This kid. Oh how I adore him. He's 3.75 years old right now... going on 13 I think. I'm sure when he's really 13 I won't be thinking this at all. :) He's completely full of life, energy, charm, determination, self-confidence (unless a big crowd is watching, then it takes him a minute or two), stubbornness, and tenderness. Yes, all of that and more bundled up in one precious little boy. And behind each of those characteristics and emotions is tons and tons of energy and activity. He wears me out daily, but brings a lot of laughter and joy to our home. He very generously gives his affection and love, touch, hugs, kisses, and prayers on our behalf. He also often offers his determination to be right, his bad attitude when losing at anything, his desire to be the loudest person around (no matter the situation or location), and his back-talking in order to ALWAYS get the last word in. He challenges us daily to stay on our toes about educating and challenging him back, guiding him spiritually, providing boundaries, and setting limits. It's so hard sometimes. I'm not bragging by saying this, but I want to remember that he's so intellegent and verbal beyond his years that sometimes we loose ourselves in a conversation or argument with him before we realize that we have to maintain being his parents and remember that he's only 3 and not able to reason yet as much as we might think he can. We have to keep our expectations of him in-check, and appropriate, because he is only 3 and still makes 3-year-old mistakes that require a lot of love and guidance and patience and forgiveness.
I have no idea what he weighs right now, or how tall he is, but I'll try to measure soon and add it back in here. :) I know he hit a growth spurt earlier this summer and suddenly wanted to eat all of 3 full meals a day, plus snacks, plus 2-3 bowls of cereal every night before bed. When it first started I remember thinking he was just maybe bored or pushing limits (avoiding bedtime, etc). Then, it stayed consistent and he truly complained of hunger sometimes, of legs aching at night, of backaches in the day, and then suddenly in 2 weeks time none, not one, of his pants reached his feet anymore (yes, we have cool summers here and still wear pants a lot :) ). We had to go and buy him new pants and shirts. It was crazy, but amazing to watch. And then it just stopped and suddenly there were days again when he didn't want much to eat. Experiencing children grow, in every way I can mean this, is a gift from God. They teach us so much about ourselves, and so much about God. I'm so thankful for Jake and everything he's teaching me. I hope we survive our years with each other and come through it closer and closer and forming a bond like the ones I see from my brothers with my parents. I hope Jake sees God through us, wants to know God with us, learns how to generously love, forgive, and serve others, and loves his family a lot. I hope he'll want to talk to me about anything and know I'm always here for him. I know it's not so common, but I've always loved that my brothers will call on my parents for guidance about pretty much anything, and just genuinely count them as friends, and I hope Jake will do the same. At 3 years of age he's already so independent that he will say "I can do it myself, watch", "Look how big I am and strong, too!" and "I don't need you Mama, watch, I can do it/read it/see it by myself." Ahh.... Such a big boy already. :)
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