Just Jace

So, I just did a post for Ariana, and now, as the blog title says, this post is all about Jace. Jace is now 5 years old. That means, in October he will be turning 6, which means MY LITTLE BOY WILL BE STARTING KINDERGARTEN! Yeah, huge milestone that I'm totally not ready for. Jace attended a special ed preschool because he was diagnosed with Aspergers when he was 3. Anyways, back in February, I was called into Jace's preschool to meet with his teachers and principal. So, I met with them and at their appointment, they told me they had done testing on Jace and he tested out of the preschool. So, he went to school one last time and that was it. Between a trip to Disneyland and moving right after, we never did put him into another school because it would have been for such a short amount of time. It will be interesting to have him start kindergarten and have that structure in his life again.

Jace is still our funny boy. I'm so glad my husband thought to write down and document all the funny things he comes up with. I think one of my favorites by far would be one he said recently "Grandma Rowley is sooo sweet! She puts hearts in my eyes!" I guess he got it maybe from cartoons? If you ever have time, go to twitter and find #stuffjacesez and you'll see everything that Lance has documented. I actually made a book of it. I guess it's time to start part 2.

Jace is very helpful with his sister...most of the time. He always checks her diaper worrying if she might have pooped. Whenever I put Ariana in her booster seat to eat, he'll notice when she's done and help her down. He also really likes to lay her down for bed and tuck her in. I'm so glad my kids get along. Ariana has become very accustomed to Jace and doesn't freak out every time he touches her or wrestles her anymore.

I love how Jace tries to act grown-up. He tries so hard when he talks to say grown up words like absolutely or do you mind? The other night, he came into my room and asked if I would absolutely mind if we traded blankets for the night so he could use mine because it was his favorite and I could borrow his. I just couldn't resist the sweetness in his asking, so of course, I caved in and he used my big blanket and I used one of his baby quilts. If it wasn't so hot, I wouldn't have done it, so considering it's been warmer and I don't put all the blanket over me anyways, I traded for the night. He's very good about saying please and thankyou.

Jace is very into counting. Whenever we need to get him to do things, we count to get him to go faster. His favorite is for us to count to 120. I guess it's his favorite number. He's picked up so quickly just in the past couple of weeks counting on his own. I was very impressed to see him count to 200 this week. The other day, I was surprised to hear him count from 100 backwards. Then, we taught him to count to 100 by 5's and as soon as we started, he automatically caught on.

I think Jace's biggest dilemma when he starts kindergarten is going to be his handwriting. He has always struggled holding a pencil and writing his name correctly. I can't get him to write any letters at all anymore. I've told him that when he starts school, he has to learn to write. I'm hoping he'll pick it up really quickly once he gets started. There's something about having strangers teach you rather than your parents. He opens up more to doing things for other people that aren't his family.

Jace got a bike with training wheels for Christmas. He likes to spend his time outside whether it be just running, riding his bike, or helping water the plants. We've taken him to a couple splash pads this summer and he LOVES them! I didn't think he would because he doesn't like water spraying his face, but he proved me wrong. I think he'd spend all his time outside if he could. He also loves electronics. He likes finding new games and playing them. This was the first week he has ever been grounded from something and we decided on computer, phones, and tablet because he loves them so much. He did very well for his first real big punishment. It was hard because I know he would have liked time on them, but he did very well resisting and obeying us.

Anyways, here are some more recent pictures of our boy. He's growing up so fast!