3!

 Our oldest boy turned three on September 20th! CANNOT BELIEVE IT. It seems like it was just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital and learning how to be his parents...goodness.

Especially now that we have him a little brother, Jameston seems like such a BIG BOY these days! He's growing like a weed and he continues to floor us us with his burgeoning language and personality :-)


We understand everything he says, and it is just amazing to me some of the conversations we have. One night last week he said to me "I want to get married with you." I just melt. I'll write another "Jameston's Jargon" soon because this post will be quite long!

STATS: 39 3/4 inches (90th%), 34.6 lbs. (75%)

Shoe size 9 1/2 to 10, Pants: 2T for waste, 3T for length

He is (generally) a very happy, outgoing little boy! Always willing to engage in antics with familiar people, and quick to warm up to new friends. And he is constantly flashing his gummy grin :-)

It truly is amazing how much they learn and know at this age! Right now he is really into doing everything by himself. Mr. Independent likes to get dressed himself (still having trouble with the shirt), put on his shoes himself, brush his teeth himself, go potty himself, and more things I'm sure that are not coming to mind. And he's been DIAPER-FREE (daytime AND nighttime since early April, so around age 2 1/2)! The night-time feat was quite a shocker to us, so we have a'many pull-ups awaiting Blake's turn :-) So proud of him!

At this age, JW loves:

Stories: from scripted ones in books, made up ones that he tells us and wants us to tell him, it doesn't matter. He likes to hear stories all.day.long. I think we have a future author on our hands! He asks when we are going to a new place, "Do they have books there?"  

Music: he loves dancing, playing all sorts of instruments in the air (new ones recently added to his repertoire are bongos, saxophone and trumpet)

Animals: Any animal, really. We have toy animals, books about animals, and we got a zoo membership to keep his interest going. He also have about 15 stuffed animals in bed...and will get upset if one of the members of his entourage has fallen off the bed.

Outdoors and Water: all boy! It is hard to get him back inside some days. We didn't do swim lessons this summer, but he did improve his boldness in the pool...it's on the agenda for next summer for sure!

To Clean/Organize: he still shows his OCD tendencies and cleans up his mess (woohoo!) without any resistance. He also likes helping me fold and put up clothes (not in the neatest fashion, but hey). He's quite a great lil helper when he wants to be!

Of course, we think he's brilliant!

He: counts to 20; recognizes all uppercase letters and their sounds (we are still working on lowercase letter and number recognition)colors, animals, and most shapes; breaks up words into syllables (so we talk about what letter those syllables start with according to what sound they make); knows relational and time concepts (middle/end, near/far, tomorrow/yesterday); has a GREAT memory for names, lyrics, books of the first half of the New Testament, and "big life events" (remembers all the details of his first dentist trip 10 months ago, I was floored!); is quite ambidextrous (eats, draws, "writes" right-handed, but can throw the ball better with his left hand)!

Things I want to remember about our big boy at this age:

Jameston is such a a great big brother! He loves Blake SO, so much and is quick to cheer little brother up, entertain him, or love on him. He calls him "little fella" or "little buddy." I mean, I am so in love!

He's gotta have him a nap! He did revolt there for a day or two after Blake was born, but that was short-lived. Boy needs his rest! He will still take a 2-3 hour one after lunch, and I'm still clinging on to those naps :-)

He's kinda a klutz! He comes by it honestly from his Mommy...but he's tough and usually gets right up and brushes himself off. Then he's back to whatever daredevil stunt he was up to!

(Maybe I don't want to remember this...) He pees outside quite a bit. And I don't mind...our backyard is right by the kitchen/playroom, so it's convenient, especially if I am tending to Blake or preparing a meal. Brett said the other day, "What if he's 15-years-old and still wanting to do that?" Ha!

JW is our little politician. He compliments everyone (and wants you to say "thank you.") The other day, he was with Brett at Home Depot and told a lady he liked her purple hat. Made her day! The only problem is that he does this sometimes when he's in trouble, in true politician form I'd say! He's (usually) got great manners and remembers to say "Thanks" and "You're welcome" even when he's in a hurry or excited

He's currently obsessed with chapstick!

He's got a southern accent, really notable in his "like" and "bye's"

He sticks out his tongue when concentrating.

JW likes to be wrapped up "like a burrito" at night these days. He will sometimes call out in the middle of the night for us to come back in there to tuck him in again. We are slowing working on this...any suggestions?!

His bedtime routine takes about 30 minutes! We read a story or two (depending on his behavior that day), tell a story, talk about what we did that day, and say our prayer. Then he wants to snuggle...I need to relish those moments (and not get stuck on what chores I need do)!

Jameston LOVES to make people laugh, especially Blake. He will often talk in nonsense sentences to see who is listening. He's kind of a ham!

 

Lately he's on a car kick and wants to know that make and model of every car we drive or walk by :-)

 

And the boy always puts his sunglasses on upside down...no matter how many times we flip them around. True Jameston fashion!

I feel like I need to write a little bit about his favorite things at the age of three:

• Books: he doesn't have a go-to favorite anymore, but he still loves hearing about David and Goliath, the Berenstain Bears, the Get-Along-Gang, and Charlie the Ranch Dog. Really, he is interested in all books, but mainly any from a collection we have from when Brett was young OR from Blake's baby book collection (he has a reading nook in Blake's nursery :-)
• Food: hot dogs and pizza hands down, fave veggie is broccoli, fave fruits are avocados and any berry, fave snacks are fruit snacks or pretzels with Nutella, and his usual breakfast is a cereal bar, banana and yogurt. He is also like his Momma and loves chips, tortilla chips the most
• He's not a fan of crafts. We hear this from his school and church teachers, although he'll do some activities at home. He currently tolerates watercolors and drawing :-)
• TV/DVDs: we don't watch TV except for the news in the morning and sports on the weekends while he's up, so he doesn't have a favorite TV show right now. But he's got a few DVD favorites for sure! They are Toy Story, The Lion King, Cars, and Up
• Music: like I said, he loves music! We are thinking about getting him a guitar for Christmas :-) He loves to often sing, "I'm in the Lord's Army," "This is the Day," "Jesus Loves Me," "I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee," "Pop Goes the Weasel," and "I've Been Working on the Railroad," and some non-traditional favorites of his are "Sic 'Em on a Chicken" by Zac Brown Band and Mumford and Sons' "The Stone." We have music playing all day!
• Sports: Baseball, soccer in the backyard and wrestling with Daddy
• He loves puzzles! He does not grow tired of them, although he may get frustrated, he keeps at it

We are blessed by and so thankful for our big 3-year-old! He has taught us so much in just three years, and we cannot wait to watch as he continues to grow into the little person God created him to be. 

We love you so much, Jameston Wade!