Ace's Latest Antics

It's been a bit of time since I've blogged about what Ace is doing and saying.  It's been quite an adventure let me tell you!   The threes truly are his time to shine and challenge and while we are loving this new chapter in Ace's life - it certainly has presented the biggest challenges as well.   

Things that Ace currently loves:  PUZZLES!  And he's good at them too!!   We have a few floor puzzles and they are 48 piece puzzles that he will do entirely on his own. He prefers help and company, but he's capable and we're so proud.   I also have a few smaller table-top puzzles that are roughly 25-30 pieces and he loves to just do it over and over and over - so one day his father presented him with a different challenge - do it upside down and he did...and does.  :)

He loves to wave goodbye when his dad leaves for work, and is very disappointed when he is unable to. He wants to call his dad to say hi "all day long" and recently asked for a real cell phone for Christmas next year, so that he could call people and talk to them.  

I find Ace to be a lovingly typical boy who loves guns, sticks, fighting monsters, and shooting and sword fighting!   Lots of great things flow from his imagination.  Ace enjoys wearing his Halloween costume regularly and protecting his identity!!  He also loves to be silly!  He makes the greatest faces!

He still is sticking with the future job of 'nothing' - he just wants to be an adult when he grows up.  We try to impart on him the fact he'll need to make money to support his wife and kids - but he doesn't seem terribly interested in that right now.   Which is fine - although I'd love for him to want to explore his options!  So far his job list has included:  nothing,  paleontologist (for a brief aspiring few weeks this past summer) and we are currently back to 'nothing'.     Well ok then...
Ace has started to eat a lot more these days, but still during meal times often takes fooooreeeevver or requires a lot of reminding, prodding, timers... etc to get him to eat the food.  He's currently on this kick of wanting to graze all day long - and wanting 'snacks' rather than actual meals at meal times.   It's a work in progress, but gone are the days I worry too much about calorie intake with him.

Humor has really started to sink in around here with him.   He occasionally will tell jokes and his biggest kick right now is to say "Hi Bob" and you are required (and if you don't - corrected) to respond "Hi Larry"  -  Yes Veggie Tales are a big hit in our house currently.  :)   He'll also switch it up and say "Hi Larry"  prompting you to say "Hi Bob"  and he'll go back and forth and try to trip you up.   It's amusing 75% of the time.     In a similar twist all in his own making he's taken on an alternative "bag" and "baggage claim"  - I have no idea where he got it or why - but the game typically involves saying "Hi bag" and/or "Hi baggage claim"  most of the time he's baggage claim and he has the bag (even though I am the bag?? I don't know...)  but then he asks me to ask for something in his bag.   He's had (imaginary) tuna, pickles, diapers, towels, my kindle... all sorts of things have come out of these "bags" that he has.  Often we play this game while driving in the car.   It's silly and time consuming but it really makes him excited - so we play.
Ace has also really started to memorize a lot of things - I've been practicing with him Bible verses - but the other morning he came in and surprised us with his knowledge and memorization of a flip book about Moses.   Now when he 'read' it to us he had it 100% correct.  When I had him do it again for the camera there were a few flubs - but still CRAZY impressive!   The Moses book is not one that we typically read a lot, recently certainly, but it's not like Cuddle was every night for months on end.  We are still a ways off from officially reading, but he's doing great memorizing things!

He loves his sister - but she is starting to wear on his patience some.  There is a lot of gritted teeth "NO SISTER!!!"   He still tries his best, but she is a little sister and really wants to be anywhere and everywhere that her brother is and because of this she is a follower, a snatcher, and a loving pest.  :)  We're trying our best to help Ace find better ways to help redirect the negative and embrace the positive and their loving moments still far outweigh their fighting ones. 

I made them a car to sit in to watch a movie

Sleep? He's sleeping through the night - bed time is frustrating - it involves a lot of stalling, bathroom breaks, water requests, etc... on the litmus test of toddlers - he's right on track.  :-/   We're hopeful that bedtime can be less stalling and more sleeping in the near future.   However, we are really not complaining on his sleep once he IS asleep!   We began potty training the Monday after he turned three and for some time now - he has been fully day time potty trained.    We haven't had an accident in the day in about a month.   At night he also is getting up and going potty in the middle of the night if he needs to and as a result of that we will cease the use of pull ups at night when we are at home.   If we are traveling or staying the night else where for a few more months we'll still use the pull up.  He's a bit nervous about that, but I'm amping him up to be excited about it.  :)

Overall, Ace is doing great - he's a month away from his half birthday - 3.5 when on earth did that happen?   I just can't believe it.  He's loving school,  goes to Sunday School without fuss (although still met with an initial anxiety and protest in the car on the way there)  and he's just overall a great kid!   Can't wait to see what the near future holds for him!