Out of the Mouths of Three Year Olds

I love this age, the 2-4 year old range when kids learn to place names on objects and verbalize how they see the world.  It makes for some fun stories and great conversations with your children.  The only part that I dislike is that it passes all to soon.

I clearly remember many of the crazy things Sarah said when she was little.  Little things like calling a park bench a "bit--" and making sure everyone around us heard her say, "Look at that bit--!"  It took a year before I had the nerve to call it a bench again. And the time she made up a grandfather in California and a friend at daycare.  Not to mention the cooties conversation with my volleyball buddies or her desire to be a boy so she could stand up to use the bathroom! 

And that brings me to my little man.  He's already halfway through this stage and that makes me sad.  It's so much fun to here how he sees the world and laugh over his mispronunciations.

Just the other day, he decided that bridges were no longer an afterthought.  For the moment, they are exciting.   But there was one little problem. He couldn't get their name right initially.  He looked that the bridge that we were near and in a loud, overly excited voice, he cried out, "Look there's a bit--!!  Look at the bit-- Daddy!"  Those moments always catch you off guard.  Even Sarah asked if he said what she thought he said.  We laughed and now he knows that a bridge is a bridge.

Before that it was with train tracks.  There are a lot of tracks all around us.  We pass near or over them daily.  For weeks, Ashton kept spotting "tractors" that I could not find.  And one day as we passed over a set of tracks, it dawned on me that he was getting train tracks and tractors confused.  And now that little slip is gone as well.

I'll be sad when he stops calling a spoon a "smoon" or asking us to "zwip" his jacket for him.  I'll miss when he stops imagining that dinosaurs are what made the turkeys stop in the field and how they were rude to hold the turkeys up. Or when he gets horses and cows confused.  And I'll miss it when he stops thinking it's funny that cows poop in the fields that they eat.  Well, I guess I can be realistic. He may never get over the last one!

Just last week, he asked to go to Grammy's house for a visit.  I told him that she was feeling gross after having chemo.  With a serious, I have an easy solution type voice, he said, "Well she can just go get a shower!"  That little mind is always working!

These little things are so funny and special at the same time. As a stay at home mom, I'm blessed to be near him as he figures them all out.  But as with Sarah, I know that this time flies by so fast and one day, he'll have the words figured out and know the proper ways to relate.  That will be exciting as well, but will not replace the joy that I receive as he learns how to relate to the world God gave us in ways only a three year old can!  Even an old, run down bridge is exciting for me through his eyes.

So as you look at your little ones today, freely jump into their world. Get excited over the little things.  Laugh as they mess up their words and enjoy giving them the knowledge of the right ways to say those things.  It'll be gone before you know it.  Thankfully, I still have more to go with Ashton and then I'll get to walk two more through this time. God is good!

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