Tennyson ~ The Boy with Boundless Energy

If you are familiar with the movie "The Incredibles" you know that Dash likes to run, and run fast. Tennyson has taken to assuming Dash's identity and a more fitting fictional character we couldn't have chosen. Now, until recently Tennyson hadn't even seen any of the movie, but he loves his "Incredibles gah-mmies" so much that he wants to wear them all.day.long. (Seriously, even now as I type this at 3:30 in the afternoon he's STILL wearing them.) I think since the day Tennyson learned to run at the age of 13 months, or thereabouts, it seems he only stops long enough to eat and sleep, harnessing the energy so he can continue to run....everywhere.

Looking at his reflection in the front door wearing his Incredibles jammies.

I try not to let the boys watch too much t.v., and I would imagine many parents use it the way I do, to keep their children in one place and give them moment's peace to clean, do laundry, or shower. Some of his favorite shows right now are "Imagination Movers," "Handy Manny," "Jake and the Never Land Pirates," and "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse." He still likes "Curious George" and "Thomas and Friends" but he's really been into "Jake" and "Movers" lately. (We saw the Disney Junior stage show in Disney World and he LOVED it!!) It is cute to hear him sing every word along with the theme songs, whether or not they are on t.v.

I think I took this during one of our traditional Saturday
morning viewings of "Thomas & Friends".

I have to admit, I am dreading the Lego-stage, picking up all those little pieces, finding them in strange places, stepping on those tiny blocks. (Trust me, with 3 brothers I know what's to come.) Thankfully for now Tennyson is more than satisfied with his Duplos, especially his "Thomas the Tank Engine" set he's playing with below:

Some time last spring, as we were taking a walk one evening, we smelled smoke and subsequently followed it to a vacant townhouse that was on fire. And sometime around that time Tennyson fell in love with a Welsh cartoon called "Fireman Sam." Ever since then our boy has been obsessed with fires, fire trucks, firemen, fire helmets, anything and everything to do with "fiiiiiire" (as he says it). Even his construction hat is a "fire hat." In March we, along with my sister, Courtney, took the boys to Chick-fil-A where they were teaching fire safety. The boys were thrilled to get helmets and meet real firemen, but the best part was that they let the boys sit in the firetruck!!! I'm telling you, they were SO excited!!!!

Tennyson continues to amaze us with what he says. He's always had an extremely advanced vocabulary (at 20 months his vocabulary spanned more than 50 words!!), and we enjoy the really funny things he says now:

~ The other day I told Tennyson that Tom was almost home (he was stopping by the store on the way home from school) and Tennyson said, "Yep, just one more state." You can tell we had just gotten back from a road trip. (4.6.11)

~ The boys and I had just gotten back home from running errands and within 3 seconds Tennyson had removed his socks and shoes. When I exclaimed that that didn't take him long he let out an exaggerated sigh and said, "My piggie toes were about to melt." (4.8.11)

~ Tom almost always does bedtime with Tennyson while I put Raleigh down for the night. Two nights ago Tom was trying to tell Tennyson a Candy Land bedtime story and Tennyson kept interrupting with details. Tom asked, "Hey, who's telling the story?" Tennyson's response, "Well, I'm telling most of it." (4.10.11)

~ I can't remember exactly when this happened, but a month or so ago I told Tennyson I needed to wipe his hands after lunch and he giggled and said, "Not really necessary, Mommy." Haha!!

In the fall Tennyson potty-trained like a champ. Within one week he was accident free and within two he was keeping the bed dry every night! (Which he still usually does, so long as Tom and I keep tabs on his liquid intake before bedtime.) And a couple months ago we suddenly realized he didn't suck his thumb at bedtime anymore! Honestly, we're not exactly sure when he stopped but he did it without any encouragement or prodding from us. I was SO dreading potty-training and breaking him of thumb-sucking, but thankfully he did them both practically on his own! What a blessing!

And here's one last photo because he's so darn cute!

So that's pretty much the latest on Tennyson. Parenting a 3-year old turns out to be the hardest thing I've ever done, but I am reassured by more experienced parents that it's normal. This is the age where they really start to see what they can get away with. Thankfully, with lots of prayers and consistency it's been a fairly smooth journey. So long as we prep Tennyson and he knows what to expect he's good to go! He's a joy to have around....and it's never boring, that's for sure!