Jamie, aged 3

So my little man has turned 3, and more than ever it's clear not only that he isn't a baby anymore, but he isn't a toddler either. What is he then? Preschooler I suppose. Whatever you call it, he's going through a lovely stage at the moment.

I admit to finding him pretty difficult at times between the ages of 2 years 3 months and 2 years 8 months. There were many moments of public shame and private tearing my hair out! But since then, he seems to have matured a little, he can communicate his needs a lot better, and he has been lovely and sunny and (mainly) not too badly behaved. I think going to preschool might have helped, as it's taught him a bit about following rules. He's also blossomed socially and loves to play with other children. He seems a lot less shy and clingy than he did. Even his eating has improved - last week on holiday, he even ate veggie chilli - not just a taste but a whole bowl. This would have been unheard of a couple of months ago.

I still don't let him walk by the road without him being tethered to me via the backpack reins, as he still has a tendency to run off. But I am starting to trust him a little bit more and when we're in a fairly safe place, I will let him go. He still absolutely loves pressing the button to see the green man...in fact it's become something of an obsession. We no longer go out for walks to the park or to feed the ducks - we go to cross roads!

He still likes Cbeebies, but not as much as he did a few months ago. His favourite programmes are Something Special, Gigglebiz, Show Me Show Me, Big Cook Little Cook, and Mr. Bloom. Now though, he'd rather help with cooking or washing up (which often results in a flooded kitchen!) He will sit at the table for up to an hour cutting, sticking, drawing and painting, which is lovely to watch. I try not to interfere too much or direct him to draw a certain thing - I just let him get on with it and then clear up the mess afterwards!

His speech is really good - he can hold proper conversations and comes out with the funniest things. His most overused phrases at the moment are, "what's that?" and "what you doing mummy?" - uttered hundreds of times a day! He's really into letters and numbers, and can recognise a lot of the alphabet and most of numbers 0-9. He's also getting good at doing jigsaw puzzles.

He's such a loving little boy. Daisy is always getting cuddles and kisses from him and so are we. He's very gentle with other kids and so far I haven't had to deal with any hitting, pinching, etc aimed at other children. He's transformed from a baby to a little boy in the past year, a boy with very definite likes and dislikes, who knows exactly what he wants and how to get it. I can't believe that in a year from now he'll be getting ready to go to school.

So yes, that's Jamie at 3. A blond haired, blue eyed bundle of energy with a huge zest for life and a cheeky grin, who can turn me to mush with a "love you mummy", and who infuriates me and makes me indescribably proud every single day.