My! How he has grown!
"Really totally" is one of Jack's regular phrases and definitely one of my favorites. Probably because I really like those words and totally use them all the time. :) I can't say enough about the boy that he is growing to be. He amazes me everyday with the information that he puts together, the way he communicates, the friends he has made and the joy that he has for life. Almost every night he says "mom, this is a good day." And really, is there any other confirmation of his happiness that I could ask for? Every time he says something sweet like that, he overwhelms me and "really totally" makes me feel so proud of him.
We have been busy over the summer. MOMS Club has been keeping us busy with park days, field trips and play dates. He loves his friends. Right now Milan, Raven, Christian and
Aiden are among his favorites. He's a great friend and I rarely have trouble with him getting along with them. He's also learning about bullies, since there are some older kids that come too and it's interesting to see how he deals with them. Right now he knows that he doesn't like what they say or do but is simultaneously repulsed and attracted to them. We're working on communicating dislike and then playing elsewhere, but he hasn't mastered that yet. At the beginning of summer, he wasn't that confident with finding new friends and hadn't really mastered playing games with kids. But now he thrives with playmates and begs to go places to meet new friends.
He is an awesome big brother. Don't get me wrong, he's not a saint and he has his share of frustration with his little sister, but for the most part he really enjoys her. He loves to make her laugh and worries when she cries. He shares with her and especially looks out for her when we are around other people. Sometimes, I catch them cuddling for no reason at all or sitting on the couch together and it makes me so proud of them.
This summer he has learned so much! I started out thinking that we would do "school" everyday and of course that didn't happen. But he has managed to master all of the letters, both their names and sounds. He has also learned his vowels and is starting to understand that they have two sounds. He rhymes like a master (I've seen sixth graders that can't rhyme) and that is a huge
prereading skill. He knows his numbers by sight (
yay for "Go Fish") and he can also accurately count things. I am so proud of him, he has come a long way! He also knows a lot about other things - his favorite movies, Disneyland, dinosaurs, trains, cars, weather, landforms, plants, his body and countless other things that he constantly asks questions about.
He also really caught on to swimming this summer. He was really afraid of the water for most of last summer and bombed his swimming lessons. But this year, he's putting his head under, blowing bubbles, jumping in and pushing off of the side. I know if we put him in lessons he would be swimming in no time. Our Fall schedule is pretty busy, but this is one thing I'd like to add.
This Fall will find us very busy. Jack is going to start
Joyschool. This is a preschool co-op where the moms teach. I will get to teach every 8 weeks. He will go to school two days a week for two and a half hours. I am so excited about the curriculum because it is all about the JOY of life and how to enjoy life even more. I know he will thrive in this situation. He will get to make new friends too. A couple of the kids are from MOMS Club but he doesn't know them very well. Essentially he will be meeting all eight kids for the first time and they are going to have so much fun. We will also be attending a Mommy and Me preschool class once a week, where he will get to see two of his favorite friends. Mondays will be our park days where he can play and Fridays will be our free day... Yikes! I know he will love it!
On a side note, he is dressing himself now. I am so happy about this! When he does it on his own I let him choose anything and put it on any which way. So if you see him with a shirt on backwards, tell him that you're proud he dressed himself!
Additionally, Uncle Danny and Kristi got him a bike for his birthday. He spent our trip riding it and by the time we left, he was riding all over the campground. He caught on really quickly and I am so proud of him.
Happy Birthday my big boy! Mommy and Daddy love you so much!
I bet you're wondering what we did today? Well it was one crazy day! We started out with his friends at the park. Every month they celebrate that month's birthdays on the last Monday of the month. Last year, it was my first day of school. Let's just say that I still remember that he didn't get to celebrate his birthday at the park with all of his friends. So there was no way we were going to miss it this year - especially because it fell on his actual birthday!
Here's Jack at the park - he's a bit sad because there was nowhere to sit with his bff Milan:
Now even Milan was tired of the whining:
After the park, we went to THE PARK - Disneyland and got a wonderful giftcard for Jack's birthday!
And went on a few of his favorite rides ...
But we didn't stay for too long. It was over 100 degrees and we had one more stop to make. Here's a taste of the following week ~ post coming soon!
This time, Jack was really interested in burying his legs. Grace got in on the action too. I love it when I catch them both smiling!
This is his new pose... every time I try to take a picture, this is what I get...
After the beach and a shower, it was time for hanging out at the campsite. Jack is now an expert bicyclist (with training wheels). In this trip, he seriously went from riding for about 50 yards, at a pace that allowed Jeremey, Grace and I to keep up while walking and then asking me to walk his bike - to riding around the entire campground, so quickly that he would stop and wait for us to catch up (without me even asking!).
Then we had a lovely campfire and roasted the s'mores!
And daddy and Jack were silly...
Just in case you were wondering, that sweatshirt was totally unnecessary - it was still hot at night...
So already in the trip, Jack has had a few chances to be board and dirty. But here is where I really start to question my children's aptitude for camping. I woke up to this:
and it soon turned into begging to go and take a bath (even though, he had just had one at night). Hmm... alright, I guess we'll take a bath and then watch you get dirty... Silly guy.
This is another series that I love:
This was the main spot that they liked to play...
Grandma came on Wednesday and we hit the beach and had another fun day! Grace loves to share her snacks...
They smile the same way!!!
Sharing with Auntie LeAnn...
Grace made it up past dark!
There's that pose again...
The next morning, we packed up and headed out. Daddy and Grama had to go to work and its really hard to collect three people any time one of them has to go to the bathroom. Plus by this point, all of us were sick. But we did have a great time!
