Goodbye Summer! Hello Fall!

We have had an absolutely wonderful summer.  Lots of extremely warm days spent playing, swimming, and just generally having a blast.  This summer J had his first tubing experience and learned to swim to the bottom of the pool on his own to retrieve dive toys from the bottom of the pool. 

J has really exploded in trying new foods.  Veggies are still a challenge, but I will never argue with a child who chooses strawberries, apple slices, grapes and blueberries over potatoes.  I know my snacking on cauliflower, sugar snap peas and peppers will eventually intrigue him to share in the delights of healthy eating.  In the mean time, I'm celebrating his willingness to explore new main courses.  He has found he loves bacon and steak. 

J's willingness to eat new foods definitely made last week easier on the grandparents.  Grandma M supplied an assortment of food, but the highlight (per J) was her homemade Italian meatballs.  Grandma P stuck closer to mom tested tacos, bacon sandwiches, and steak.  We did learn, J just loves the *yellow* box of Cheerios.  Such a simple delight that provided grandma with the perfect "this is your one item" choice during a grocery shop.

I've learned that J needs to understand clear boundaries and expectations prior to entering events.  He is a creature of routine and habit, and varying from that is hard for him.  Since I find comfort in routine, I totally understand, and make sure I am clear with expectations prior to uncontrollable situations.  Other kids getting to run around the grocery store, while J is made to either sit in the cart or stay very close to me is hard for him to comprehend and understand.  But saying - if you sit in the cart until there is no room for you, then you walk nicely beside me will earn you a quarter for the gum machine on the way out - works beautifully for keeping him well behaved.  Even in the check out line, where this week, had been a tad sassy (doing away with naps is killing us both) during our shop, so he asked if he could earn his quarter back by picking up the check out lane items that are so tempting for little hands.  A box of suckers had been knocked over, Matchbox cars tossed aside, etc.  I was so proud of him as he asked for help matching up each item with its proper location and putting them away.  The smile showing me how proud he was of himself was that much more powerful.

Jacob has grown and changed so much in the past year, I could not be more proud of him if I tried.  He is curious and eager to learn.  Hours could fly by with the iPad working on words or simple math.  Then days later, J will show me through normal everyday life how those lessons are sinking in as he applies them to a situation.

Tomorrow he starts Junior Kindergarten.  With it comes the promise of more learning, renewed friendships, new friendships, and the continued enhancement of his learning.  It seems like just yesterday he was sucking his thumb during one of my weekly biophysical profiles.  Or how at 4 months he found his thumb.  Or his first steps during our visit to Marco in Dec 2008.  Or his racing to the front door on a full run to let everyone in for his 1st birthday.  Or his move to prefer real food over baby food.  Or his first paper sent home just have he turned 2 and Miss Angie had him in preschool.  Or how his language grew leaps and bounds in the first 3 months after he turned 2.  Celebrating birthdays.  Learning to swim on his own.  Getting his passport stamped.  His first day of Young Scholars.  His last day.    

and here we are... Summer over and life begins anew with the passing of another season.  Hello Fall!  We welcome you with an open heart and a joy of what is to come. 

Fun Time with Monkey!

J had an absolute blast with his paternal grandparents & Aunt Lucy (aka to everyone else: Aunt Liz).  They visited the train engine museum and then a Wild West museum / exhibit on Monday.  J was blissfully happy when we spoke with him.  Then Tuesday became a day with Aunt Liz at the Brookfield Zoo.  J was so proud of his Gorilla he got out of a machine, and will have to show me at Grandma's next time we visit.

As excited as he was when we left him, J was sad to see us go.  And as excited as he was to be home, he was sad to see Grandma go last night.  He just had so much fun. 

Since it rained, we turned it into a night of relaxing enjoyment.  We snuggled on the couch & watch Dora's gymnastic adventure.  We learned how to make Xfinity work on our iPads.  We unpacked little man, did laundry, and repacked little man for his next big adventure to his maternal grandparents.

All the while celebrating J's big project with Grandpa. 

After all the fun at the M's, we had to give him something to look forward to at the P's.  He seriously was unhappy for the never ending fun to end...

And the project?  Getting Grandma a birthday cake & candles to celebrate her birthday this weekend, since she turns 66 next Friday...

In the meantime, I'm getting things done I need to accomplish & relishing in the fun of our weekend...

Can you tell which J did vs. Mommy art? 

Till Saturday, when I can join the fun in Michigan.

What to do... What to do...

As summer is winding down, and school starts in 10 days (how is it time already????). J is off on the first of his two - two sleep stays with each set of grandparents. 

And he was one excited little boy!

At least until we actually left...

And then that only lasted moments, then it was off to fun!

Making Muffins

J loves to help out in the kitchen.  I love watching him.  I think it has helped his growth of eating, and I hope it continues to grow his meal options.

In that spirit, and considering it is in the 70's with rain today, Miss Cheryl pulled J into the kitchen to make muffins with her.

 Lining the pan...

Of course, he chose blueberry.  His favorite!

I'm glad he enjoying his time in the kitchen!

Huge thank you to Miss Cheryl for creating another wonderful afternoon for the Monkey while his dad & I worked.

She's got new wheels...

Miss Skye recently had a birthday & is now a big 3 year old.  J was so happy to celebrate her birthday.  Although, he was rather bummed he missed out on the cakes enjoyed during the family celebration. 

That said, a play date was sufficient to remove any unhappiness over not scoring a piece of cake.  :-)

Especially when Skye turned over her keys to the new ride.

no, I did not ask him to put his arm around her, he just did it. 

Kind of like, he just leaned over and kissed her forehead during lunch on Saturday.

yes, we realize.  We are so in trouble in a few short years.  sigh...

J happily let her drive, until her understood how inexperienced he was, and this was pretty much the only time he let her drive.

Matt & I are anticipating similar behavior at 16.

Skye - you have to stay on the sidewalk.  Watch where you are going...

He's such a mini-me.

Back to School Dr's Appointment

Jacob had his back to school Dr's appointment today!  He is so funny & awesome.  They just wanted to keep him. 

I prepared J for peeing in a cup at home, and so he asked 1,000 questions when we got there.  He was so inquisitive the nurse let him help do the test strip & launch the machine that analyzes the sample.  Let me tell you how proud he was.  It cracked me up to no end.  Seriously.

He was thrilled, as he ended up with no shots this visit.  He is due for one next year, but that is next year's problem.

Today we smiled.

and laughed.

and enjoyed this 43 inches and 43 pounds wonderful, perfect little boy.



On a less fun note... He does have fluid in his right ear, so we will be going back in September after a month on Zyrtec to see if we need an ENT referral.

Scavenger Hunt

Doing this post from the iPad, so we'll have to see how it looks...  But I'm rather lazy, and just not inclined to fire up the old computer. 


Doing the mom thing, I sorted J's bag out to remove things we keep & to organize things that go back and forth (pillow & blanket).  Today J had an extra special list.  A scavenger hunt list.   They did the lists different from when I was a good. Instead of saying what they need to find, they recorded what the kids found. 


Here's J's list:

1. Flowers
2. Grass
3. Birds
4. People Walking
5. Cars
6. Airplane
7. House
8. People Working
9. Toad / Frog
10. Dog

What a great little hunter he was today...