Fun with our three-year-old

I have to admit, there are many things that I LOVE about three-year-olds ... their enthusiasm and excitement about life, their funny sayings, their crazy mix of dependence and independence, their ability to do lots of new things ...

Here are some of the things Ian has been up to lately:
First off, a funny story ... The other day,  Ian was trying to get his battery-operated tool light to light up by turning the switch to the on position. In frustration, Ian says, "It says N-O! Why is it not working??" Ha ha. :)

A few days ago, we tried a fun activity that I had seen on the AWESOME Imagination Tree website. I placed 7-8 of Ian's small plastic toys into a plastic container filled with water and then froze it. I told Ian that he needed to figure out a way to get the toys out of the ice. He first tried a spoon, then the back part of his toy hammer.

When those didn't work, he used his wooden mallet. By this time, the sun was also helping out and the mallet starting breaking up the ice. He thought this was amazingly fun!

We also experimented with using water to get the ice to melt more quickly. Eventually, Ian was able to get all of the toys out! But since he was having so much fun playing with ice, we got out some cubes for the excavator to move around.

In the middle of Ian's experimentation, Grammy called. Ian told her all about what he was doing, and she asked if he knew what would happen if he used Momma's hairdryer on ice. Of course, Ian was excited to try it! What fun!

Later in the day, Ian was interested in choosing his own toys to place in the plastic container, adding water, and helping to put the container into the freezer. It was exciting to check the freezer the next morning to see it all frozen!

One day last week, we went to the Woodlands Children's Museum. We had a good time, but Kim realized how tough it is to take a preschooler and infant anywhere like this by herself. Especially when Ryan needed to nurse, it was tricky to figure out how to feed Ryan while still supervising Ian, who was contentedly bopping from one exhibit to the next. Next time, we'll plan to invite another momma and her kid(s) to come with us to have another set of eyes to supervise! :) It's always interesting to see what Ian will enjoy the most while we're there. For the first time ever, Ian really wanted to get all dressed up as a fireman before playing on the firetruck.

He was also really interested in driving the pretend car.

One day this week, we had chicken tetrazzini for dinner. Ian thought it was hilarious to share noodles with Momma or Daddy by each starting on one side of the pasta ...

... and meeting in the middle with a kiss!

Ian continues to love his time with Ryan, who he affectionately refers to as "Little Brother," "Little Moo," "Ryanel" (rhymes with Lionel), or "Ryan David." Here, Ian shows Ryan about all the features of his activity gym.

Ian still loves participating in daily tummy time.

Ian thought it was great to see Ryan in the Bumbo seat, and Ryan loved watching Big Brother from the seated position.

A friend told us about a water balloon set that was on clearance at Walmart that included a special hose attachment for filling water balloons. It WAS a perfect way to fill up water balloons, but mainly Ian enjoyed that the attachment allowed him to be completely in charge of the hose spray. :)

The next day, Ian happily volunteered to spray off some really great plastic bins and drawers that we found on someone's curb. In the process, he discovered that there was a lot of mud along the grass.

What fun! :)

This week, we read a really cute library book called Suppose You Meet a Dinosaur: A First Book of Manners by Judy Sierra. In the book, the girl eats banana chips. Ian was curious about what banana chips were, and so I tried to find a recipe on line to make our own. I found a really easy recipe that involved cutting bananas, dipping them in orange juice, and baking them on low heat for a couple of hours. Ian thought it was really fun to make the chips, but he wasn't a big fan of the chips themselves. Perhaps we didn't cook them long enough, as they weren't all that crispy?? We'll have to try it again!

Below, Ian (and Momma) performs Ian's current favorite song ...