Happy 5th Birthday Jack!

I keep telling myself that there will come a day when I am all caught up. But the reality is, this is the season of life that we are in. Between being sick (or dealing with allergies) and the general busy-ness of the end of the year, I feel perpetually behind. The good news is that I am not stressed that I didn't sit down and blog sooner, I'm just thankful that I have a few quiet moments right now.

Five. That seems like such a big number. Jack will start kindergarten next year and we will enter into yet another season of life. I'm not ready. But ready or not, it is coming.

Jack continues to love people and never meets a stranger. For his birthday party, we actually had to limit his guest list, and even with some friends unable to attend, we had a packed house.

This little guy of ours, the one who first made us parents, continues to teach us so much about life and how to parent. I know we make mistakes with him but there is a lot that I think we are managing to get right.

Jack is enamored with numbers right now. He has been counting to 100+ for over a year now and in the last few months figured out adding and subtracting with his fingers. He especially loves to tell us what different numbers add up to.

Letters also fascinate him and he knows what sounds go with what letters. I need to be more intentional with his learning since he is expressing interest, but I know he will learn to read with or without me.

Jack learned to ride his bike this summer and has enjoyed perfecting new skills including hopping curbs and riding down hills that are scary to him. We are proud of him for teaching himself and also trying new things. Sometimes he falls down, but he gets back up again, and that is really all that matters.

We have tried several sports over the past year – gymnastics, T-Ball, and soccer. I don't know that Jack will be our athletic kid, but he definitely enjoys being active. He was more inclined to be distracted during group sports, but loves to ride his bike, run on the trails and hike with us. This summer he also discovered a love for snorkeling and paddling our kayak with us.

We are so blessed to have this spunky, loving child in our lives. We can't wait to continue to grow up with him.

My next blog post will recap Jack's birthday party. He had a bit of a prolonged week/weekend celebration. We celebrated with donuts at preschool on Thursday, at El Metate on Friday (his actual birthday), with friends at his birthday party on Saturday, and with some of our family on Sunday. It was a crazy week for us, but Jack loved every moment!!!

Happy 4th Birthday Jack!

We had several celebrations with Jack over the course of the last week. We had a friend party on Saturday, followed by a family dinner to celebrate at El Metate (the Mexican place where you wear a blue hat), and then a preschool party on Jack's actual birthday.

We are about partied out around here.

I have so much to say about my sweet boy, though not all of the blogs in the world would adequately describe him or what he means to our family. Hopefully these few words will suffice.

At four, Jack is incredibly curious. As with most parents of 3 and 4 year olds, we continue to be in a never-ending why phase. As a parent I have a love-hate relationship with these questions. I love that he is learning and wants so badly to know things, but sometimes the questions never seem to cease. These questions stretch me to help him understand the world around us and in turn I learn more as well.

Right now Jack havs a deep love for people and helping others. He has never met a stranger. His standard pick-up line at the park is "Hi, I'm Jack. I'm three [now four]. Do you want to play with me?" I hope he is always this outgoing and that his sweet spirit never gets crushed. His confidence amazes me. He doesn't care how old or young you are, he wants to be your friend. It makes him sad when older kids are not interested in playing with him. In turn that makes me sad, but I try to let him experience these harder moments without interference, along with the sweet moments.

 

At preschool and church, Jack wants to hold the door for every single person coming in and out. We are typically running late anyways, so I really have to check my patience at the door. Instead of being exasperated that we are behind (mostly my fault anyways), I allow him to hold doors and talk to everyone. I hope he always desires to put others first.

We spend a decent amount of time in the car and I try to use those moments to teach him things like our address and how to count to 100 and how to do basic addition and subtraction using his fingers. He is a little sponge and soaks up all of these lessons. He is starting to consistently recognize a handful of letters and can spell his name. One of his favorite games is to play teacher and I know that his time spent in preschool aids in his love for all things school and learning related. He has quite a few books memorized (his favorite right now is Madeline) and I can't wait until he learns to actually read and all of the doors that reading will open for him.

This year Jack requested his very own kayak so that he could take his friends paddling with him. This was a big change from last year when all he wanted was an electric toothbrush! Since it was November, we weren't ready to commit to a kayak, but we are still mulling it over – maybe Christmas little buddy! His back up request was an Optimus Prime robot (which his Great Grandmother lovingly bought for him!). I think he had a good birthday.

Most days the days are long, but the years really are short. I'm still kind of in shock that we have a four-year-old. Jack loves being four, but doesn't get why he doesn't get to move up to the 4s class at preschool and church. I am working to convince him that he is one of the first to turn four and he gets the privilege of teaching the other kids how to get ready to be four. I am really looking forward to the coming year and all that it holds for Jack.

Fun with Jack Before Baby#2 Arrives

 

In these final weeks before Baby#2 makes an appearance, we have been trying to make sure we get some special time with Jack. Last week was his spring break from school and then this past weekend was Easter, so we have had our fill of activities. It still blows my mind that in a couple of weeks, there will be two little ones instead of just one in our home.

First up, we decided to take Jack to his first movie. We saw Paddington at the cheap theater. To be fair, we took him to the movies a few times when he was an infant, but this is the first time he had an awareness of the experience. He had a fun time, but had a million questions – especially regarding the projector, the seats and the cup holders.

In addition to the movies, we have been enjoying the spring weather and spending time at the playgrounds around town, as well as visits to the Creative Discovery Museum. "Digging dinosaurs" is one of Jack's favorite things to do.

For Easter weekend, we had a jam packed Saturday that involved the annual community Easter egg hunt on Signal Mountain...

a petting zoo at the SonRise tour at the Seventh Adventist University in Collegedale... 

and a birthday party at a Gymnastics Center of Chattanooga. Surprisingly Jack survived the entire day with just a 20 minute nap in the car. I guess all of the sugar kept him trucking all day.

To give Jack a framework of when the baby would arrive, we have been telling him that "after Easter" was the expected time. We talk about the baby a lot, and thankfully he hasn't been bothered by the fact that it is after Easter and our baby hasn't arrived yet. Soon enough... soon enough.

See Jack tell me about his dinner.


See Jack say the Pledge of Allegiance. 


See Jack practice his skateboarding skills. 


See Jack jump in the foam pit at the Gymnastics Center of Chattanooga. 


See Jack on the rope swing at the Gymnastics Center of Chattanooga. 


See Jack jump off the vault into a foam pit at the Gymnastics Center of Chattanooga.

Jack and Daniel's First Project Car

On Saturday night we headed over to Daniel's dad's house for supper. When we got there, Jack's Grandpa and Grandma had a surprise for him – a new-to-him Powerwheels car that the other grandkids had outgrown. Unfortunately the battery was dead.

This did not deter Jack from insisting that it could get charged, and when that didn't work, that his daddy could fix the "babbery."

 

So after dinner, we took the Powerwheels home. We had recently put the second carseat base in the Subaru, so the Powerwheels had to go in the roof basket – it was just the right size.

Sunday morning Jack woke up and had not forgotten about the car. He insisted they fix it as soon as we were all up.

To start, Jack and Daniel used a voltage meter to assess whether the battery was really dead before removing it from the vehicle. Daniel also spent time dreaming up ways he could make the car more powerful and faster. I believe he even mentioned the idea of adding better tires and even a winch to it.

Jack would be happy just to have a car that goes. Maybe in a year or two he will be more interested in improving the car.

Once the car was working again, Jack (and probably Daniel) were excited to find out that the car had two gears – fast and slow – as well as reverse. 

Jack has enjoyed driving it up and down our steep driveway and to the park across the street. The car has seats for two, so this is something that baby 2 will be able to enjoy as well.

Chats with Jack ⎮ September, 2014

Jack is going to be three in less than a month. Almost-three has been a ton of fun. Jack says such sweet and goofy things. We want to remember it all. Here are some of the things he was doing and saying in the month of September...

When I ask a question and his answer is "No" he says, "Uh, no thank you" in a sweet, sing song, little boy voice that melts my heart.

Right now Jack has an obsession with trying to lasso things. He calls any rope his "yeehaw rope" and swings it proudly in an attempt to catch something.

At the beginning of September, Jack experienced his first gash in head. Thankfully he didn't have to get stitches. I did have to sign a waiver at the Y saying he ran into the gate on his own accord and it wasn't their fault. 

A few funny phrases Jack has adopted:
When we say something is "very big" Jack will tell us it is "a lot of big."
He also says "last-erday" instead if yesterday.

We finally got a bike with training wheels and a scooter, he loves both. A couple of weeks after having his new toys he said, "I'm so glad to have my new scooter. If it got lost, I would cry." I'm pretty sure we will have him out on the mountain bike trails in a couple of years.
 

Jack has invented his own new sport for in the house: He hits the soccer ball with his tee ball bat and then runs the bases – i.e. he runs around the kitchen island 3x.

 He also likes to do yoga at bedtime, for him this is always a one-legged downward dog.

Currently, Jack's favorite YouTube video is the Human Powered Helicopter. He asks to watch it all the time. Future mechanical engineer?

We have learned that Jack is too analytical for Dr. Seuss. Bedtime stories include a lot of questions including, "What's a Tuttle Tuttle tree? Why is she riding on a red rhinoceros? What's a zizzer zazzer zuzz?"

Jack has a fascination with marching bands. He loves to stomp around while playing a drum.

He is also enamored with sailors and pirates since our visit to the LST Floating Museum and our trip to the beach.

Jack loves the beach. I think he would spend every day of his life at the beach if he could. He called our beach house on vacation the "Pirates House on the beach."

His favorite church songs are "Lord's Army" and the "Days of Creation." One day in the car, he told me the words to a song, which I sang back to him (since I already knew the song). He proceeded to tell me, "you're doing great!"
 

Jack learned his first memory verse this month: "Children obey your parents. Ephesians 6:1."

I'm not sure where this came from, but one day Jack randomly told Daniel, "You need to buy a motorcycle with two seats. I will buckle on my helmet and ride behind you."

When we were snorkeling on vacation, Daniel dove under water with his feet above the surface. I asked Jack, "Where's daddy?" and Jack said, "He went down the rabbit hole." We have an Alice in Wonderland book that shows Alice's feet going down the rabbit hole. We love how he makes connections like that.

Jack has a fascination with our neighborhood and seeing our neighbors. One day he headed up driveway our driveway on this bike and said, "I want to go see my naaybor."

If I need to do something like cook dinner, I will tell Jack, "come get me if you need something." Now at random times he will say, "mommy, I need something!" But he never tells me what the something is without some prompting. This is funny but also frustrating. He thinks it is hilarious.

Funny conversation between Jack and one of our friend's older kids:
Jack to Andrew: I don't like carrots, they smell yucky.
Andrew: What do the smell like?
Jack: Carrots.

Me: Are you a big boy?
Jack: No.
Me: Are you a baby?
Jack: No. I'm Jack!

See Jack get his first bike. 


See Jack practice balancing on his bike (no training wheels and no pedals).


See Jack start the four wheeler. 


See Jack practice using a toy front loader.


See Jack pedal a bike for the first time.

2014 Vacation: Videos from the Beach

See Jack running from the waves.


See Jack practicing swimming with the boogie board.


See Jack swimming with his daddy, in hyperlapse.


See Jack on the beach, in hyperlapse.


See Jack and Izzy having fun on the beach, in hyperlapse.


See Izzy on the boogie board, in hyperlapse.


See Izzy and Unce Mark on Boogie Boards, in hyperlapse.


See Jack and Levi running from the waves, in hyperlapse.


See Jack and his cousins chasing each other on the beach. 

2014 Florida Vacation Recap: Overview // Restaurant Review

Biking Saint Joseph's Peninsula // Snorkeling with Dolphins // Time with Family

Chats with Jack⎮ August, 2014

Jack's little personality continues to blossom with each passing month. We are learning more about his stubborn side, his joy in fixing things and an inkling that we must be teaching him right thanks to his positive notes home from preschool.

Now that Jack is potty trained, there are days that accidents are frustrating to me. Typically because he gets distracted from playing. Then there is the time he took care of business himself and thought it would be helpful to put all of his clean underwear in the toilet – to wash. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so I took a picture instead.

Jack is really starting to get into imaginative play and enjoys dressing up – especially if it involves toy guns. He recently brought a notebook and a pen over to me and asked what I wanted to eat for dinner. He proceeded to role play being a server at a restaurant. 

Things of note in the month of August included a road trip to Arkansas, starting preschool and a canoe trip to the Bat Cave.

Right now Jack fully believes that a screwdriver can fix almost anything... He will tell us that "we can get one in the garage." If a screwdriver won't work, Jack thinks that batteries are the answer. He will be so amazed when he realizes that his daddy has an entire garage full of tools that do different jobs to fix just about anything.

Two of Jack's favorite phrases right now are: "Because why?" and "What's that mean?" He will ask these questions repeatedly (even after we have answered). We sometimes turn this around and ask him what he thinks. I think the coming years will be interesting because of his never-ending questions.

A funny question at the end of our canoe trip was: "Are we going to paddle home?"
 

After we told him no, we asked Jack if he would rather paddle home or drive home? He immediately said: "Paddle." We love that he is starting to enjoy, and embrace, our hobbies at such a young age.

We live on a mountain and there are two roads that we typically drive up to get home. Jack has started specifically asking "Can we go up the W road?" whenever we drive by it. He knows we live on Signal Mountain and will tell you that we have entered our neighborhood when we turn on to the first road leading back to our house.

Last weekend Jack displayed his truly stubborn side. Daniel and I were trying to get him to put his blocks away before bedtime when he looked up at us, grinned and started singing "Jesus Loves Me." This was in lieu of cleaning up and it took a lot of self control for me and Daniel not to laugh.

Up until last Sunday, Jack still used a paci for sleeping. We had been telling him that if the last paci we had got lost or broken then there would be no more paci. Our master plan was to get rid of it once he turned 3. Well the situation was resolved when we couldn't find it at bedtime on Sunday. Thankfully Jack took it in stride and has been sleeping great. We are struggling with naptime, but bedtime has been fine. I'm glad it wasn't a huge struggle once it was gone.

Since Jack started preschool, he has been displaying more rambunctious behavior at home. At preschool he is an angel – his notes come home saying that he is sweet and listens well and plays well with other kids. I suppose it is better for him to be behaved in public, even if it means some extra time outs at home.

A few videos from this month:

See Jack practice singing his ABCs.

See Jack play in the rain, an activity he loves. This month he also started taking showers instead of baths. This makes our evenings so much easier.

See Jack's response as to why he threw all of his clean underwear in the toilet. 

See Jack practice drawing circles.