Jace is 3!!!

Somehow, this little boy has grown up. And too quickly for this momma. I can’t believe he’s three.

He is serious. Contemplative. Analytical. Literal. A problem solver. He uses words like, “Actually…” and phrases like, “I think…”

He’s affectionate. Loving. Compassionate. Adores his sister. When she fusses I hear him say, “Don’t worry Reese…” or “It’s ok Reese…” He always needs to know where she is. Wants to get in her face and say hi. Showers her with kisses and loves to “pet” her.

He LOVES rescue vehicles—fire trucks, ambulances and police cars. He actually thinks any vehicle with a light on it is a police car, and any vehicle with a ladder on it is a fire truck. When we go visit Daddy at work we pass the downtown fire station, and Jace loves to look and see if the bay doors are open and he can see the trucks inside.

He is a master of the iPad. He comes into my room in the mornings, gets the iPad from me, sits on his Hippo chair and plays with it until I’m ready to get up. He goes back and forth between playing games and watching shows on Netflix. If he had his way, we’d have shows playing on Netflix all day long. The favorite shows these days are Mighty Machines, Dora, Team Umizumi, Max and Ruby, and Bubble Guppies.

He loves to sing, especially The Wheels on the Bus and the ABC’s. He’ll randomly make requests in song, and start singing his numbers in scales.

He keeps us laughing. The phrases he comes up with, the way he pronounces words, and the dramatic flare with which he approaches life makes us smile all the time. My favorite is the way he says oven—nuggens. 

This boy LOVES trains. He builds his tracks and takes the trains around them. He sets up the railroad crossing piece and says, “dingadingadingadingading” while raising and lowering the crossing guard. While he had a Police Car birthday party, his actual birthday was all about trains. We surprised him with a train trip to Salem and back.

He was nervous when we got to the train station—he’s never been so close to real life tracks!

But his excitement grew as we waited in the station. He pointed out an old-fashioned passenger car that was sitting in the train yard and thought we’d be riding it (calling it a people car). I said, “No, Jace, that’s an old people car. We’re going to ride a new people car.” To which he responded, “Oh, that car’s just for old people.” Guess I needed to phrase it better!

He loves to be affectionate. Sometimes his affection is very awkward. At this moment, he was holding Nolan’s face and kept just holding them nose to nose until Nolan got uncomfortable, at which point Jace held their faces even closer.

He is always aware of where we’re going and what we’re doing. Just about every morning he asks me, “Where are we going today, Mommy?” and “Who’s coming over today, Mommy?”

Everything is labeled by it’s description—the mail store (Postal Connections), the coffee store (Dutch Bros), the donut store (Cork’s Donuts), the sandwich store (Big Town Hero), the grilled cheese store (Hasty Freeze) the ice cream store (Dairy Queen).

We started and mastered potty training in a week right before his birthday! He caught on faster and easier than I had even dared hope for. He still wears a diaper for nap and bed time, but I sure am loving not changing diapers all day long!

Bed time is taken care of by Daddy and they have a special routine—brushing his teeth while Daddy sings Kids Just Love to Brush! followed by singing Veggie Tales, Jace’s Song, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, The Wheels on the Bus and We Love You Lord. They also read a Bible story and pray. Our little guy is very routine oriented so we don’t dare have me try and put him to bed or else I’ll mess up the routine and it’ll be the end of the world.

He loves to go to church and see his buddies. The classes are named by his favorite toy in each room—he used to go to the bus class before he turned two. Then the past year was in the kitchen class. And now he’s moved up to the fire truck class. He can tell us which buddies were in class with him—Sam, Asher, Brock, Zack, Josie, Eden, Elli… Nolan has enjoyed being in his class and witnessing Jace actually carry on conversations with his peers. Birthdays tend to be the favorite topic.

He can make me giggle one minute and drive me absolutely crazy the next. Our greatest conflicts come when he’s made up his mind already about how something should happen and I differ from the plan. I find with just about anything it’s best to prepare him for it—start talking about it in advance, tell him in detail what to expect, and coach how he should react. He’s typically not very friendly in social settings. But if I tell him ahead of time that he needs to be nice to people and say hi when they say hi to him, he’ll actually smile and wave at people. A lot better than when he used to yell “He’s hurting me!” when someone would say hi.

He knows his ABCs, colors, shapes, numbers and logos of all his favorite stores. 75% of the time he has his right and left figured out. He towers above his peers. And his physical abilities are starting to catch up with his mental skills. He can now jump and is actually starting to climb on things. Nolan thinks his muscle strength has finally caught up with his size.

We love this boy and are so happy he is a part of our life. I find myself praying that he will know, love and serve the Lord as he grows older. That Nolan and I will have wisdom in knowing how to develop leadership skills from his bossiness and help teach him flexibility and how to be a compassionate and feeling person without being controlled by the intensity of his emotions. I’m so excited to see what being three means for Jace!