Luckily for me, I must have the sweetest 4 year old boy in the world. We still rock every night before bed and he still loves to be held and cuddled and kissed...the only difference, and it's a nice one, is that he can now actually do those things back. And what's better than hearing that little voice say in return "I love you too, momma"?!?!? Still melts my heart...
So, for those wondering where we are with the "he'll be giving up his paci when he turns 4" proclamation, here's the update: There was a plan that on his 4th bday he would take his paci out and throw it in the garbage truck. Well, garbage goes out on Tuesdays here and wouldn't you know, his bday was on a Wed. Sooooo, I decided to extend the deadline to the day of his party. On that day, we'll have a BIG, HUGE, WOMPING, throw your paci in the trash ceremony where everyone cheers and claps and then he's SO exhausted from playing, eating, opening presents that day that he passes out without it "easily" that night... I know, oh God, the best laid plans, right?? Well, in the end, truth be told, I was the one who wasn't ready for him to give it up mid-week. But I'm determined to stick to the party plan...fingers crossed! Nanny, on the other hand, has announced she's taking an LOA (leave of absence) from her duties here when that time comes...personally, I think it sounds like the perfect time for an international trip for work, no?
So where is Jakey at age 4 and what's he been up to? Well here's a snapshot of some of his development milestones and to attempt to be balanced here, some "areas of opportunity":
- Jake still LOVES numbers and counting and the Posse is sure that someday soon we'll be asking the waiter at the restaurant to hand the check to the little guy at the end of table so he can figure out the tip and what we all owe. Aunt No No is also counting the days until he's tall enough to go to AC to count cards for her at the black jack table...LOL
- I'm not sure what to say about how high he can now count because I'm not sure there's really a limit anymore? He's totally gotten the concept of how counting works, so he can count to 100 (by 1's, 2's, 5's and 10's) and only really stops because he gets bored with going any higher. But he will count by 100's to a thousand and by thousands to 100,000. And of course, he can go UP and DOWN.
- Jake also gets the concept of adding, subtracting and dividing. On a daily basis, he will find some way to show me that he's always trying to figure this stuff out...like by trying to convince me that he needs yet another Dibs ice cream nugget because when he pairs them up to count by 2's, there's one without a pair. Or even better, when he lines them up by 5's, he needs 3 more because 2 are left all alone and that's a big problem. I'm frequently impressed enough to give in...
- We've slowed down a bit on the reading front, and I think this is probably due to the transition from school to camp. I was sure he was on the verge of outright reading, but he's not as interested in trying to figure words out as he once was. Though, in his defense, today we passed a truck with Ritz crackers on it and he said "look at that truck, momma" and when I said "yes, it's carrying crackers", he replied "it's carrying RITZ crackers, momma"... not bad
- He's progressed tremendously on the writing front and can basically write every letter in both uppercase and lowercase and all are really clear now. I've started asking him to write things on the grocery list for me, especially when there's something he's asking for and this (although challenging at times when I get to the store) has given him a purpose for practicing his writing.
- He knows his continents, can say them and identify them on the world map, can put together a puzzle of the United States (while Nanny and I still have to look at the picture on the box) and knows the names of at least 25% of them, including where we live and where within the state of NJ our house is...where his sisters Hallie and Baby Lea, his girl Jordan, his brothers Ben and Cole, and cousins Braden and Jackson live.
- So, all in all, intellectually he's coming along really well. Emotionally...well, let's just say he's about as likely to call you a "poopie head" as he is to tell you the continents...LOL Clearly he's very much a young 4 yr old and all boy when it comes to that!
- Another area of opportunity is the area of sports. (Oh how the hair on the back of my neck stands up when I even say that) A few days ago I took him to a free soccer clinic for kids in our town and he lasted less than 20 mins before wanting to be picked up, held, laying on the grass. The boy just doesn't like the idea of waiting in line, waiting his turn, etc. So, I'm hoping soccer just isn't his sport (because this was not the first disaster we had)...but I'm starting to wonder if he may just need more intensity then sports like soccer and t-ball have, at least when they're just drilling and practicing. Maybe he'll be more of a bb guy (God knows he's going to be tall enough) or tennis or even more individual sports? Maybe he'll be an ironman like his Aunt Bear? OK, OK, I can dream, can't I?
- Our boy also has a bit of a temper (which I've realized recently may have come from me...yikes). He's frequently heard saying "I quit you" these days and although we're not quite sure about the phrasing, we're crystal clear on what he means. To my utter dismay, he also says when very angry and to evoke a response... "I don't love you anymore". Oh boy, do I HATE that one!! Which of course, just makes him use it more to get me to react.
- Some of his cute Jakey sayings now include: "Momma, did you never know that my "canitials" are J-A-B... "Mommy, I want the same thing I had last day"...which is jakey for yesterday...
- He's still into Mickey Mouse Club House, but has not developed an all out obsession with Hannah Montana!!!! To the point that I actually had to buy him a HM lunch box as a reward for a dozen days of waking up with a dry pull-up. I nearly passed out when he asked for it!!! Then at the register, the cashier kept trying to convince me to go back and pick out the free backpack you get with the purchase of our lunch box and I finally had to tell her that I did NOT want to give him the opportunity to pick out a backpack for fear he was going to pick the PINK HM one!!!!! Oh my...
In other news, Pops and I took him to the Jets first pre-season game last weekend and we actually made it all the way to the middle of the 4th quarter (before I was ready to throw him over the rail). He still has no interest in the game, but loves to throw paper airplanes down on the unsuspecting people below and those who sit all around us, are content to continue to make them for him...tells you something about how exciting the games can be, no?
Uncle Sal is in town from Florida and today we took him and Nanny up to visit with Jake's cousins Darian, Shay, Mitch, Big Jake and Marco. The boys spent quite a bit of time swimming, though Jake certainly logged the most hours in the pool (like almost all day long) and for the VERY FIRST time he experimented with goggles and put his head completely under the water and swam (well, I'm usually that term liberally here). But for the boy who would barely dip his nose in, this was a VERY BIG accomplishment!!! So, needless to say, I went right on amazon.com and his own goggles will be arriving sometime tomorrow...LOL (Those who know me know I'm an Amazon addict)
Jakey, Nanny and I also enjoyed a very nice time down the shore at "uncle Roger's" beach house last week for a few days. He had a blast playing with Aunt Bear and then with his girl Jordan and Aunt GG. And boy has he made a complete turnaround when it comes to the beach and the sand...seems if he and Jo-Jo have a couple of holes in the sand that can be filled up with water as the waves come in, all is right in the world...and I mean for HOURS. The boy, who is normally close to the whitest person we all know, now even has a little beach boy tan and it's very fetching on him, if I do say so myself! After all, what's cuter than tan tiny little toes? (On feet that will undoubtedly some day be size 16s...oh my)
Well, that's about it for right now...promise to add some pics real soon! And VERY psyched about his upcoming bday bash on Aug 29th!! Woo-hoo, the obstacle course challenge will be up and ready! Let's hope we don't have a 90/90 day or we may all die of heat exhaustion.
More soon (well, probably not real soon...LOL)
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