From toddler to pre-schooler – Turning 3

N turned 3 today.  As he’s now in both nursery school and the pre-school room at his day nursery, I really should stop calling him a toddler, and refer to him as a pre-schooler (toddler is so much easier though and a bit more British!).

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So what have I noticed in the transition from toddler to pre-schooler?  This past year has seen several big steps.

The first has been his language and communication.  From May time where it was picked up that he had a slight tongue tie, through June where all of a sudden his speech clarity improved as his confidence did (being the oldest in his previous room at nursery, seemed to help this), to now where he’s finally had his speech therapy appointment.  Only the one session was needed in the end to assess so it’s great to see how his speech has developed.

His physical strength and mobility has developed massively.  N can ride his balance bike like a pro, he can pedal the trikes at nursery round the playground like a nutter, and his scooter converted quickly from 4 wheels through to 2.  He enjoys kicking a ball although his throwing is still pretty dubious and as for catching….some way to go there.   He can climb most things when he puts his mind to it, and finally we’ve got shot of the buggy.  Yes, if we’re walking some way he asks to be carried, but with a distraction or turning it into a game, he’ll walk round the whole of town with no problems.

N much prefers the physical rather than drawing and arts.  But we do have play dough sessions and occasional painting – he’s not really got to the ‘drawing specific items’ yet but that’s not surprising given his parents’ lack of artistic tendencies.  But give him outdoor toys or something to drive along and he’s in his element.  Even more so when he’s got a couple of friends to play with.

Baking, well anything that involves stirring, peeling or chopping goes down well.  In fact, anything that involves food, as that definitely a favourite activity.  Thankfully N’s not fussy (although it would be handy if he would eat pizza), but he would eat all the time if given half a chance.  Favourite foods of the moment include cake (especially fruit or chocolate cake), potato, salmon, pasta, roast dinner of any kind, sausages (his gran’s being his favourite), croissant, kiwi and grapes. But really, the list could go on and on.

Working out that N must be slightly lactose intolerant was a surprise as well – milk has been swapped as well as him having ‘special’ cheese, yoghurts and butter.  But it’s been hard stopping him from being given ice cream, cream and other dairy products when he’s elsewhere.  Ice cream and cream really make his nappies bad, the rest have less impact, and it doesn’t seem to hurt his stomach etc, so I’m hoping he’ll grow out of it or it will continue to not impact him too much.

Family is important to N and he really loves his grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins.  Hopefully he’ll continue to be able to see them regularly, and enjoying playing with his 5 year old cousin when they get the chance.  Hopefully the older ones don’t lead him too astray when he’s older!

N still loves music.  It’s not really surprising given the variety that I enjoy, and what he’s listened to and watched with us.  He’ll dance around the room, play along on his ‘rock guitar’, and loves to sing.  Top of his repertoire is Row row row your boat, along with wheels on the bus, although I’m sure there’s others that he sings but are unknown by myself.  He also now sings along really well to tv shows and jingles.  I hadn’t even noticed him paying much attention but he picks them up really quickly.  As he’s also done learning the alphabet on his phonics toy* he had for Christmas.

Sleeping is important to N.  He dropped his naps over Christmas, and although he occasionally gets tired, he’s rarely kranky and is pretty good about bedtimes and morning wake ups.

I love that N still loves books and stories.  It’s something that we do together as the OH doesn’t think he’s a strong enough reader and says it’s my job.  Great for me, as it’s lovely having N sit on my knee or crush into a chair next to me and we get through all the books we have.  N also likes to read to himself and talk through the story which is really cute to hear.

He’s also now asserting his independence.  Gone are the times I can make his breakfast.  If I go to the fridge, he shouts ‘no’, closes the door, reopens it to get out the bread, drags a chair to the worktop and puts the bread in the toaster.  Gets a knife and the butter, scrapes the butter out…and then gives up as he can’t get the pressure to spread the butter.  He’s similar with running his bath.  It’s his job to put the plug in and start running the water…meaning if he’s refusing to go to bed, you just say you’re going to turn the taps on and put the plug in.  ‘Noooo’.

He’s definitely making more of himself in the world.  He’s grown in height (a little), put on half a stone, gained 2 shoe sizes, and is now in age 3-4 clothes.  The last thing to achieve now is getting out of nappies.  That could take a while given his backtrack once he was back at nursery.  Here’s hoping the next couple of months see him change his mind and get rid without too much hassle.  It’s not looking too promising at the moment.

What was the big development leap you noticed between age 2-3?