3 Years old!

Silly Birdy!

 "Un! Arn...arn... I'm a baby salamander! Are you a daddy salamander?" ~Apollo~
The imagination of this now, three year old son of mine, is in full bloom. He has become a self proclaimed salamander. He has created his own salamander noises and mannerisms. At any given time, he will switch into character and proclaim, "I'm not Apollo! I'm a salamander!"
  At this point, everything is sorted into categories by what salamanders like and dislike...as  determined by Apollo. "Is that salamander food?", which means he might want to eat that if it tastes good, if not, "Thats not salamander food!" will be the response. Everything is prefaced with 'salamander' if it is something that Apollo likes; salamander feet, salamander shoes, salamander bed, salamander toys, etc.
  He even has a snail character and a frog character too, but the salamander is by far the favorite.
  All his characters are very endearing, and I am continually impressed by how he develops, and gives a unique personality to each one.
  Apollo is a spring baby, and true to that label, he loves the outdoors, the plants and trees, the bugs and butterflies, and the flowers. He is amazingly observant of his environment; both day and night. He recognizes and points out the stars, the Milky Way, and the moon. "Is that the Milky Way? I love the Milky Way!"

Yes, I made the fondant and decorated the cake.

Apollos first sun glasses...that he will actually wear.

Hey Bunny, where's the candy?

  The month of April has brought one celebration after another. First was my 43rd birthday followed by easter, and then Apollo's birthday. We had Easter egg hunts, Easter egg decorating parties, cake decorating parties, birthday parties, and I am sure Apollo thought it was all for him. We have had some great times this month, and Apollo has seemed to blossom into Prince Charming. Don't get me wrong, Apollo still throws some fantastic fits. He can be incredibly bossy and opinionated, but the tantrums have thinned out a bit and the charming side of Apollo has come out in full force. He is very engaging and wants to talk about everything. He wants to know what every sound is, and what every new thing he comes across is called. His conversations are long winded, and very insightful considering his limited vocabulary.
  One of my favorite memories from this age will be Apollo riding on my shoulders. I spend a good amount of time with Apollo sitting on my shoulders. It always starts out while we are walking somewhere. Apollo will turn to me and say, "Dada, I want to hold you." He will then maneuver in front of me, facing away, and come to a stop. "Dada, I want to go up top." This means he is ready for a ride on my shoulders.  I lift him over my head and shoulders, and set him in place.
  I love this for two reasons; first, Apollo has so much trust in me, that while he is sitting on my shoulders, he will, without warning, throw himself backwards, so he is dangling from my shoulders. Yeah, I always have to make sure I am holding onto his feet. Not only do we both find this hysterical, but I get the extra added bonus of watching peoples faces when they think a toddler just fell off my shoulders. This just flat out freaks people out! Apollo also likes to play 'Watch out!'; a little game he and I developed where I walk under low tree branches or door ways to try to brush him off. He hangs on for dear life, leaning from one side to the other laughing out loud and saying, "Watch out!" The second thing that I love about the shoulder rides, is how Apollo will embrace my whole head, lean over and rest his head on top of mine..."I'm tired dada." He will yawn and drift off to sleep.
The last 3 years have gone by so quickly. I have cherished every moment with Apollo, and I can not believe I have another son on the way.

  It will be a challenging but welcome chapter in our lives when this new little guy arrives. I am overwhelmed with the thought of reliving the infant through toddler years again. I am equally overwhelmed with the thought of falling in love this deeply again, with another child. As with all parents, I can't help but feel that my chid is special, and unique, and so much better than everyone else's kid, but to me, he is. It gives me great hope for the future in knowing that I am not alone in how I feel. I hope that as a father, I am not unique in my passion for my kids. I have to believe that most parents feel this way about their babies, and as long as most of us do, there will always be good in the world.