Nathan is 3.5!

Nathan, at 3.5 years old you weigh 41.2 lb and are 42 3/8" tall.  You are my big boy!  You are
comfortably wearing your 5T clothing and should be wearing size 10 shoes...but Matthew still has them as his indoor shoes.  We are waiting patiently for school to be over, and then you can have those.

{Liam, Nathan, Jackson}

Nathan, at 3.5 years old, you grasp concepts and absorb information so quickly.  You never cease to amaze me with the words you use.  "Mom, I'm frustrated!" I heard you exclaim when something wasn't working the way you wanted it to.  You print your name in uppercase letters with ease; now I'm working on getting you to write it smaller so that it can fit in one row.  You also started trying to print your name using a lowercase 'a' and 'h'.  You saw how Matthew and Kayla formed those letters and have copied them.  You can count up to 30.  You don't quite know how to read numbers higher than 10, but ask me all the time what different combinations of numbers mean so I'm sure it won't be long before you know.

You aren't scared to talk to kids older than you, and aren't afraid to ask questions in a large group of people.  You are the only one of your siblings that will talk to your older Struik cousins without needing encouragement to, and you frequently are blurting out answers or asking questions in Children's Church, in front of the church during the children's message, or during Noah's Ark Learning Start or Family Storytime.  It's cute.  You are also very confident during performances in front of the church, singing/talking as loud as you can.

You like to run.  During a recent visit to Tynehead you practically ran the whole loop.  You enjoy riding your bike, and had no problem when we moved you up to a 14" bike from your 12" bike.

Nathan, you still love everything "princess".  Ariel is your favourite.  You love dressing up in princess dresses or playing barbies with your cousin, Liam.  You like to pretend your barbies are getting married.

You love watching movies, often suggesting that we have "movie night" downstairs in the basement.

You thrive with routine.  If you had your way, you would eat the exact same thing for breakfast (a bowl of Froot Loops and a banana) and lunch (a slice of bread with chocolate icing) every. single. day.  If something different is being offered for lunch, we have to lie and say that all the chocolate icing is gone, otherwise you will throw a fit.  Dinnertime has been very interesting this past month.  Even though you are the most independent child of our so far, you are the most dependent at dinnertime.  You claim that you cannot feed yourself and proceed to throw a huge crying fit.  I have cracked down on you this past month, so we have had even more tears as you beg for me to help you eat.  I refuse.  You are given a deadline and if you haven't finished your dinner by that time, there is some sort of consequence (not going outside after dinner, not watching a movie, no dessert, etc).  So far, you've managed to get every last bite in your mouth just before time is up.  Some nights you even completely undress at the dinner table after everyone else have left and moved on to other activities, hoping that we will pay attention to you if you are sitting there naked.  To your chagrin, we just ignore you.  :)

You fall asleep very quickly each night, even if Olivia is still talking.  You've started waking up in the middle of the night on a regular basis, and then you come and sleep on our floor for the rest of the night.  You seem to have no problem with lying on the floor, so I haven't tried to send you back to your own room.

Nathan, you love Olivia SO MUCH.  You like to call her, "Olivie" for short, and smother her with hugs and kisses.  Every morning when you wake up you give her your baby, puppy, and blankie.

You are definitely a great child, with a frustrating side :).  I really look forward to seeing how you develop and learn these next six months!