Ezzyisms - 3.25 Years

It's been about 7 months since my last Ezzyisms post (you can read them all here) and looking back it's striking how his vocabulary grown. He used to be all about sounds, he wanted to know what sound everything makes. Yes, even stop signs. And in case you're wondering, saying something doesn't make a sound is not an acceptable answer to a two year old. Thankfully we've grown out of that stage because my sound impression game is not strong. You know what we haven't grown out of though? This kid's love of vehicles. Planes, race cars, motorcycles, emergency vehicles, you name it, he loves em all. But his current most favorite vehicle of all is monster trucks. I can basically name fifty different monster trucks, along with their drivers, and chart you the lineage of connection between all the drivers (because most of them seem to be related or married) and I can pick from a lineup all the crew members and which trucks they work on. I kid you not. That's a whole lotta brain space attached to a subject I really don't care that much about. But I get pop quizzed daily, and oh boy, if I fail there's hell to pay. Here are a few other typical Ez interactions and sayings. 

I'm assuming this is just a three year old thing, or maybe my kid is a weirdo (and most definitely a control freak), but most things can't get done unless we follow a specific ritual. Pretty much the first time I suggest anything (let's put on our shoes, throw your trash away, brush your teeth, etc.) Ez immediately refuses. When I reach a sufficient level of frustration he says, "What are we gonna do???" to which I have to respond by repeating exactly "what are we gonna do?" and then he'll say "we're all gonna put our shoes on!" like it was his idea. That's a big thing right now, it's all gotta be his idea and he wants to do it all himself. Then he reminds me that I'm supposed to tell him: "You're the best!" even though in my head I'm thinking the best kid would've really just put his shoes on the first time without this whole ten minute run around that we have to go through every. single. time.

On the topic of doing everything himself, there was that time Ez wanted to know where his Nemo stuffed fish was so I grabbed it and handed it to him. He immediately took it, hid it, then repeated asking over and over, "Where is it??" before going and retrieving it from the hiding place and saying, "Look! I found it all by myself!" To which I'm expected to reply (you guessed it) "You're the best!"

Probably another toddler trait, but Ez loves to ask a question repeatedly and with urgency like it's a life or death matter, aka - "Wanna watch monster trucks???! Wanna watch monster trucks??? WANNA WATCH MONSTER TRUCKS??!!!"

Me: You want to watch monster trucks?

Ez: Wellll...otay (ok)...
The kicker that gets me every time is how he responds like I'm twisting his arm but he'll humor me just this once. Maybe he's trying reverse psychology on me?

We're going to Gangy and Grampa's house! (anytime we're in a residential neighborhood.)

Need tickles??! when he wants daddy to tickle him.

Falls down on purpose just so he can say "I'm otay!"

"Let's watch it go!" (anytime he wants me to watch him play cars.)

"The motorcycles are sleeping" whenever I tell him we can't go to our local motorcycle dealership.

If I tell him no he says, "Gotta say please!" The idea that sometimes the answer just really is no is not something he accepts willingly.

"Where is it??!" Referring to the truck I refused to buy him from Target, now known as the one that got away. It's been a week and he still brings it up daily, which is pretty impressive considering the toddler attention span is not renowned for lasting longer than a few minutes. 

Whenever we go to the motorcycle dealership he asks what each motorcycle sounds like then proceeds to do elaborate and different engine sounds for each one. The cruisers get loud rumbling sounds, the race ones get fast zippy sounds, and the list goes on and on. How he acquired dozens of different engine sounds I have no idea.

For some reason I catch him randomly singing the Mr. Clean jingle to himself pretty frequently. It is a catchy tune, I have to admit.

I'm happy to report that his enthusiasm for the hot dog dance continues to increase. He sings along while jumping around like he's in a mosh pit. 

"Gotta fix it!" (Referring to his toy monster trucks) followed by "errrr! wooo! eeee! errrr!" (Simulated pit stop sounds.)

On the same note he likes to race around the couch stopping in front of me to ask "pit stop??" and then I do all those sounds to his elbows and knees before patting him and telling him "Gooooo!"

"We'll be back Deckles." Whenever we go upstairs without Declan, followed by "we came back!" When we walk back downstairs.

Whenever the zombie monster truck comes on TV he wanders around the house doing his zombie arms.

He likes to announce the families on Family Feud along with Steve Harvey (aka - It's the... CRAIG FAMILY!!)

Every time the barracuda kills Nemo's whole family and Marlin tries to fight him off Ez laughs hysterically. I really hope that doesn't mean he's a future serial killer.

Three is an...interesting...age. You just never know what you're gonna get with a three year old. There are lots of rituals and patterns, and we often have the same truck-related conversation multiple times a day, but there are also so many new thoughts and connections being made daily. I read somewhere that babies and toddlers make 700 new neural connections every second. It's amazing to think about and I am so impressed by how Ez's little sponge brain soaks everything in and puts it all together. There are times when it feels like nothing I'm doing or saying is getting through, and then all of a sudden one day he wakes up and it clicks like a light bulb went on over his head. 

There is so much energy in his little body. All the caffeine in the world wouldn't give me half as much energy as he has at any given moment. Somehow even watching TV is a workout for him. He likes to run laps around the couch, climb on and jump off the ottoman repeatedly, or just dance around pretending he's racing cars. 

Some days I spend what feels like hours just timing his time outs, and when I go to get him he'll tell me he's not ready and actually asks to stay in his room longer. Then other days he doesn't need a single time out, and he's so gracious, and polite, and says please and thank you like a little gentleman and tells me how much fun he had playing at the park with me and my heart just melts. 

The emotions run high this year, but so do the rewards. Seeing him make sense of his world, express himself better each day, and explore his imagination have been some of the best parts of parenting. Watching his crazy, loving, stubborn, sensitive, energetic, playful yet serious personality unfold is such a blessing and while I'm pretty sure I'm never gonna look back and miss those public grocery store meltdowns, there is so much I know I will miss from this age. Like the way he can't pronounce f's, and how he does a happy dance whenever he's excited, and knowing that even though he's oh so independent right now, if he gets hurt or doesn't feel well I'm the first person he looks for and comes running to. And on that note, I think I need to go tackle him and steal all the snuggles right now before he gets even the teensiest bit bigger.