Everett, age 3.75

When I picked the kids up at the Y today (after my quick, but very intense work out!) one of the teachers mentioned that they all agreed that Everett is pretty darn cute. He is a good looking boy.

Everett dresses up a lot. Here, he's Brett Favre in the old days. He often walks around stuffed into his Santa costume from when he was 8 months old. Most days, at some point, he strips down and runs down the stairs yelling, "I'm Captain Underpants!"

Everett is a very huggable, kissable, snuggly little thing. Ever since he was tiny, Rick and I thought the word "creamy" was a good adjective to describe him. I can't say exactly why, but he is just soft and snuggly and... creamy.

Everett often asks, "Is today my last day being three?" He is beyond excited for his birthday. He recently decided that, instead of a cake, he would like a strawberry pie.

Everett has always spoken slowly, in a very careful, precise way. Sometimes it takes him a long time to get a thought out, because he's thinking of the best way to get it across. He has a great vocabulary. While doing a worksheet where he had to search for hidden pictures, he said to me, "Mom, this one is just so obvious!"
 

I've always preferred to call my kids by their full names rather than nicknames, but I guess Everett is just too cute to follow that rule. He's often Ev, Sweet Ev, Little Ev, even Evvy (which I don't say at all, but I think Carson and Faye do). I think I'm the only one who regularly calles him Rett, but I love that.

I like my kids to take naps as long as possible, but Everett very recently gave up his afternoon nap, and he is actually a much happier boy because of it. He had been napping most days, which then led to not falling asleep at night until quite late, resulting in crankiness the next morning, etc. etc. Anyway, no naps and an early bed time have changed his life for the better.

In January, Everett graduated from the Nursery at church and started attending Primary, the Sunday School classes for kids age 3-11. He used to be SO cranky every Sunday morning, dreading church and all that came with it. Ever since he advanced to Primary, he is a happy camper on Sundays! A couple of Sundays ago, Rick was at work, and we were car-less to get to church. A friend who lives nearby said we could borrow her car, so in order to make it on time we hurried and got our bikes/stroller and ran over to get it. When I told Everett he would be riding his bike in church clothes, like a missionary, his eyes lit up. He requested a tie and for his hair to be combed to look like a real missionary. It was so cute.

This was that Sunday when we snatched a friend's car. (We were on time, by the way.) Church before safety, right?