Oakley Jin 3 Years

Our Oaker-man turned 3 a few weeks ago. Time is flying by! He is such a big boy and we love having him in our family. He is such a handsome guy. He has thick hair with that perfect touch of wave... he got the best hair so far out of all my kids. His skin seems fairer than Dakota's and he has rosy cheeks. But he still has that olive tone and tans well. He's definitely got the Japanese eye shape, except that they are big, just like the rest! They turn moon-shaped when we smiles and laughs, which is very very often. He just went thru a growth spurt. He's looking more like a little boy and less like a toddler. His face has thinned out and matured quite a bit. He's moved up to 3t shirts, but just barely moved into 2t pants. He wears a size 6 toddler shoe. His feet are almost as big as Dakota's.

Oakley is a tease, a flirt, a charmer, a sweetheart, a snuggler, a lover, and a fire-cracker. He has so much energy and is very physical. He runs more often than he walks. There was a period of time around 2 1/2 that he would take off from me in public and I would lose him easily: at the store, at the zoo, wherever. He also learned how to open doors and go outside and would be found at a neighbor's house or at the park before I even realized he was missing. Thankfully we're over that phase! He's a climber and a jumper. He can do handstands about as well as his sister, if not better. He's very physically and electronically inclined. He loves cameras like his mama and always askes to play with one. He loves going thru the pictures and home videos on my phone. He loves Jichan's iPad and my Kindle Fire tablet. He knows how to work them better than I do sometimes. He loves "Granny game" on the iPad and would play it all day every day if we let him. Granny has to skate on rollerskates to collect apples and she uses her cane to gain speed and to swing across wires. Whenever she falls down, you'll Oakley say "Sorry, granny!" He also likes to play the Super Why game and Peek-A-Boo apps on my phone and tablet. He loves Super Why, Doc McStuffins and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. His favorite movies these days are Polar Express, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., Rio, The Lorax, Toy Story, and baby Einsteins videos. He requests Polar Express almost daily, only he refers to it as "Choo-choo train show." He also asks to watch Lorax over and over lately. And he rarely actually just sits and watches the show. He's always multi-tasking. A phrase he uses many times a day is "Mom/Dad, I DO want __________." (Fill in the blank.) It could be anything. "I do want candy. I do want a drink. I do want to watch Choo-choo train show. I do want to play." etc. He still loves lights and it's always a struggle getting him out of the car before he turns on my dome lights. He loved going to Temple Square this year and looking at Christmas lights.

He is obsessed with trains. His birthday party therefore had a train theme. He loves cars, airplanes and helicopters as well. At nursery, the gym daycare and even at home, he plays with whatever train set he can find. I take him to the gym daycare at least 4 days a week and he loves this time to play with other kids. He also LOVES going to nursery. I've been serving in nursery for the past 6 months, so I get to spend an hour of nursery time with him.  He also loves water, just as he always has. Any opportunity to play in water is a score in his book: swimming, splashpad, bathtime, in the sink, the water exhibit at the children's museum... you name it. Where there is water, there is Oakley. He still loves Toy Story, especially Woody. And he loves to go to the zoo. He asks to "see elephant" several times a week. We have a pass to the zoo, so I try to take him as often as the weather allows. We also go to the Discovery Gateway children's museum, which has a water exhibit. He will play in the ball-hive and the water exhibit for up to 4 hours. He usually ends up soaked, so I always bring an extra shirt to change him into afterward. He likes to help cook and helping Grandma Marsha cook dinner or breakfast is one of his favorite things. He loves pancakes and cold cereal and eats one if not both, daily. He would eat a bowl of cereal for every meal if I let him. He loves all breakfast food in general, so we had a pancake bar for his birthday breakfast. He also loves fruit snacks, apples, cuties, bananas, strawberries, goldfish crackers, granola bars, maccaroni and cheese, quesadillas, tacos, gumbo, deli meat, curry rice, nuggets and fries, and pizza. And just plain old rice. And of course candy. That kid LOVES sugar and can locate it a mile away. Luckily, he is also obsessed with brushing his teeth. No cavities so far! He has a hard time sitting in his seat to eat a meal... he wants to take a bite and then run around. So sometimes meals are a struggle. He also eats in waves. He's had a few issues with eating due to having several authoritative figures around, but he does fine with me and is growing like a weed! So I'm not too worried.

His speech development has been slower than Dakota's but he's super smart. He just doesn't like to say something until he's sure he's got it right. Just in the past month, he's been talking more, in full-sentences and picking up vocabulary. The longest sentence he said to me so far is: "Mom, Dakota is bugging me and she wants to play with the Kindle." Haha! By 2 1/2 he knew all the letters of the alphabet, the sounds they make, some words that start with each letter, how to count to 10, most of his colors and his shapes. He also can identify a variety of animals thanks to his favorite book on animals(that is completely falling apart due to major use). He is also an EXCELLENT problem solver. He can figure out a way to do anything.

Oak is our litte fire-cracker. He can be the sweetest most loveable boy, or he can be a total terror. He has an aggressive streak where he likes to express himself physically. I have more problems with him kicking, pushing, hitting etc. in the heat of the moment than throwing tantrums. Though, he is stubborn and when he wants something, he will make it known. He will also squeal/scream when something happens that he's not happy about. He is also very proud and has a hard time saying sorry or humbling himself. He will often spend a VERY long time in time-out b/c he'd rather sit there than have to say sorry. But when he does humble himself, he is the sweetest loving boy. He is our cuddler and snuggler. He likes to come in our bed early in the morning and sleep with us. Every night at bedtime he requests that both Doug and I take our turns snuggling with him in his bed. We have a little ritual where I lay with him in bed and we talk about what he did that day and then I play a silly game or sing some songs with him before we say goodnight. I have come to cherish that one-on-one time with him. He also loves visiting Daddy at work. Doug works at a Nissan car dealership and Oakley can recognize the symbol. So whenever he sees the dealership or a Nissan driving down the street, he declares, "Look, Mee-SAHN!" It's pretty cute.

Just before his birthday, he stopped taking naps. Even if he slept for 30 minutes, he'd be up until midnight. So I sucked it up and gave up naptime. On the up side, he now goes to sleep without a fight by 7:30pm every night. He sleeps about 12 hours a night. He's never quite needed as much sleep as his sister. He's showing a lot of interest in the potty and will tell us whenever he needs a diaper change, but I just haven't mustered up the energy to train him yet. I think it will go quickly when I do.

He loves his cousins and aunts and uncles. He's very close to both his grandmas and his Jichan. We are living with our inlaws right now so he gets to spend daily time with Marsha and Jichan. Marsha will chase him around the house and tickle him. He loves it. So when she is home, he will dart into the room and say, "How 'bout Marsha tickle OAKLEY!" And then he'll take off running! Aunt Betty also lives close to us and we see her often, so he is particularly close to her and gets so excited whenever she visits. He really loves his brother and sister. Yes, they fight, but when they aren't fighting, they play and have so much fun. He is taking on the older brother role with Ryden and likes having someone to boss around. He also likes to alert me to when Ryden wakes up in the morning or from naps and will "check on" him when he hears him cry. He is a good helper lately and will bring me wet wipes or whatever I ask him to. I think he will be a good helper when Taylor is born. When I ask him who is in my tummy now, he will tell me "baby Taylor". He loves to go anywhere and will run to put on his shoes, but when we are at home, he can't stand to wear shoes or socks. I'm always trying to track down his socks.

He LOVES birthday parties, cake and candles, so celebrating his birthday was a blast for him! We are so lucky to have such a spunky, happy, loving boy. We love you Oakley!!