had to go to soccer practice and Damon's class performance, he stayed dry. I'm so happy, and relieved, and proud of him.

The other night, as I was getting the boys in bed, I had a tender moment with them. I often dread having to put them to bed, just because I know that it's going to take a half an hour or more. I go down, brush their teeth, read to them and then we turn out the lights and sing songs. I was holding their hands and singing primary songs, and I was just really struck with a sense of how lucky I am to get to be their mom. These two boys are the best of friends and I know each one would be lost without the other. They really are so sweet and love me so much. I love to watch them grow and learn new things, but they are my babies, and it won't be long before I don't have a small hand in mine as I sing songs about heaven and Jesus.

I'm just really glad that right now, I do.