I have been thinking it was time to write a Monkey update for a while, and this started out being a 3 1/4 update.. but in all the chaos another month has passed and so it is now a 3 1/3 update! So here it goes.

I am going to start by being honest here, the threenager year is definitely the most challenging so far with our Monkey. We’ve actually been really lucky up to this point and we never had the terrible twos.. but he is without doubt a threenager. He can be defiant, stubborn, argumentative, attention seeking, jealous and a general pain in the wotsit a lot of the time lately. “I dont want to” and “I dont like it, I dont like anything” are probably the most frequently used phrases in our house and they drive us mad.

Mealtimes can be a real pain just trying to get him to eat food, even his favourites let alone anything new. He’s always been fussy but this is more defiance than anything and he gets so stubborn. He has regressed a bit and wants us to feed him a lot of the time (which is a bit bizarre as we don’t feed his baby sister, she feeds herself!) and often announces “I don’t like that, it’s rubbish”, or “that’s disgusting” without even trying it… then when he does eat it of course it is yummy.

We try and have tried a whole variety of different techniques. I’m all for mindful parenting and try so hard to be aware of what I say and do to see if this has any effect on his behaviour… but honestly no matter how hard I try I very often get the same response. I try and make sure we get 1 on 1 time, use positive language all of it. But no dice. He is worse when he is tired or hungry but even well fed and rested he can be very stroppy. So I keep having to remind myself (and hubs who all too easily gets drawn into an argument with him) that he is only 3 and just a phase!

Of course there are times he pushes our buttons too far and we shout and get cross. But then he turns our words back on us “just do it then” “no, you do it” shouting and pointing at us. Thank goodness the naughty step, and for the most part even just the threat of the naughty step, works as there are so many times we have to do it. Sit at the table or go on the naughty spot. Get in the bath or go on the naughty spot. Get your pyjamas on or go on the naughty spot. Not as a first threat but when the asking nicely and cajoling have got nowhere out it comes.

He also insists on repeating the same phrase over and over until he has gotten the response so he wants and honestly it drives me completely potty. That is often what leads me to shouting as I just can’t cope with hearing him say “but I neeeeeeed it” (about some toy or chocolate or whatever he wants at that moment) for the umpteenth time in quick succession.

So that is my little moan out of the way, at times when he is not driving me completely crazy or having a major meltdown he is actually very lovely and such a cute little boy. He seems so grown up sometimes that I have to remind myself he is only 3 so does need a bit of leniency.

He is so very loveable and frequently loves telling us how much he loves us. He likes doing things “as a family” and often talks about all of us and gives his baby sister lovely cuddles too. He adores his extended family and whenever we say we are going to see one of his aunts or uncles or to her relatives he announces “Oh I love…. and … and …” and then starts reeling off all his family members. Very sweet. He loves playing with his friends too and frequnrtly gives them cuddles and kisses, and he is getting much more confident at speaking to approaching children he hasn’t met before and sparking up conversation.

He loves jumping, and considering how long it took him to learn to jump he is certainly making up for lost time. He jumps over just about every crack in the pavement and I’ve never seen him so happy as on our friends trampoline a few weeks back!

He is turning into a right little performer, sometimes whipping out from behind the curtains saying “welcome to the show” and then singing a song or telling us about something. I haven’t managed to catch it on camera as he is always very impromptu with it and if I ty and get him to repeat it he is having none of it. Apparently though he got up and sang a song with one of the key workers at playgroup the other week which melted my heart. He also loves performing to his family and saying things that make everyone laugh, and then repeating it over and over and over!

Speaking of playgroup, playgroup/pre-school is going very well. He is getting much better at going without getting upset. We had been working on him running in with a big smile on his face, which he did a couple of weeks ago and then turned back to me so proud of himself shouting “I did it Mummy!” Love him.

Having had so many builders in our house for so long he is so desperate to be a builder with them and wants to help them with all of their jobs. He is also getting amazing at building his duplo and lego and is actually building houses and things now which I love. He has such an imagination, often having little conversations with his toys, or finding a belt and saying it is his superhero belt. He loves dressng up and lots of things are turned into hats, be it a builders hat, postmans hat, or something else!

Buzz lightyear often comes to the rescue of trains and cars falling off the side of some furniture, most cars are Lightning McQueen or other “Cars” cars, and most planes are Dusty Crophopper or Skipper from Planes. Because he is now of an age where he LOVES disney films. Not all, but most. He tends to get an obsession where he wants to watch one over and over and over and then I eventually persuade him to try another one and the obsession to that. Recently it was Aladdin, then Wall-E and then for a changewe started watching some dreamworks films, Madagascar and Madagascar 2. So the current obsession is Madagascar 2 and it does make me chuckle hearing him sing “I like to move it move it” hehe.

So our little man is stubborn, defiant and completely adorable, even while he is irritating. He goes off for a little sulk with his arms folded and then when we laugh he turns and laughs too. He doesn’t generally hold a grudge for long thankfully… though having said that some of his meltdowns have been epic lately! I just have to grit my teeth and bear it when it comes to his tantrums and focus on all the lovely times instead!