3 1/2 year old Jake

Its too much! I can't handle Jake so quickly becoming a "real" kid so quickly, as in no longer a baby, no longer a toddler...ugh. We've been introducing him to board games lately which in my mind is like a mini milestone because he can move his piece the correct number of spaces, take turns and understand the rules of the game. Among others, we've played Trouble, Chutes & Ladders and a kids' picture Bingo. While Chutes & Ladders is definitely not my favorite and may have been shoved out of sight, its fun to play games with definitive rules since usually his make-believe games are a tad hard to follow. ;)

Anyway, I have a running list of things he says on my phone that direly needs to see the light of day! Some of these quotes were from the summer and they still make me laugh. I love little glimpses into that brain of his.

"You know what an ocean is called?....Lots and lots of water!"

He came around the corner one day with his little play oven mitt on his foot and said "Its like an awkward sock!"

In the car one afternoon I tried to pass the time at red lights by teaching him how to play I Spy. After a few practice rounds I let him try. Jake said "I spy something blue." [A fire hydrant] 

Me: "Is it the fire hydrant?" 

J: "Oh where?!"

Me: "The blue thing down on the grass."

J: "Oh where?!"

Me: "Is that what you saw that was blue?"

J: "Where's blue?!"

...Better luck next time.

A sweet older couple babysits for us occasionally and when we arrived home, she told us about a conversation she and Jake had. She asked him, "Why do you have holes in your crocs?" to which he replied, "So I can see my feet!"

"If you're brave that means you have to shoot bad guys. But I'm brave! So I'm gonna shoot the bad guys."

More often than I can count, Jake will ask me a question that really has no answer (in the car, he'll usually ask why a building is where it is) and once I reply, he'll say "Oh, its actually because..." and then answer it a different way. So I finally asked him why he asks me questions if he already knows the answer and he replied, "I have to ask you all the time so I can talk about what you said!"

After dealing with a grumpy attitude, "I told myself I was gonna talk nice and not talk bad."

Back in October on one of the first cooler days, Jake was wearing jeans and we were getting back in the car. I noticed he was having trouble getting up into his car seat and I asked him what was going on. He was all frustrated and said "I can't get into my car seat because my jeans are too strong!"

^^a common occurrence while reading books before naps--Reid diving into Jake's lap :)

I asked him to play with Reid who was getting fussy and Jake said he didn't want to. I told him that big brothers play with little brothers and he said, "Well, that's not exactly true."

After giving him a hug he told me "You're getting SO big!" Not exactly a compliment when you're an adult. ;)

I can't remember how we got on the topic but Jake brought up the concept of changing the world and he told me so matter-of-factly, "Changing the world is just taking care of people." 

And lastly, yesterday we broke out a countdown to Christmas coloring book and the first activity was to write a letter to Santa. So I talked him through the idea and he scribbled on the page for a minute. When I asked him what he wrote, he said "Dear Santa, I hope you have a fun day. [That's what he usually dictates for friends' birthday cards.] Remember to talk nice and to be a Ninja Turtle!"