The Winters' World: Jameston is 3-and-a-half!

Our sweet and silly oldest son turned 3 1/2 on the 20th. Really can't believe it! This is such a fun (and challenging) age, so I had to document what our buckaroo has been up to lately :-)

We love our big boy to pieces and all of his over-the-top expressions!

I don't know where this funny face came from; it was early one morning before we headed off to work/school:

At this age, Jameston is such a joy! We have the best conversations daily about everything under the sun (seriously), and we are constantly amazed by his inquiring mind. He will ask the most unpredictable questions (analytical like Daddy and observant like Mommy I guess :-) to keep us on our toes! It really is so wonderful how much they are learning at this age.

Jameston is 42 1/4 inches tall about about 35 pounds (which he has been for while now). He is still rockin' a forward combover as he/his Daddy have decided to let his hair grow out :-) His gold locks are are getting wavier and a little darker with time.

His language skills continue to amaze us. Of course, we are partial and think he's a smarty-pants :-) He spouts off up to 15-17 word sentences (and not run-on) that make perfect sense. Because of Jameston I no longer believe the age-old statistic that says men/boys talk half as much as women/girls!
Some recent favorite "Jameston's Jargon" sentences:

"Did the sidewalk trip you?" after I hit a curb when making a turn in our car, "that's Q" (instead of "cute"), and "I need to wait for my tears to turn off," when I called for him when he was up in his room for a timeout. He also says the following many times during the day: "Thank you, sir"..."Hmmm, let me think"..."I mean, really really neat, (or strong, or yummy);" all statements he hears from m-whah, I guess. It's funny how you find out, as parents, what things you say a lot thanks to your little recorders, a.k.a. children!

We are having less temper-tantrums in the "Terrific Threes" and more discussions on how to behave like a big kid. He has become a little quarrelsome (he has to be right, don't know where he gets that from, Mommy :-) and could argue with a wall! If he gets in trouble, we do not really have to resort to "the spanking spoon" nearly as much as, say, 6 months ago, and he will walk himself up to his room for a little bit of a "time-out" to think about what he did wrong. He is also a little bit dramatic, if you've witnessed it you'll agree! He recently spent quite a few nights away at "Cousin Camp" with his older (girl) cousins, and he has since had a little more attitude/bossiness :-)

Things I don't want to forget about JW at this age are that he:

Now calls us "mom" and "dad" instead of "mommy/daddy," which makes me kinda sad
Often gives a thumbs up to show you he's on board with whatever we have suggested
Closes one eye (or both as in the pic below) when he's pointing at something

Loves to read books (hard to name a favorite!), so much so that we had to start a timer at night (that usually only allots for one book) because he wanted to read 2-3. Plus his nighttime routine was getting outta hand. The time has worked well, but we are working on having him go to bed earlier...I digress, but the boy loves to be read to, that's for sure!

Isn't as enthusiastic as he used to be to take a bath nightly. It's a battle some nights, but once he's in the tub, he had a grand ole time and sometimes acts his silliest!

Developmentally:

Since he knows his letters pretty well and loves books, we are sounding out words as we read
He brushes his teeth, goes to restroom, washes hands, and gets dressed fairly well on his own. Ever since little bro has arrived, he has regressed in his independent ways, but I guess that's to be expected
He plays hard and naps hard, too! Still taking a 2-3 hour nap most days around 1:00 after lunch

Loves soccer and baseball, any sport really! We are hoping he gets to play 6 t-ball games in the spring. He is very active and runs everywhere if he can, although he's got two left feet like his Mommy at some things

Eating: the boy eats almost anything. He is great at eating his veggies and fruit, and his favorites would be avocado, green beans, broccoli, tomatoes, oranges and pineapple. He still won't eat melon of any sort, but I cannot think of a main course that he has tried and not eaten. Thank goodness! If he could eat what he wanted for a day, it would include blueberry muffins in the morning, peanut butter crackers and handy-snacks for his two snacks during the day, a "wrap" aka turkey/cheese tortilla roll, Italian for dinner, and a pudding cup for dessert ;-)

Favorites:

Cars, or anything with wheels for that matter. Favorite movie would be Cars 2, which he got from Santa
Just lately he has been inducted into the the obligatory "superhero" phase
He could color or paint ALL.DAY.LONG This is a fairly recent obsession (two months or so), and I feel like it is a healthy one, so I color along with him, even though I feel like my hand could fall off!

He loves to wrestle with Daddy. I think this is his favorite part of the day!
Favorite games would be "Duck-Duck Goose" and "Chutes and Ladders"
Loves to be outside. Duh! Although he has been going through a anti-playground funk...

He loves to sing and dance and play instruments, and his favorite songs at the moment are "Five Little Speckled Frogs," "Martyr" by Rusted Root, "Never Going Back Again" by Fleetwood Mac and "Jesus You're My Firm Foundation," to name a few

Although his behavior can more difficult some days, he does still manage to melt this Mommy's heart and thank the dear Lord for him every day

He is also such a tender-hearted little boy who loves, loves, loves his little brother, family and friends. And I think he is one of the best and sweetest big brothers around! Blake adores Jameston and instantly lights up when big bro is around. I love watching these two and envision lots of antics to come!

Sure, we are having the daily sharing issues (I feel like I am going to be a referee for quite some time :-) but their brotherly love is such a joy to witness!