And Here's What He's Like at Three

At three-years-old, The Bairn

He was thrilled by the animatronic dinosaur advertising an upcoming
exhibit at the Natural History Museum.
'It's trying to tell us something," he said.

• loves dinosaurs.  This is new but I'm enjoying reading every book written about dinosaurs more than reading every book written about tractors, which is what I've been doing for the past two years.
• has imaginary bird friends.  He asks to talk to them each morning, and they tell him 'tweedle tweedle tweedle.'  They have a nest on a stool in his room.  The other day I found him standing on the stool 'protecting the eggs from oviraptors.'
• regularly pretends to be a kitty or a turtle.
• prefers 'toys with wheels.'
• helps.  He puts away his folded laundry, takes the trash to the garage, holds the dustpan while I sweep, and even empties his own potty.  He's very happy to assist me, especially if he can do it while pretending to be a machine.
• hugs, kisses, and tickles his sister.  He tells me he's a tickle machine and must make her feel better.
• asks 'Why?' all the time. We've just started with this and if I can't come up with a decent explanation for the motivations of fictional characters or for why his friend lives in his particular home, The Bairn commands me, 'Sink about it, Mom.  Sink about it.'