Dale had a birthday, that's who!
Dale finally hit the big 3 on August 31st. He just had his 3 year check up and he is 35.6lbs and 40.5in tall. He's in the 84th percentile for weight and the 97th for height. His development hasn't quite gotten to the point where he really had a clue what a birthday is or how old he is anyway, but we tried to help him understand.
Dale was wanting me to take pictures of him and he was smiling and posing for the camera (in his inside-out and backwards underwear).
I caught him giving Justin a kiss. Dale refused to give anybody a kiss for the first 2.5years of his life. The first time he actually gave me a kiss I pretty much did the happy dance. Most of the time that we ask for one these days he will give us one, so we have made some progress. After taking the picture below I told Justin we needed another picture where he looked like he at least enjoyed a kiss from Dale...
But the second picture looks kind of cheesey and not candid at all so I think the first one is actually better :)
I made Dale a cake and let him decorate it with candies and sprinkles. I love pudding fillings so I covered the bottom layer with pudding before I put the top layer on....yumm.
After dinner waiting for the cake...
Taking a big breath!
Happy boy, and even happier sister...
Dale is quite the different child. I have been saying lately that while I won't say there is something "wrong" with him, there is definitely something "different" with him. Sometimes I wonder if he has some kind of issue that falls along the autism spectrum, yet he certainly doesn't have autism itself. His language ability is about a year behind at this point. Because he has such a limited vocabulary he tends to scream and wail often when he's unhappy or wants something he can't have or get himself. From a colicky infant to a high maintenance toddler, Dale has been a challenge since the day he was born. Part of me is still crossing my fingers that we actually have an extremely intelligent little boy in there somewhere but his language just hasn't clicked yet, because this kid couldn't be more curious. He wants to get into EVERYTHING. Forget toys, Dale would rather rummage through tools, tear things apart, dump out buckets, write on things (that he shouldn't - walls, cabinets, floors), eat things (that he shouldn't - dry wall, glue, dirt, sand, rocks, or just whatever he decides to steal out of the refrigerator when he decides to wake up and wander the house in the middle of the night), or ram or jump on unsuspecting family members. I think this blog has documented a lot of his shenanigans so I won't try to post them all here, but in short he is Dennis the Menace reincarnated, but worse. I can't trust him around Daisy as he tries to sit on her or push her over or poke her or whatever else he can do to her (I caught him standing on the couch looking down at her on the ground and I knew exactly what he was thinking - because he has jumped on me before as I'm sitting on the ground innocently enough looking the other direction, I still have the bruise to prove it - luckily I stopped him before he decided to jump on poor Miss Daisy). He's pretty mean to animals too, as much as we ask him to be nice, he just enjoys kicking or chasing our animals.
All of those things being said, I have to say that Dale holds a very special place in my heart. Though I lose my patience with him often, raising him has helped me develop more patience than I ever had as a younger adult. I do run close to burnout pretty much on a daily basis lately, but I know he is helping me grow and develop skills that improve my mothering capabilities. He still sucks his fingers and it's still cute. He loves to cuddle while he watches his favorite Curious George shows, and loves to be read to. He's up for dancing around when the music is on, jumping on the trampoline with his older siblings, joining us in any game we are playing inside or outside, and is always up for a tickle/wrestling match - whether anyone else is up for it or not :). He makes me laugh with some of his silly behavior; his face is so so expressive, and sometimes when he gets rambling he will get kind of a growling voice and it sounds like "Rawfrawcanahfrawfacha" and we laugh that he is swearing at us. He might walk around saying nothing with his fingers in his mouth and then pull them out with a start, raise his eyebrows and gasp, "Whah dat?" and look around a gasp like he's listening for something. I love hearing the words that he does have, like when he says "My turn!" loud and clear, or when he says in a sweet baby voice "Hiiiii Day-see! Hiiii Day-see!" when he first meets her in the morning. Dale also has gotten good at saying "A-MEN" very loudly after a prayer though it doesn't carry very far unless we are in church. Then the whole congregation can hear him. He probably has 50 words, but doesn't say his name and won't say his age. He is a special spirit, one that I'm glad I have survived for three years. It's hard to imagine a day when things will get easier, but I'm holding out that it will eventually happen, because that's all I can do. I love this little boy and can't wait for him to show us what he's got in that brain of his when he can finally communicate with us. He has his second evaluation for the school district's Priority Preschool (free preschool for kids with developmental delays) program this coming Monday. Our pediatrician faxed a referral into a developmental pediatrician this week and she might be able to offer us some more answers as well. Maybe (hopefully) Dale is completely normal and just needs some extra help with his speech, maybe not, but we are hoping that things change drastically in the coming months so we can enjoy this little guy even more.
Happy Birthday little Dale, I love you little stinker!
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