Today, November 8, Seth is exactly three and a half years old. Looking at his baby pictures, it is hard to believe that the vibrant, funny, energetic, curious boy we have now was once that teeny little baby! One thing that has definitely remained consistent with Seth is that he still loves to snuggle. As a little baby, there was nothing he liked better than to nurse and fall asleep on us. As a little boy, he still loves hugs, snuggles, and closeness, and is always quick to return or offer an "I love you." He is so loving and kind, and we are so thankful to have a little boy who so freely offers his affection. He has recently started hugging Evan while they are playing on the floor and telling him "I love you...I love you!" Couldn't get much cuter than that!

Seth's language still amazes us. He always speaks in complete sentences, and uses impressive words/phrases like "gather" at the meeting, "bursting" out of the box, and all "crumpled up". He still loves words like "actually", "eventually", and "luckily", and usually uses them correctly. He is very observant and makes astute observations. We were recently reading a book with Grams called I Hate to Go to Bed, and I asked him if he loved or hated to go to bed. He thought about it for a minute, and said "Well, I don't hate to go to bed, but I can't always fall asleep right away".

He continues to love Tiger School, and has been learning a lot there. He has recently taken on a renewed interest in letters and numbers, and is starting to realize that there is something to this mysterious letter, word, reading, writing business. He was dictating a note to me today, and he asked me why I was writing. I explained that I was writing letters and words, and he took this all in and summarized back "The letters are in words, Mommy, did you ever know that?" One day, he started counting the number of letters on the title pages of his books in his room. Then, we went downstairs, and he was looking at the two posters in the playroom, one with the alphabet and one with numbers. All of a sudden, he said "A is 1, B is 2"...all the way up through "J is 10." I was amazed. He is getting better at counting from ten to twenty, and is starting to understand patterns from some activities from Tiger School.

In the past few weeks, Seth has given up his nap. It served him well until just recently, but all of a sudden it took him over an hour to fall asleep at naptime, and then he was up talking in his bed until after 10pm. So, we decided it was time to end the nap. He was fine with this - sometimes, he will have quiet time in his room, though he prefers to have quiet time in the same room as us. If we are on a car ride at just the right time, he might still fall asleep, but in general, his napping days are over. This means that by the time he gets to bed at 7:30pm or so, he is usually asleep within minutes. We still love to snuggle with him in bed and read him bedtime stories, and he likes to sleep with his glowman, teddy, seahorse, and a variety of other stuffed animals. He still sleeps with his head at the foot of the bed instead of the headboard, though he does go under the covers. This is left over from his insistence when we first got the bed. We wonder if we should try to switch so he sleeps with his head at the headboard!

He is fully potty trained during the day, still wearing a diaper at night. I was in daycare the other day and heard him say in the middle of playing "I have to go potty, guys." Then "Okay, I washed my hands." He prides himself on being able to use the potty, and has even started to want to sit on the real toilet by himself and hold himself up. He likes to imitate adults. I recently learned how to knit (kind of), and he wanted his own knitting project to work on. He likes to work on the computer like Daddy.

Seth still loves music - his Music Together songs, and then he has the grown-up songs he has grown to like - Taking Care of Business, Monster Mash, Ghostbusters, and most recently Old Time Rock and Roll, which he heard with Papa. His cute adaptation of the lyrics: "I like some days of old. I like the old time rock and roll." He loves trains, cars, trucks, puzzles, legos, books, tools, balls, etc. He loves doing art projects with us - making paper turkeys for the grandparents, creating a mailbox out of a box, helping me create a felt board, making a collage out of magazine pictures, and he loves to proudly display these around the house. He loves to play outside, and is surprisingly accurate when kicking or throwing. He's still working on pedaling his tricycle, and when he gets frustrates, we help him with our little songs "If at first you don't succeed, try try again" and "I can do it if I try".

Seth is a good friend, and he is definitely starting to understand the concept of having certain friends he prefers over others, though we talk about the importance of being nice to everyone. He loves his grandparents and his family, and once he gets over an initial shyness, will accept any of Mommy and Daddy's friends as his own. He has the same infectious belly laugh he had as a baby, and loves to have fun. He loves his brother Evan with a passion, introducing him to everyone, "this is my brother, baby Evan!" He always wants to hug and kiss him, and he enjoys playing with him on the floor and making him laugh. He is our helper, and is always trying to protect Evan, to keep things away from him that he shouldn't have. Of course, "gentle" is still a a common refrain in our house!

Seth has become a more adventurous eater, and he will now eat meat like grilled chicken and ground beef, a big accomplishment! He still loves fruit, vegetables, and goldfish, and nothing will make him happier than chocolate pudding. He has his favorite PBS shows that he likes to watch with us - Super Why, Cat in the Hat, Dinosaur Train, Calilou, and Curious George.

These three and a half years have been wonderful, and we can't wait for what's to come!

We leave you with some funny recent "Seth-isms" (and a picture of baby Seth and of three and a half year old Seth):

• "The mommies had a playdate and the babies had a playdate!" (when talking about a mommy/baby playdate I had at the house)
• "I want to bring Evan to show and share" (show and tell at Tiger School)
• "My cough blew away" (after getting over a cough)
• "Our coughs are twins!" (said after realizing both he and his friend Elizabeth had coughs)
• "Silly goosey!"
• "I'll be a good listener. You won't have to count or say it lots of times!"
• "That's crazy!" (Mommy and Daddy say this a lot)
• "That was a big burp for a little baby!" (said to Evan, something Mommy or Daddy said once or twice)
• "I lost...my mind!" (to our chagrin, repeated something Daddy said)
• "Let's make leaf pie and leaf crisp!" (referencing apple pie and apple crisp)