What's Up with Austen

Now that Austen is in a class with kids from 3-6, he’s talking more, he’s becoming more coordinated (playing ball with the bigger kids) and he’s also learning the bad habits too. Here are some things that I can’t believe my sweet 3 ½ year old is now saying/doing:

“I’m not your friend”
He usually says, I’m not your friend mommy, I’m Daddy’s friend or I’m Tyler’s friend or some other name of a kid in his class. My response: you’re right, I’m not your friend. I’m your mother. Then I think, boy I sound like my own mother!

“You’re not invited to my birthday party”
Austen loves birthdays and birthday parties even if they are not his. But I have to laugh when he tells me that I’m not invited to his birthday party when it’s the middle of the summer and his birthday is in January. Little does he know that if I’m not invited then I’m not planning it either!

Spitting
This is one of the actions that he decided to show his Dad and I that he could do when we were out for a walk one day. I think it was met by expressions of shock from both Tom and I and then wonder at where the heck he learned to do that! Then he was told he’d get lemon juice if he spit again!

“Stop looking at me!”
If he feels I’m staring at him too long or he thinks Peyton is and she loves looking at Austen and smiling at him, he’ll offer this retort. I didn’t know this started at this age!

“Stop following me!”
He usually says this when he wants to be left alone. After being with kids all day, all Austen wants to do is play by himself when he gets home from school. If you try to follow him or if Adler does, he usually isn’t happy about it.

“Adler, I don’t want to play!”
It’s great that Austen and Adler can really play together now like a boy and his dog usually would. Adler likes to take a toy and nudge Austen with it begging him to play. But, Austen doesn’t want to play all the time and if he doesn’t he’ll tell her so. But other times, he grabs the toy and sits down on our hard wood floors and let’s Adler take him for a ride!