The brothers are three years old. I'm sure I should be doing separate three year updates for them, but mama just 'aint got time or that. You will have to share, twin life. Or as your dad says all the time "you guys chose to split into two people."
I will spend time talking about each of you separately, though. Because you are actually two people, whether you started as one or not.
First, your relationship has really developed into a real relationship over the last year. You are always looking for each other and talking to each other and it is just heart melting. You don't necessarily play together all that much, you have very different interest, but you always like to know where the other brother is. If you lose track there is a refrain of where is Kai? Where is Soren? until someone tells you where the other brother is.
You have also just turned three. You may have heard that three is a hard age. A really, really hard age. You both are certainly living up to that expectation. Just the other day Kai man was having a hard, hard day with so much screaming and tantrums and I was trying to figure out what was going on because that is just not who Kai is. Or maybe I should say who Kai was, because I had a vivid memory of the exact same scenario with Audrey which ended with me realizing it was because she was three. Being three changes kids. To be fair, it is developmentally normal, I think. You are three, you are figuring out more and more that you have your own thoughts and desires. You are learning how to regulate strong emotions. It is all very hard, for you and for the rest of us.
So far, even as a three year old Kai man is our laid back dude. You just goes with the flow so much more than Soren or Audrey, ever have. Even as a threenager you are significantly more of a go with the flow man. You love trucks and construction more than anything in this world. You will play with your trucks, trains, and guys buy yourself for so long. You make up stories and talk for the cars and people. It is sweet and awesome. The other day you meticulously loaded all of the blocks into a recycling truck and dumped them into a bin, trip after trip to the garbage dump, until you moved all the blocks. You also are a daredevil. All of you kiddos like to pile your big pillows at the bottom of the stairs and jump into them. You, Kai man will jump from the 6th step like a flying squirrel. Soren only goes from step 3. You also loves to jump off the couch over JT and are generally more of a physical risk taker than Soren. You go faster on your bike, you like sledding, you are a thrill seeker. I can relate buddy. You are also still a lover of books. You bring us at least 10 books a day to read. Which is some of the only cuddle time we get with you, so we all benefit. You are loving school and enjoy music class the most. You tell us you play tractors everyday. You Kai man, are a cool little dude. Let's try to keep the three year old struggles to a minimum, OK buddy.
Soren, my sweet Soren you are such an intense kid. You love intensely, you play intensely, you feel intensely. You are intense. Which can be great. Your snuggles are unmatched. Your love is deep. But, your disappointment and disagreement are also very intense. You are also so particular. Everything has to be just how you plan it in your head. Has to be. I can appreciate this. I too am a planner, but we need to work on some strategies for dealing with the unplanned. You are intense but you are also awesome. You are much less captivated by toys than Kai. You tend to gravitate towards whatever the adults are doing. You are our right hand man always there to help, or just hang out. You spend almost every evening on the counter while I make dinner. But you do love art and music so much. You also love to play with Audrey. You will play almost anything with Audrey. You two have a bond that is incredible, and bit perplexing. Your dad and I think you are so close because you are pretty much the same person. Which also means that although you two have an intense bond, you also have intense fights, because you are the same person. Passion. Fire and Ice. That is how I would describe your relationship. It has taken you a bit longer to love school than it has Kai man. For months you would list every place we have ever been as where you wanted to go more than school on the way to school. Every Tuesday and Thursday "mama I don't want to go to school I want to go to the museum, mama I don't want to go to school I want to go to exercise class, mama I don't want to go to school I want to go to the dentist (not really but you did list some pretty unfun places." It was heartbreaking, I am so glad you have settled in at school. You have always had fun once you get there and I leave, but the drop offs were brutal. It took a bit for the idea of going to be fun. You are my biggest cuddle bug by far. Thank you Soren for being a cuddly dude. You are our only happy cuddler, and I love it. The other two only want to cuddle when they are sick, hurt, or mad. You are always seeking out cuddles. You are such a unique, complex kiddo Sore-man and it is great. We never know quite what to expect from you, but we do know we love you to pieces sweet Soren.
I can't believe you are three, brother bears. It seems like just yesterday you were both sleeping on my chest. I love watching you grow and blossom into distinctly unique people. It is so fun, and you remain my favorite science experiment of all time.
Happy third birthday brother bears.
