"3"

I have two days before a little girl in the house turns one year old, and with all of her birthday planning, I realized I had forgotten to blog about a very important day (oh geesh, if you must know, at the end of April!) when a very grown-up boy turned 3!

Funny how life with four kids changes you. Seriously, I never thought I would be thinking about stuff like equal blogtime for my kids. :) But with each unique personality and relationship that God has given us with our kids, I do think about equality. And how much attention each one gets. And who I read to last, and for how long. And whose turn it is to fetch me a diaper. And how much each one ate at supper, and when they pottied last.

I did it with one, so I'm guessing that you do it too.

But the funnier thing about all of this is that I like the idea that many children leads to less equality. Because in a loving way, it's healthy for them to know that it's not all about them all of the time.

Yes, I realize this is a birthday post. Are you still with me? :)

All mom-guilt aside, the point is, Chase is 3. And he's quickly going on whatever age Jack and Trey are acting like on any given day.

I remember "3" with the other boys. And I'll admit, it makes me cringe a little bit. Tyler adores this age. I seem to have less patience for it for some reason. But with a bit more experience this time around, I'm soaking up all the cuteness I can, because there sure is a lot of it. And I'm convinced that in God's great wisdom, he made "3" the cutest age, so you can live through those 3 year old moments when they forget all about being cute.

I like to say that Chase is the oldest three year old I have ever had. He likes to run with the big boys. He does more, knows more, and says more stuff than the other two ever did at this age. Trying to be big brings him much happiness a lot of the time, and much frustration the rest of the time. Because three year olds can't always do what 6 and 7 year olds do, no matter how hard they try.

He's into Scooby Doo big time, and says the word "Like..." way too often because Shaggy Rogers is his hero. He talks about going to preschool this fall, but he doesn't know what August means in terms of timeframe, so he asks every day if "today is the day" when he will go. He loves to cook with his momma, and would bake cupcakes every day if I said yes. He talks nonstop, and entertains us constantly with his made-up songs, usually to the tune of the Star Wars theme song ("I-have-to-go... to-the-potty.... yes-I-do..."). Oh, and speaking of Star Wars, he knows more about the characters than I do. His memory amazes me.

Chase loves to play dress-up. Lucky for him, the third time around I've decided to choose my battles, so he even gets to wear his Spidey outfit to the store on occasion. He wants candy for breakfast every morning, and never tires of asking, even though I've told him "no" every day for the last 58 days straight. Chase has a very special relationship with his daddy. They often run errands together or go out to breakfast, just the two of them. And when he's not with his dad? Well, let's just say that I have a shadow closer than Peter Pan's.

Did I mention that he's cute?

And really stubborn.

If I try to open the door for him, he gets frustrated and tells me to shut it because he wants to open it. Then he (fumbling and taking what seems like forever) opens it for me, and says, "The gentleman always helps the ladies."

And the cute factor wins again.

He's silly and smart, which might just turn out to be a pretty good mix when he gets his emotions in check. Whenever that might be. My guess is it's not happening at "3".

But you never know. This one could be different.

Then again, he always repeats everything his brothers say.

Chase Dylan, my sweet third boy.

Thanking God for you, and for "3".