Jr. is a messy eater. He always has been. He usually still wears a bib or more often, a bib-like alternative like a cloth napkin tied cowboy style.

Lo and behold, I have just discovered bib clips made by a Portland company, Kipiis. Basically, they are a funky, kid friendly version of what the dentist uses to clip a paper napkin around your neck. Why didn't I come across this a few years ago?! Why didn't I think of this?!

Although Jr is almost 3 1/2 years old, I did run out to buy one. We used it for dinner tonight and it was great. It kept the cloth napkin in place and because the napkin wasn't scrunched up to make a knot, there was lots of extra coverage. Handy for keeping all of Jr's overflow of cous cous (messy!) in one place.

S turned 3 at the end of March. Another year full of amazing changes zipped by and our toddler has become a little boy. I can't even begin to think of all the changes that have happened in the past year.

When S turned 2 1/2 years old he started to change remarkably. Something clicked and he went through a bit of a personality change. Up until that age, he was painfully shy and often clingy. It would often take him a long time to adjust to a new situation or new people. Now he's much more outgoing and adventurous.

And someone turned on the verbal tap and has left it on. S is a chatterbox. He is constantly talking with us or whoever he's with and when he's playing on his own. He picks up vocabulary quickly and uses them in context. He's shocked us often with new words or when he uses parts of speech that you don't usually hear 3 year olds use ("otherwise", "actually"). And lately he's picked up phrases that are quite entertaining: "Mommy, I don't feel like talking right now. I'm tired.", "It seems like he [new stuffed animal chick] needs a bath.", "This is the best chocolate cookie I ever had!!"

We love 3! Fewer tantrums. More independence. More conversations. More humour. S is fine company now. Before it was more about taking care of him but now there's more companionship. Mind you, there is a lot of caregiving that still takes place but everything seems so much more manageable now.

We actually feel like we have a bit more control over our lives again. And that those 2 a.m. feeds and 8 diaper changes/day are finally worth it!

Here I go again. Apologizing for not family blogging in months. Sorry.

So many changes over the past few months and so many things that I want to blog about. But no excuses for not blogging.

But I'm inspired to blog by my friend E who updates her family blog almost daily (in English AND Japanese) and by Glo who has moved to Shanghai and sends great accounts about her new life there and who will be starting a blog soon.

Do I back track and write about old stuff or move forward and write about new stuff. Whatever. I'll mix it up and just BLOG!