Roscoe Turns Three, + Life in iPhone Photos

This little mister is three.

Usually, I have the, “I can’t believe my baby is __!” feelings, but this birthday was opposite. I can’t believe Roscoe is ONLY three. He seems so much older!

Above all, Roscoe is SWEET. He has the most precious, high-pitched voice and the face of an innocent little angel. Judging by the amount of scribbles on the wall, “innocent” is not quite accurate. Sometimes angel, never innocent. 🙂 Roscoe is strong willed, independent, determined, and confident. I hope he holds on tightly to those characteristics, but if we could dilute them just a bit, it would make toddlerhood a lot less…toddler-y.

He runs our family with a very effective combination of contagious laughter and a major ‘tude, the likes of which our household had never experienced. In an interesting twist, his little fire inside has created an eager, motivated child. You want his shoes on? Done. (He knows the pair he wants and there will be no alternative.) Want him buckled in the car? Done. Want him to get Pick up Shayne? No, of course not. But he’s done that, too.

He even potty trained himself in December to wear Gus’s Ninja Turtle undies. Really. I discouraged it, because, duh. Why would I be mid-potty training with a new baby? I told him, “You can’t wear those, but you wear diapers! YAY! Diapers are great! Maybe when you’re bigger and don’t wear diapers anymore, we can get you some underwear!” Next thing I knew, he had on Gus’s underwear. Every. Single. Day. I told him he couldn’t wear them if he went potty in them.

“K.”

“Tell me if you need to go potty. If you need to go, I can help you, okay? Oh, gosh, can you reach the toilet? Let me know!”

“K.”

(Spoken like a real boy.)

And…that was it.

He’s since received his own underwear, for the record.

Roscoe is seriously theeee cutest little heart exploder. He loves to “snuttle” with you at night, draws on walls and feels deeply apologetic about it, does it again the next week, loves blue anything, our friend/occasional babysitter Drew, Power Rangers, bad guys, and his sister. His birthday was full of gasps and absolute amazement. I’ve never seen such awe at Chuck E Cheese. I LOVE this boy. He melts me.

(Look at this blurry excitement! He was so enthusiastic when Chuck E came out…to sing to another kids, because that’s not the birthday package I bought. I stand by that decision, but was thrilled we had the opportunity to freeload.)

Today, we celebrated again as a graduation ceremony was commenced.

We were so proud as Gus opened the preschool graduation program, leading the audience in a dazzling rendition of The Pledge of Allegiance. “…with yiberty and justice for ALL.”

Gus completing a whole year of preschool and still not quite pronouncing “L” is such a tender mercy. I will cry when he figures it out.

He’ll be back in one more year of pre-k next year, and Roscoe is chomping at the bit for his turn at school. He already loves Gus’s preschool teacher, and has had his own backpack ready in the closet since last fall! In fact, today he hopped in the program, and already knew all the songs from Gus…so, we let him stay and perform while I fed Shayne. Roscoe wasn’t quick to give up the spotlight after his birthday yesterday.

Lastly, Mother’s Day. I love being Brian’s wife on Mother’s Day. There are no gifts involved, per se, but he takes great care of me. He made my favorite food, Eggs Benedict and salmon with “a mango relish.” All those hours of Food Network are really paying off.

My only request was to be alone in my room with visiting hours, which was a joking-haha-not-really-joking idea, but my boys were just too cute to hide from. Wonder if I can redeem that later.

My favorite photos from the day: my boys not wanting to take a picture with me, my boys running away from me, leaving me with the only baby who can’t escape, and the last one. Oh, that last one. Gus and Roscoe routinely veer off into the bushes, and walk on the cinderblock dividing wall. We routinely ask them not to. So, ditto on Mother’s Day. Little feet trying to sneak through the rocks, rustling leaves, little heads bobbing around in bushes. Tromping around and someone falling off the wall. I’m already laughing in this picture and Roscoe fell off the two foot wall shortly after this was taken. (He’s fine. It happens often.)

I love this photo for the pause button that it is on our life right now, and it makes me laugh every time I see it.