As our child nears four years old, we reflect on his three year milestones an amazing year of unexpected growth from day to day. Three years old, at least for our boy, was a year that we kept track of milestones and what we should look for in our child’s development however we still found ourselves constantly surprised by the things that he could do even on a daily basis.
Many talk about the terrible threes but we also forget that this is a year of huge, never to be seen again, level leaps that will leave us baffled and befuddled at the same time.
Here are some of the biggest development steps that we noticed over the past year.
Three Year Milestones
Writing letters
This development came closer to turning 4 however we were still very pleasantly surprised with how our child began to write his letters. I didn’t know that this was the age range that this would begin because I associated this milestone more with 4 years of age. But surely enough, those squiggles started to transform more and more to letters and before we knew it he was consistently writing his name! Look out, as much as you are expecting it this will seem to happen overnight.
Recognizing letters
Along with writing, recognizing letters began during this timeframe as well. It might seem that this goes hand in hand with writing, and in many ways it does, but you may notice some asymmetry between the ability to write and recognize words.
Using the bathroom
Another thing that we noticed was that our child began to start being able to use the bathroom by himself. He more and more would “listen to his body” and know when it was time to go, initiate going by himself, and wash and dry his hands. Now, this did certainly not happen every time but we did notice that more and more he was able to do all of the above, sometimes without having to be asked to go or complete any of the steps. This is a big task that you will find yourself working on all throughout the three’s, but be encouraged. Progress is coming.
Brushing teeth
Help is on the way! When your child turns 3, their ability to start doing more things for themselves will increase. Of course, you will still need to help them at this age which includes convincing them to do it, but you will notice that the more you lef them do it on your own the better they will get at it. Children want to be self-sufficient, and it’s up to us to find ways to help and support them in doing so.
Geting dressed
We were very happy to learn that our child could start to get dressed on his own at this age. It starts with little things, even when they are 2, like putting on socks or maybe even some of their clothes. But During the 3rd year, they will become more fully functional when it comes to putting on all of their clothes. They will even help to put their dirty clothes away or get some clean clothes out of the closet or dresser if you make it a part of your daily routine!
Managing meals
A great way to keep your kid involved in your daily activities and help them to learn about responsibility and have fun doing it is to ask them to help you cook. It can’t be overstated how much they will enjoy this activity. It’s seen as a grown up activity and you are including them? Wow! So fun! You don’t have to include them when the more unsafe for them activities are happening during food prep, but you can always do things like cleaning fruit, separating it, pouring, mixing, and anything else that they would like to do.
Language development
This is the age when you will start to notice your child’s pronunciation change dramatically. The only sad part is that some of our favorite and adorable mispronunciations go away, but it’s bittersweet and completely worth it! More and more of those tough-to-enunciate words will be easier and easier to handle by the time they reach age 4. Try practicing the words that seem tougher regularly, and don’t hold hard-to-pronounce words back. You’ll be surprised how quickly they pick them up!
Navigating feelings
A major leap that we found during this timeframe is how our child began to navigate emotions even better. Rather than an event that caused a more lasting feeling, those same events would be managed by realizing that he didn’t want to stay in that feeling for a long period of time, and self-navigating how to move on to a different emotion.
Comprehending stories
One thing that came as a shock to me was how well our son started to understand and repeat the plots of stories both in books and in videos. Keep in mind that just because there isn’t a big reaction when reading the story or watching the video, their ability to retain and even explain the story back to you will drastically improve during this time. I can’t tell you how many times I didn’t think our son heard the story and then all of a sudden, a week later, he referenced it! It’s pretty amazing at this age to see that kind of growth.
Telling jokes
One of our favorite things we noticed during this age is how our son began to develop a sense of humor. Babies always have a sense of humor when they laugh while you’re playing with them or even when you make a funny face. But at this age, they will be able to detect humor even better and tell you a joke or two. Isn’t that funny!