It's that time of the month again. Time for Evan's update. There's no denying that while other kids have the terrible two's, for Evan it's the threes.

Evan at a neighborhood art fair. Evan loved that dinosaur shaped balloon which we got for free (well I put in a $1 tip). Evan at almost 3 years and 1 month. A special note to Evan's lola: put the mouse over a photo to see its entirety.

It's not really too bad most of the time, in fact, it's still a fun age but it's also the age of contradiction, in fact he contradicts himself all the time. It's like...

me:"Evan do you want to go to the park?"

Evan: "No, I want to stay here."

me: "Okay, we'll just stay at home."

Evan: "No, I want to go to the park."

Of course, he wants to go to the park, what kid doesn't? But it's a stage that they contradict you just for the sake of contradicting. I remember a line from Dr. Harvey Karp's book "The Happiest Toddler On The Block" saying that even they, the kids themselves, really don't know what they want.

He has also began shouting at us even if he isn't angry. From what I see, he just wants to see what our reaction is. So we try not to make a big deal out of it but just firmly remind him that he shouldn't shout and ask nicely. This is a work in progress.

He tests his limits by even trying to boss us around. That extends to our singing. When Tom and I try to sing, he shouts, "STOP!" holding a hand straight in front of him. Tom accusses Simon Cowell for instilling in our son this behaviour. We constantly remind Evan that it's rude whenever he does that. BUT whenever he gets his owies or upset, he'll run to his mom and tearfully asks me to sing "Tarzan" (Phil Collin's You'll Be In My Heart).

Mealtime is a test too. It's not that he's a picky eater but he eats soooo sloooooowwww. It's like he's just not interested in eating. One time he had broccoli in his mouth for like 10 minutes. I remember stories of me as child, I would suck on my food for a long time too. I hope he's not getting it from me. But I do notice that as long as I serve a new dish or food, he eats it with enthusiasm and faster. But if it's something that he has eaten a few times, even if it's a candy, chocolate goldfish cracker or chips, he'll just take a bite or two then it's forgotten.

top photo: Evan at 1 month. bottom right: Evan at 1 year 1 month old. bottom left: Evan 2 years 1 month. It's interesting the physical changes in Evan for every year in his life.

But, as I've said, it's a fun and funny age. I wouldn't exchange it for any other age he has been. Especially the talking. I'll tell you a crass bedtime story.

One night while I lay down beside Evan before he slept his mommy broke wind. Now I assure you it's not a common occurence in our house as evidenced by what my son said afterwards. "What's that sound?" he inquired. When I didn't say anything he supplied the answer, "that's daddy...blowing his nose."

It's a very sweet age too. There would be days that he would tell me that he loves me and asks for a kiss without reason, numerous times in one day. Nowadays it is his custom to see his daddy off to work, giving him a hug, a kiss and bye-bye. One morning, he was by the stairs saying his goodbye until his dad was out of sight I dictated that he tell his daddy that he loves him. He was too busy to mind me. But as soon as he closed the door he cried, "waaahhhh...I want to love daddy! I want to miss him!" I had to reassure him that we could call daddy as soon as he arrives in the office.

He talks pretty well, except for the word "owie" we don't babytalk to him. Like when he plays with the lamp I tell him not to waste "electricity" even if I am tempted to use the word "battery". But I find it cute how he still says "lelo" (for yellow) and "nana" (for banana).

As for potty training, he now pees standing up on the real toilet bowl but uses the potty for the other business. He still has accidents so he still wears pull-ups when we go out and when he sleeps. I am now trying to get him to use public toilets like in our gym's daycare.

It's funny to me how he still doesn't connect that the McDonald's Happy Meal comes with a toy. I usually hide them when he's not looking for future use. So when we were having lunch earlier he was busy playing with just the box and enjoying it (he covered his head to play peek-a-boo at one point).

I just had an idea a week ago, that I'm going to compile all of Evan's update from my blog, make it into an ebook, something I could send out to my family. At the same time this will give me a chance to practice my Illustrator and InDesign skills. So expect to see a lot more of monthly updates in the future. The ebook will be my gift to Evan when he's grown up. But I hope it doesn't come too fast. At the rate I am going, the ebook will be a tome.