Ephram at 3: A Birthday Interview

1.    How old are you? 3

2.    What is your favorite color? blue

3.    What is your favorite toy? Lego cars

4.    What is your favorite food? Bananas (and macaroni and cheese, or pasta of any kind.)

5.    What is your favorite TV show? Prep and Landing

6.    What is your favorite game? In the Kitchen with Hap (LeapPad)

7.    What is your favorite animal? zebra

8.    What is your favorite song? Hop, hop, hop

9.    What is your favorite book? If You Give a Moose a Muffin

10.         What is your favorite thing to do inside? Play the Piano

11.         What is your favorite thing to do outside? Ride my bike

12.         What is your favorite movie? Bolt

13.         Who is your favorite superhero? Batman

14.         What do you like to sleep with at night? Zebie (stuffed zebra)

15.        What makes you happy? With Mama, Dada, May May and Charlie.

16.         What do you want to be when you grow up? A Prep and Landing Elf

17.         Who is your teacher? n/a

18.         Who is your best friend? Mama

19.         What school do you go to? n/a

20.         What grade are you in?   n/a

21.         What was the best thing that happened this year? Snow (We had a weeklong snowstorm in January that he apparently loved.)

Trips I took this year: This year we went to California in October.  As part of the trip we spent four days at a Disneyland hotel – three of the days in the park.  Ephram really loved his time with all of the Disney characters.  Mickey, Goofy and Donald were his favorites.  He also had a great time in the House of Innovention and liked shooting the Zurg on the Buzz AstroBlasters ride.  The carousel continued to be a favorite and he was fascinated by Small World when I told him that was what the inside of a clock looked like.  Ephram loved the chance that he had to meet some new cousins (the Bowers) and get to know some better… especially Dustin Harris.

Teeth I got and/or lost: I don’t believe there was any change in his teeth this year.

Some of my quirks:  I have a significant speech delay which is characterized by my voicing the beginning sounds only of words that I speak.  I have a LOT of words – an appropriate amount for my age – I just can’t form them completely.  I lack most vowel sounds and just started putting on a select few ending sounds right before my birthday.  Because of my communication difficulties, I have learned how to get my point across with some of my own signs.  Mama’s favorite one is when I stretch up really tall to indicate I want something big, or to say that something is big.  I like to do everything myself, especially cook.  This can be a problem because I have a hard time with flexibility when things don’t go my way.  When Mama was in the hospital, this tendency grew more than before.  I have a kind of performance anxiety.  I like seeing something be done and deciding when to join in rather than attempting something new right away.  I do NOT like being the center of attention.

Major accomplishments: I am the best brother ever.  I try to help Charlie and make him happy, and I love my new sister, who I call May May.  I help take care of her and make sure she always has something fun to do.  I made great progress with my words in the last half of the year, started to ride a Stryder bike, and can throw a ball with some pretty awesome accuracy.  When I feel like it I have shown good control of a crayon and can copy letters.  I have also started to learn some songs.  I especially like to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the Wipe Your Paws song on Disney Junior.

Sleeping habits:  This year I got much better at sleeping.  I no longer take a nap on most days.  Every now and then if I wake up before I’m ready or if we have an especially busy day I will take a 1-2 hour nap in the afternoon.  At night my Daddy puts me to bed.  I am still not good at putting myself to sleep, so Daddy lays down with me until I am asleep.  Sometimes that only takes 20-30 minutes, but sometimes it takes 1-2 hours.  I go to bed at 8:30pm and I usually wake up around 9am.  I still wake in the middle of the night occasionally.  Sometimes I can put myself back to sleep, sometimes I need my Mommy or Daddy to help me feel better, like when I have a nightmare.  Every now and then I get out of bed at 4 or 5 in the morning and have an adventure downstairs.  This usually ends in me doing something that I don’t know how to fix, so I cry hysterically until Mommy and Daddy rescue me.  The best adventure was when I flooded the kitchen with water from the sink this November.

Nicknames:  Mommy calls me Remy.  I am also called Ephram Bephram, Remy Roo, Remy Rooser, Remy Bedemy, Boo and Rem Rem.