Life with a 3-year-old

I need to warn all readers...this post is kind of to express the frustrations of having a 3-year-old. I'm writing it mainly so I can remember Jace at this age since I've been so great about documenting life with him as he grows (notice sarcasm). So, anyways, Jace has always been such a great kid. Don't get me wrong, he still is a wonderful little boy, but since he's turned 3, he's become a slightly more troublesome child. They say kids go through terrible two's, but believe me, at least with Jace, age three has been more terrible than the two's.

Let's start with potty training. So, in my last post a month ago, I mentioned that I decided to take away the diapers and make Jace go potty. Well, it went so super, at least for a couple weeks. He wouldn't have accidents and he would tell me when he needed to go potty, even if it was on a car ride to grandma's. Well, at least with going #1. When it came to #2, he refused to go. He would just hold it for so long. Then, problems occurred. He became so constipated that he would just cry out in pain all the time. So, his pediatrician told us to stop potty training him and start him on a laxative called Miralax. So, the only change I made was I put him in pullups a little more because I didn't know what the laxative would do to him right at the beginning. I didn't take away his underwear. I just put pullups on more often. I didn't think it would be a problem because even when he was doing so well going potty, he learned not to wet his pullup. Then, Jace just became completely uninterested in going potty altogether. I still put him in underwear, but he has more accidents or he just holds it for as long as he can. I think everything got screwed up all because he had a hard time pooping in the potty. I admit, a month ago, I LOVED potty training! Now, I hate it. I guess I figured it was too good to be true having him do so well at the beginning. He's not easily motivated either. Bribes don't work. Stickers don't work. He has his mind set on making this difficult for me.

I know this is common with probably all kids, but I can't even take my eyes off of Jace for one second. He is just a mess maker. By the time I get one mess cleaned up, he has another one made. Our house is never clean because he always has a new mess made in a new place. Today, I was cleaning up the living room and he took all our plastic sacks, garbage sacks, and ziplocs out of their boxes and scattered them on the kitchen floor and down the stairs. So, I got the living room clean, but now there's a new mess for me to clean tomorrow. It's a never ending process. I put Jace in the bathtub yesterday and stepped out of the room for a couple minutes. By the time I got back in there, he had 2 brand new bottles of body wash completely dumped in the tub. It's hard. I can't keep up with him. I don't know how other mothers do it. Believe me, nobody can see the inside of my house because it is honestly a disaster 99% of the time from my crazy 3-year-old.

I think Jace has turned into kind of a little rebel. I can tell him no not to do things and I almost feel like he's going against me and does it anyway even though he knows there's going to be a consequence for it. For instance, I had a bag of m&m's out to eat and they were opened in one corner. Jace found the bag and slowly starting pouring small piles out. I got after him and told him to stop and he looked at me and ripped the bag open and poured them all over the floor and ran away. It's liking telling him no means nothing to him. I think Jace is just finally old enough that he gets really bored. He always has to find something to do. I honestly wonder what having a new sibling will mean to him. I'm not sure if he'll be any better or worse. Luckily, I have 24 weeks to think about that.

I'm not trying to sound like I'm complaining. I knew Jace wasn't always going to be the easiest child. I got lucky with him up until he turned 3. Anyways, he really is a joy. I love hearing the things he comes up with. He makes me laugh on a daily basis. Here are some great things about him right now.

*He is really starting to figure out his shapes. He loves to draw circles. We told him to draw a triangle the other day and he managed to draw the v-shape. He just couldn't quite get the line to connect them.
*He knows his colors and is starting to kind of figure out that 2 colors will change something to another color. I was giving him a bath the other night and I put a yellow and red tablet in to change the color and he was able to tell me that the water was going to be orange.
*He is still such a memorizer. He knows songs and commercials and everything.
*He has such an imagination. He has 3 yogi bear toys and today he was playing with them like one was him, one was daddy, and one was mommy. Woody from Toy Story says the phrase "there's a snake in my boot". So, Jace got one of his cowboy boots the other day and his toy snake and put it inside the boot and told Lance that there was a snake in his boot.
*He loves preschool. His favorite part is still the bus ride. I love it when he gets so excited and brings me home things he made at school.
*He always makes us stop what we're doing when he has a scratch (aka, an itch).
*He loves sunbeams. His favorite song is "Hello". He just smiles when they sing that song.
* He is a singer. He really does love to sing. Whether it be a song from preschool or even a song he made up.
*He's very curious. He always asks us "What's happeping? What's that sound? What are you talking about?"
*He's all of a sudden very complimentary. I put on a new shirt yesterday and he came up to me and said "Wow mommy! I really like that shirt!" Or he'll tell me I look very handsome.

Anyways, Jace is such our pride and joy. Even though he is at a more difficult age right now, I can't imagine going a day without him in my life. He makes me smile on a daily basis as he comes up with the funny things he says or does. He is a mess maker and a little rebel, but I guess I need that little piece of chaos in my life. I can't imagine not having him around to clean up after.

On a side note, I'm 16 weeks pregnant now! Yay! It's hard to believe I'm that far. I'd post a picture, but at this point, I still feel more fat than pregnant, although, I do kind of feel like some of the fat on my tummy is starting to look more like a baby belly. In a month we find out the gender, so I'd love to hear your guesses! I might post a poll on the side of my blog, because I'm very curious to see what everyone thinks! Until next time!