The Annual Jones Report, or, What Jones is Up To Now That He's 3!

Our big guy turned 3 in April, and we started off the day with the Happy Birthday song and a cupcake, because if ever there's a day for cupcakes for breakfast, it's your birthday, right?!

It's hard to believe that I quit doing monthly updates well over a year ago ... I figure an annual update is due, because the J-Man has a lot going on with him, and of course we want to note it all down for posterity!

My big boy, posing for his birthday photo!  The shirt says it all - he is one cool cat!

At 3 years old, Jones ...

• Talks and talks and talks and talks!  Admittedly, some of it is still kind of hard to understand, but I get most of it nowadays.  He talks about everything he sees ("Look, there's a bunny!"  "Look, there's my friend Grayson's house!"  "Look, there's a man mowing the grass!") and he asks questions constantly.  I think this is so he knows what to expect and when to expect it, so I try to not get frustrated when he asks me, for the 18th time, where we are going.  His favorite thing to talk about right now is Grammy and Papa's house.  Every day, no lie, we go through everything up at the country:  "Where is Papa?  Where is Grammy?  Where is the Ranger?  Where is the 4-Wheeler?  Where are the horses?  Where is the wagon (he means trailer ... he calls flat bed trailers "wagons")? Where is Bo?  Where is Rambler?  Where is Papa's truck?  Where is the tractor?"  I answer all of these in pretty much the same fashion:  "[He/she/it/they] are up in the country at Grammy and Papa's house."  Once we go through the list a few times (seriously ... a minimum of three times) he'll say, "I want to go see them.  Won't that be fun?!"  He frequently asks me where Nana and PePaw and Grandma and Grandpa are and usually follows it up with "I want to go see them.  Won't that be fun?!", which makes me realize that I must frequently use the phrase "won't that be fun" with him. 

This was pretty exciting for all of us - Jones got to meet a foal!  He was super excited about it; the foal was curious about Jones, and was super sweet, and not too timid, thank goodness!

My cowpoke, playing with Nana!

• Is doing really well at school; he's in a class with a lot of his friends that he sees outside of school (so, children of friends of ours), which is nice.  He is learning a lot, and his teacher often sends home notes that tell us how smart he is (not that we're biased or anything).  He knows all of his letters, and can count into the teens, and knows all of his shapes and colors, and is learning a lot of good bible stories and songs.  The other day he brought home a coloring page and I asked him, "Is that Jesus in your picture?" and he said, "No, that's Saul.  He's a bad man.  He's going on a walk, and then he gets help."  I thought that was a pretty good concise rendition of the story of Saul, for a 3 year old! They also studied the story of Daniel in the lions' den.  I asked him if he could tell me about Daniel.  He said, "Daniel was in the lions' den."  I asked Jones if Daniel was scared and he said, "No; he prayed!"  I thought that was sweet, and I'm so glad he goes to a school that teaches with the Bible and God and Jesus.  He went through a spell where he was having a really hard time listening and behaving at school, and was really acting out:

But we worked with his teachers at school on a sticker system (you know what I mean:  you have a chart, and you get a sticker for completing certain tasks or having certain behaviors) and got it corrected pretty quickly:

 

• Is obsessed with yard work.  He is always wanting to mow and weed-eat ("weed-eating" being one of our favorite things to talk about), and will spend a great deal of time with his little bubble mower mowing the grass in the front yard and back yard.  He'll frequently say to me, very seriously, "Mommy, I need to mow."  He is mesmerized when Alan mows - he'll stand by the window and watch him for a long time.
• Is my helper.  There's really no chore too small for this guy to help you with.  Opening the garage, feeding the dogs, watering the dogs, giving the dogs treats, putting laundry in the dryer, getting laundry out of the dryer, emptying the dishwasher, carrying groceries in from the grocery store, wiping the counters down after brushing your teeth ... you name it, Jones will help you with it!

Waiting to help me feed the dogs!

• Has pretty much done away with napping, period.  Much to our consternation.  He'll nap for a little while at school, the most I've seen recently is an hour and a half, but he doesn't always nap there - sometimes he just lies quietly on his cot and rests, but doesn't sleep.  I sort of feel like he needs to nap, but I can't make him, so I don't force the issue.  We just go to bed earlier on the weekends when he doesn't nap.  Now that summer is upon is, and we go swimming and spend a lot of time outside, I actually can get him to nap more easily and frequently, mostly because he's exhausted and can't hold out forever. 

This is what a full-fledged meltdown looks like when Jones doesn't have a nap ...

•  He is, as always, an excellent sleeper - he rises and shines every day at 7:00, and he usually tells me, "I had a good sleep!" when I come into his room in the morning.  He's still sleeping in his crib, because he loves it!  He has never attempted to crawl out, and is content to lay in there until someone comes and gets him, so we're not in a hurry to change that situation.  We're thinking at Christmas we'll re-do his room into a "big boy" room and switch him out then.  But I couldn't really see the point in doing it any sooner when he's so happy in there.

• Dr. H said his growth was "perfect"; I think he weighed 34 pounds at his 3 year check up and I can't remember AT ALL how tall he was, or is.  He wears 3-T in all of his clothes, but we're going to have to go to 4-T in the fall, I already know, for the length.  His 3-T jeans were already sort of pre-flooding, then it was time to switch to shorts, so we've put that issue off for now.  Jeans are his favorite item of clothing, maybe tied with shoes.  He likes to pick out his clothes, especially his jammies.

• We're working on potty training.  I have a whole post on that adventure coming up.  It's a work in progress.  He does pretty well, most of the time, but we're not really there yet.  It has been, undoubtedly, the single hardest milestone for us to tackle.  Dr. H had some hilarious suggestions on potty training that we haven't really tried yet, but we might if we don't see the finish line coming up pretty soon.
• Is a good eater, still!  The only thing that continues to surprise me is that he DOES NOT care for cheese.  Won't eat macaroni and cheese.  At all.  Won't eat a sandwich with cheese on it.  AT ALL.  Won't eat a cheeseburger - hamburgers only!  He will eat Mexican food, however, with cheese - he'll eat quesadillas and he LOVES, LOVES, LOVES cheese dip and salsa and chips.  He'll eat a whole bowl of salsa by himself, which amazes me.  He wants "sauce" with everything, something he's picked up from watching Alan and I eat - if Alan and I have a side of ranch or something, he always wants one too - "I want sauce!".  Favorite foods include the aforementioned Mexican food, spaghetti ("sketti!"), mashed potatoes, broccoli, peas, and, of course, sweets!  He is not a big fan of fruit - the only fruit he'll willingly and knowingly eat is a banana.  We're lucky in that he doesn't care for any kind of Coke - he doesn't like the carbonation.  His favorite drink is still milk, and he likes water and juice occasionally. 
• Loves to be outside - meltdowns often happen because we won't let him go out there (mean old Mommy and Daddy, refusing to let someone go outside when it's raining, or 110 degrees, or 20 degrees, or there's a swarm of bugs waiting to eat you alive).  He loves to go out there and mow (of course), ride his tricycle, ride in his cozy coupe, ride his scooter, hit the ball off of the tee, and he LOVES to chase the dogs.  I accomplish this by throwing something for Layla to go fetch, and then she runs around with it joyfully, and Jones runs after her trying to catch her.  They both thoroughly enjoy it. 
• Loves the spoiled Labradors.  They are still so good with him - he'll pull their ears, their tails, their fur, run after them and try to lasso them, just generally be kind of rough with them, and they never get upset or lose their patience.  They're such good dogs.
• Is really starting to show how much of a "boy" he is with his favorite toys - anything cowboy is a favorite, and he loves to load up his toy trucks and trailers with "freight" and drive them around the house.  He loves trains in all forms, and Legos, and loves for you to help him build tall towers with his blocks and Legos.  He loves to play golf (he plays with more gusto than skill, obviously).  We have to be careful not to say "golf" or any of its derivatives around him because he'll immediately start clamoring to go to the golf course! 

• Is so much fun, and such a joy to all of us!