Woo-Hoo!!!! We have our 1st Potty Success at School!!!

OK, so admittedly, I was one day away from taking a short reprieve from the potty training. After all, how much laundry can one mommy do (yes, so Nanny does most of it, but still) and how many puddles can one teacher clean up without a break?!?!? And then, there it was, in bold letters and highlighted in yellow on his daily sheet..Pee Pee on the Potty!!! Oh my, could it be?!?!? First thing I did was check the top of the page to be sure I had the right sheet...LOL Next I thought, why the heck didn't they call me at work to tell me this monumental news?!?!? I might have given all the people in my division the rest of the day off...or at least myself, anyway.

Wow...and just when I was so close to temporarily throwing in the towel (or the big boy underwear, in this case)... HE DID IT!!!! OK, so picture me in the moment in this classroom (he was outside on the playground, so I had a moment or two to myself)...first I think WOO-HOO, YES, YES, YES and do a little "he did pee pee on the potty dance"...then about 30 seconds later I realize that I've been promising him that I'd take him to Chuckee Cheese if he went pee pee on the potty at school, and think, oh crap...that means I have to go there TONIGHT?!?! Ahhhhhh!

So, I take a long, slow walk to the playground, and somehow convince myself that he probably won't even remember the whole Chuckee Cheese thing, right?! (I know, you're thinking, ok, you're smoking crack, girl, this is the kid who remembers EVERYTHING from the very first breath he ever took...yea, yea, yea, whatever) Sooooo, I turn the corner towards the playground, and he spots me coming (and for those who haven't ever experienced the thrill of "pick up time", let me tell you, it just doesn't get any better than this... when you get to witness this incredible look on your child, like you've been lost at sea for 20 years and suddenly returned home at that very moment...a look that screams "that's MY, MY, MY mommy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"...ok, sorry, I digress)...so I turn the corner and as soon as he sees me he starts running and jumping and skipping and hopping while screaming at the top of his lungs... "MOMMY, PEE PEE, POTTY, CHUCKEEEEEEEE CHEESEEEEEESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" OK, well, so much for wishful thinking...

And YES, of course, I followed through on my promise...we even closed the place down and were the very last ones to leave!

Oh, so I forgot one little part of the evening...so, we get home and I'm kneeling on one knee in front of him in the kitchen telling him how incredibly proud I am of him and he keeps trying to interrupt me (which he ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS does) and I say, now wait Jake Anthony, momma is trying to tell you something important. So, he stops trying and I start talking again and I suddenly feel this wet sensation on the knee that's on the ground and look down to see that there is pee-pee streaming out of the leg of his shorts, down his calf, into his sock, down his shoe and forming an expanding puddle on the floor...currently being absorbed by my $200 Jones NY work pants. I stop talking, look up at him and he says "momma can I talk now?" and proceeds to tell me that he was trying to tell me that he had to go potty...LOL LOL LOL It's moments like that where you just have to laugh out loud...which we both did. So loudly that Quincy came running into the kitchen to see what was going on slid right through the puddle of pee pee and managed to do a complete 360 before coming to rest on his head against the back door.

Life with a toddler...NEVER a dull moment;-)

We're off to the NY Liberty playoff game tomorrow night...WOO - HOO!!!! GO LIBERTY!!!!

Potty Training...Round 1 Goes to Jake Anthony (uggh)

To potty train or not to potty train...that is THE question these days! For those who believe in the whole "never say quit" thing or the "you've got to stick with it" or the "mind over matter" thing, you've undoubtedly never received 5 (yes, 5) sets of "dirty" clothes home a night.

As of today, we've been at it for 7 school days and we've yet to see one drop of pee-pee on the potty or anything else for that matter. That said, we've had MUCH more success at home, but of course, as I've mentioned before, that's ONLY when he's naked ...OK, so recently we've progressed to being able to wear a shirt and socks, but still not an approach that's going to work at school.

I'm thinking, Round 1 goes to Jake Anthony and it may be better to switch over to the "lose some battles, but win the war" approach before I need a new washer and dryer and my son ends up so traumatized by the whole thing that he ends up wearing Depends to college. Someone kindly remind me that "this too shall pass"...OK, maybe not the best quote there...LOL

Beyond our potty wars, life with Jake has grown interesting in other not so pleasant ways. He's finally realized that the Terrible Twos somehow passed him by and has decided to give us all a crash course in what we missed over the last year. I used to read about his donor siblings (fellow 1876ers) and think, WOW, "temper tantrums"?? Intense personalities?? Unwavering stubbornness?? Refusing to sleep?? Thank goodness we passed on those genes;-) Well, hold on just one minute...someone forgot to knock on wood when thinking/saying those things because over the last few weeks here comes those 1876 genes front and center!!!

Most of the time, my mom, brother JJ and I just stand there with our jaws on the ground with a look of total shock, each thinking WHO THE HECK IS THIS KID AND WHAT DID YOU DO WITH JAKE?!?!?!? As he stomps around the kitchen purposely knocking chairs, stools, toys, and anything else that isn't nailed down or too heavy over. He kicks, hits, pulls hair and at his worst, reminds me of a dog with rabies...BAD TO THE BONE!!! Then, one of us snap out of the temporary coma we've fallen into and offer him some kind of distraction...ANYTHING to stop the insanity. And most times, it works, and we all breath a deep sigh of relief and whoever came up with the brilliant idea that time gets high fives all the way around...LOL And, just like that, in the blink of an eye, he reverts back to our "Chuchees", my "Punk'in Pie" and all is right in the world again UNTIL... the next eruption.

I've read about a million articles, both online and in various parenting books, about these types of situations and most say the same thing...JUST WALK AWAY and your child will realize that what they're doing is NOT getting them the attention they crave and stop. WELL...let me tell you how difficult that can be to put into REAL LIFE practice!!!! I've tried it, many times, and it's nearly impossible to leave the room when your 3 yr old is throwing every toy he has from your family room to your kitchen...hitting the table, your light fixtures, the dogs, knocking cups off the counter and basically trashing your house. HOW, IN THE WORLD, do you just walk away from that???? And WHERE, pray tell, do you go where you won't hear your house being trashed??? And even more importantly, WHO ARE THESE MORONS who give out this advice and what kind of childproofing did they do to their house to try to make that idiotic suggestion work?!?!?

It's at those very moments when all of the best intentions, past promises and strong opposition to "spanking" go right the hell out the damn window!!! As I've told my neighbor Kristin across the street (who, God bless her, has 3 children, one of which is also a 3 yr old boy)...If you see something flying overhead, don't worry, I've just finally given in to my urge to "drop kick" the boy across the street. When he calms down, feel free to return him...LOL

OK, so enough about the challenging parts of our boy...on a good note, he continues to amaze us with how much he can absorb and learn!!!! This week, he wanted to call his Aunt Bear, so I showed him how to dial it using the speed dial on my cell phone by pressing the numbers 84 and then the pound sign. After getting her machine, and telling me "Aunt Bear doesn't want to talk to me", I showed him how to call her cell, again using the speed dial. Well, about 3 days later, we're driving to his school and he says "momma, Aunt Bear's house is 84 pound." Ahhhh, YES, it is and how the heck did you remember that??? Memory like an elephant!!! Now if he could ONLY remember to use the potty!!!

He's also into spotting Fords these days and he can pick them out from a mile away. At his school one morning this week, another little girl in his class, Olivia, and her mom came in while we were unpacking his backpack. He said to her mom, you drive a Ford. I must admit, I REALLY thought he must be wrong...how on Earth could he know what someone elses mom drives?? (Yes, you'd think I would know better than to doubt him, eh?) Well, of course, he was right and Olivia's mom and I were in shock.

The teachers at his new school continue to be amazed at what he already knows at age 3. The other kids are learning how to count to 3, while Jake is taking the numbers 1, 2 and 3 and arranging them as 12, 32, 21, 13, etc. I'm sure in a few weeks, he'll be on to 123 and 321, etc. IF only he could be potty trained and move up to the next class...I know, I know, enough about the damn potty training...sorry.

Jake's uncle JJ bought him a new (big boy) quad for his birthday, so mommy put it together last night (subject for a future post...isn't there some unwritten rule that says the person who buys the gift is the one who's responsible for putting it together? LOL) and we reluctantly let it charge all night. Of course, in the meanwhile, this gargantuan thing was being pushed, dragged, tugged, around my kitchen...just to prove to mommy that it's NOT too big to ride in the house, when clearly, it IS, unless I'm in the market for some cabinet reshaping, which I'm NOT. Sorry, I digress....

So, I put the fully charged battery in it and drag it down the front steps and turn to close the front storm door which is propped open...while my back is turned, my little future stunt car driver proceeds to ride willy nilly down through my flower beds and down the side of my driveway picking off the driveway lights one by one as he goes. The whole time squealing in delight, like this was some kind of game or something. And this was in LOW gear!!! (Note to self...he's inherited his Nanny's driving skills so we'll be using one of those driver training services when he hits 17.) Then his best bud, Logan, came over from across the street and against every warning listed on the quad, we let them ride together (OK, so in fairness to his mom, Kristin, I let them ride together). The entire time, Kristin, was predicting that 14 years from now, we'd be sitting together biting our nails as our two teenagers drive up the street FOR REAL...oh my! Needless to say, the quad was a big hit...literally!

Well I better end here and go down and peel Nanny off the couch and put her to bed. The boy has been running her ragged and she's likely to sleep down there all night if I don't drag her up and tuck her in. Lucky for him, he could put her favorite keepsake in the garbage disposal and turn and say "sorry Nanny" with that sincere little face and she would love him like there's no tomorrow...oh, what would the world be like without nannys?!?!?

Night all...

Why Birthdays Only Come Once A Year...

OK, so now I know why birthdays only come once a year...as a kid, I thought that was sooooo unfair, as a parent, however, I realize a year is about the time it takes to recover from the last birthday party...LOL One thing is for sure, EVERY year provides a myriad of lessons learned and this year was no different.

So, here's the top 10 lessons learned from my first 3 bday party attempts:

• #10: If the weather man says RAIN, it's actually a good thing because they're NEVER right, so don't panic prematurely


• #9: If your child normally naps early, he/she will undoubtedly nap LATE the day of the party prompting half of your family to strongly suggest you wake him up and the other half to insist it will be the biggest mistake of your life


• #8: If there are guests that other family members invite, and you're not exactly sure why they're coming, don't panic, chances are they will also wonder why the heck they're coming and bail the day of the party


• #7: Every birthday consists of at least 4 birthday cakes...one at your child's school, one for family on the actual day of his birth, one a day early or late to make up for someone who can't actually be there for cake #2 above, and one for the REAL party


• #6: Having the cleaning lady come the day before the party is a great idea, NOT thinking about having the cleaning lady come the day after is just plain dumb


• #5: Calling 911 to find out what to do with the left over potato salad will result in 2 police officers knocking at your door...at which point, you better be prepared to turn over everything you've got and pray for a good outcome (yes, there is a story here)


• #4: At ages 1,2 and 3, the party really isn't about the child, after all, we all deserve a little fun having also survived the "terrible two's" and in preparation for the "tyrannical three's"


• #3: At the end of the day, when the last guest has left, and you finally have a chance to survey the damage, you'll begin to understand what drives some people to arson as torching the house and starting from scratch will seem like a very appealing option


• #2: If you're concerned that you didn't order enough food, it's a SURE sign that you actually need to CUT the order in half...(more specifically, Jake's mommy is NOT permitted to order the food ever again)


• #1: There's nothing that can't be overcome with a BIG (take up your entire backyard big) blow-up toy...people will bounce, jump, slide, climb, tackle themselves silly...after which, the food, drinks, music, weather will all seem irrelevant

Now that I've had a couple of days to recover, I have to admit that the party seemed to be a big success. Jake had a VERY good time on the big momma obstacle course that took up our entire backyard. We even were able to get Nanny to go through it and she finished in record time (thanks to us pushing her behind at every opportunity)...LOL

We ended up with good weather (a little hot and a little sticky, but as my mother continually reminded me, incredibly better than the rain that was in the forecast), and about 30-35 people. Jake had a chance to spend some time with his girl Jordan and of course, our Posse photographer, Aunt CC, was able to snap a bunch of smiley faces as the love fest continues.

One of the MOST exciting and special parts of the day was the fact that Jake had the opportunity to meet one of his donor siblings for the very first time!!!! Hallie and her 2 mommies (Sharon and Abby) came all the way from Philly to join in the fun and we were all amazed at the similarities between them. Aunt CC actually caught them in front of the birthday cake in a couple of poses that were down right eerie!! They have the same profile, same hair color, same cute little nose and of course, both are amazon children, VERY cute and VERY smart. This was an incredibly special part of Jake's birthday and we hope to spend MUCH, MUCH more time getting to know Hallie and her mommies!!!!!

So, at the end of the day, when Nanny and I somehow convinced Jake to go to bed (he was soooo exhausted that we were sure he was trying to steal a scene out of the Exorcist and that his head was going to start spinning around...LOL), and somehow found the energy to straighten up enough to be able to sleep, I assured myself that this would be the last attempt to do it alone. Boy, was Little Gym sounding REALLY good right about then!!! But, after having a couple of days to reflect, I realized that there really are no more special days than the one Jake and I were privileged to share with the family and friends that we love. When you think about it, what boy could possibly be loved more? Between his Nanny, Pops, La La, Uncle JJ, Aunt Bear, Aunt No-No, Aunt CC, Aunt Amy, Aunt Razz, TiTi, Aunt GG, his girl Jordan, Aunt Tracey, Aunt Dana, Aunt Suzy, Uncle Mark and cousins Timmy and Chris, Grandma Scuzzle, Poppy and of course, his mommy, he's totally surrounded by Love!

A special thanks to ALL who made his party one of the best days of his first 3 years!!

Aunt Bear You Are An IRONMAN...LOL

Tonight we had an almost surprise party (the dingbat spotted two of our cars and ruined her own surprise) for Aunt Bear (AB) for completing her 2nd IRONMAN. For those who don't know what that entails, it's a triathlon on steroids...I never get the distances right, but it's something INSANE like SWIM 2.4 miles (Aunt Bear usually finishes this part right behind the ladies with the prosthetic legs...LOL), then bike 112 miles (she kicks butt on this part), then after all of that craziness, run a MARATHON which for fellow non-marathoners, is a mere 26.2 miles (I had to laugh when she said she wasn't really even running, but was mostly "shuffling" along through this part because her pace was a 10 min mile...which is better than I can do on my BEST day...I must be crawling along and just not realize it)...All of this took Aunt Bear 12 hours and 45 mins to complete...Sound like fun to you? Yea, my thoughts exactly...

Ahh, sorry, I digress...SO, we gathered this evening to celebrate and honestly, I had the feeling we were each celebrating something a little different...AB was definitely celebrating finishing the Ironman, WC was celebrating not having to put up with AB's INSANE training rituals, Jake and Jordan need no other reason to celebrate than having the chance to see each other, and the rest of us don't really need a reason to celebrate...if we're talking good food, good wine and good friends...count us in, no matter what the cause! But this is supposed to be about Jake, right?

Well, Jake was in his glory, because he got to spend the entire dinner with his girl, Jordan...aka, Smidgie! I know I've said it before, but I've got to say it again, these 2 just ADORE each other!!! They giggle and hug and play, and mimic each other and torment the rest of us and then giggle some more. As if that wasn't a blessing enough, they're surrounded by a group of people who also ADORE them. And to top it off, we've somehow all convinced ourselves that we are impartial enough to know, without a doubt, that we have the two smartest, cutest and most lovable kids around!! It's not as though I disagree, but I do sometimes wonder if all parents don't think this about their kids and if we're all just a little blinded by love?!?! Then I look at the two of them and think, nahhh, it's got to be true...LOL

Nights like tonight, I sometimes wonder what it must be like to observe our little Posse from afar??? There we are in this crowded restaurant and somehow, it's as though we're the only ones there. We laugh, play, take tons of pictures with major flashes going off like we've got some long lost relatives or friends visiting from far away places. And for the time that we're together, the world really does just revolve around us...and since the birth of Jake and Jordan, the kids are right at the center of that world. Which reminds me of something Aunt CC asked a couple of weeks ago...we were sitting in Aunt Bear's living room "trying" to watch the Olympics and Jakey was jumping around, arranging us on the couch in the specific places he picked out for us, playing ball in the house (which turned out to NOT be a good thing), and out of the blue, Aunt CC looked up and asked "what did we do to entertain ourselves 3 years ago?" (meaning before Jake was born) GREAT question...

So, dinner was good, the company was even better, and everyone had a great time right up until Jake did a head first slide under the next table...boy, that can put a damper on any celebration in a hurry. Not to worry, he's got a little bruise on his left cheek, but other than that, he's good to go. Of course, that should make for some interesting birthday pictures tomorrow...

All in all, it's been a good week. Jakey is feeling better and he had an INCREDIBLE first week at his new school!!! NO TEARS, not one day at drop off...which has to be a record for us!!! Looks like we're off to a good start. Only challenge we have, at least until the construction on the bridge nearby is complete, is Nanny's difficulty with finding the school and her way back to our house. Today, I attended my first board meeting for my new position at work. I was running the meeting, so I left my cell phone in my office because I knew that I would NOT be able to answer it even if it rang. Well, Nanny got completely lost on her way to pick Jake up (did I mention that she had 2 navigation systems with her at the time...the one in her mercedes and a portable one) and tried my cell and because I didn't answer, decided to call me on my blackberry. Well, NOBODY ever calls me on my bb, because NOBODY (other than my mom) has the number. So, picture this, here I am sitting in this meeting, running the presentation, I have people on video conference from various locations around the globe and my new boss sitting right across from me and as someone is presenting and is mid-sentence, my blackberry starts playing some loud, obnoxious song!!! I nearly fell out of my chair trying to find the right button to shut off the ring...LOL SO, I leave the room thinking something TERRIBLE has happened and my mom (sounding like she's about to rip off all her clothes and run willy nilly through the streets screaming in distress) proceeds to tell me that she's totally and completely lost and CAN NOT find the way to the school to pick up Jakey. Now, I know what you're thinking, oh, come on, she'll find it. Well I would have thought that as well, but there was a prior incident where she was supposed to come and pick me up at the Morristown airport and actually couldn't EVER find it and I had to call a car service to come and take me home 2 hours later.

Have you ever tried to direct a frantic person? Let me correct that statement...a frantic senior citizen with HADD (hyperactive attention deficit disorder)??? I have NO idea how (and neither does she), but she finally made it there to get him and then proceeded to get lost on the way home as well. Jakey sat in the back asking "nanny, are you lost?" I'm sure that was helpful...LOL

OK, so the big party is tomorrow and here I am typing instead of getting things ready... I'm thinking I might be addicted...LOL No, the truth is probably more like I'm just good at procrastinating! Well, here's one last wish for NO RAIN tomorrow!!!

And the Jakey quote of the day for today is...."Mama, I think you should work from home today so we can both stay in our jammies and lay in bed all day and watch Word World"...oh wouldn't my boss be happy to hear that?!?!? LOL

No Nap = No Sanity

OK, so if there was ever a doubt that Jake still needs an afternoon nap, I can honestly say, it's gone now! We've had the pleasure of two NO NAP days in a row (the excitement of a new school) and I'm not sure we're going to survive a third!!!! I have ALL intentions of bribing his teacher tomorrow (I'm not above slipping her a little cash...LOL) to PLEASE, PLEASE find a way to get him to nap. Or, I may go the "threat" route instead and tell her that I'm going to call to see if he napped and if he didn't, SHE can have the pleasure of his company all night...LOL For those without kids, just picture one of the scenes from The Exorcist, now triple the insanity and you may be close... It's certainly left me with a better appreciation of how people who've gotten convicted of Shaken Baby Syndrome got where they are.

His head stopped spinning long enough to watch a couple of episodes of his new favorite show...WORD WORLD. Major, major, major thanks to his Aunt GG and his girl, Jordan, for getting him hooked on this!!! What a GREAT show!! And unlike Barnie, and the Teletubbies, it's really not painful for us parents to watch either. Speaking of his girl, Jordan, she's certainly had a major influence on him after spending a full week together up in P-town on vacation. Since he could talk, he's called his pacifier a "Nunga" (YES, he still uses it and YES, I know that's bad and NO, I have no earthly idea where "Nunga" came from??)...well, his girl, Jordan calls it a PACI and now so does he. And he gets VERY upset if we forget and call it a NUNGA...go figure!

On Jake's bday, Jordan's mommy (Aunt GG) and I and Nanny took the two of them to Picture People to see if we could get a couple of good shots of the two love birds. Well...as you can see from the pictures on this site, we got MUCH more than we bargained for!!! Although, honestly, by the end of the session the 3 of us were exhausted and totally convinced that we didn't get a single good shot. Well, $500 later, we walked out with at least 6 winners! And not to go off on some side tangent here, but have you ever noticed what happens in these picture places when it comes to picking out the poses you want??? I TOTALLY and completely check my brain at the door!! I ALWAYS leave with more than I could ever need, use, want and the absolute stupidest combinations possible. Luckily for me, Aunt GG was quick to point out that they purposely stage it that way...the kids are running around because they've just been through a photo shoot and have ZERO tolerance for standing still never mind sitting still, so you're really only paying minimal attention to what you're selecting...add on top of that the total state of exhaustion you're in from jumping, clapping, razzing, doing jumping jacks, and any and every other silly thing you could think of to get smiles you're sure the photographer dude missed and it all makes sense!

Well, the boy is sound asleep and I think I may need a good nights sleep for a change...someone asked me to carry their laptop in the bags under my eyes today...not funny! Plus, tomorrow is D-1 for the big b-day party which always ends up being an enormously stressful day...cleaning, organizing, hiding things, decorating, and cleaning again...it's the day that I traditionally promise myself I'll either keep it to 15 people next year or go to Little Gym or someplace sane like that.

I'm off to pray for NO RAIN!!! I can safely predict there will be NO post tomorrow, but maybe, assuming I survive, I'll be back over the weekend...

Welcome to "Meet Jake Anthony"!!!

I had the pleasure of reading "blogginghallie" tonight (for those who don't know Hallie, she is one of Jake's donor siblings) and it truly inspired me!!! So much so, that here I am at 12:45 a.m. starting the very first, in what I hope will be a long series of blogs about the joy of my life, my 3 year old, Jake Anthony.


Jake is finally back on track after a VERY rough week, including hospitalization for pneumonia last Thurs and Friday. He's feeling much better, though his nanny and I haven't quite recovered from the ordeal...LOL. We also have come to realize that we left the hospital with a very different 3 year old then the one we arrived there with. According to his pediatrician, this is most likely due to the medications he's on... we'll see! I suppose we could have predicted that the round the clock, only one ring of the bell away service he received while in the hospital might spoil him a bit. (Though, I doubt we could have ever anticipated the full blown "Little Prince" spell he's fallen under!) Needless to say, we've got a little "retraining" to do!

After missing the first 3 days of orientation, Jake started at his new school (Cherry Blossom Montessori) yesterday. I was worried that he would have a tough transition considering the missed time, the meds he's on and just the normal worry that any mommy has on the first day of school. Well, he LOVED it! There were absolutely NO tears shed, no separation anxiety, just total excitement at a new and intriguing environment to explore.

When we entered the room, the teacher came over to greet Jake and show him to his new cubby. Of course, Jake was quick to point it out just by recognizing his own name...somehow this surprised his teacher...and it took everything I had to not say "that's nothing, wait until he spells his last name, tells you his address and phone number and of course, how to order something from 1-800- EMPIRE" (the last part is a little inside joke about a commercial he's memorized). But I refrained, assuming that she would come to realize soon enough how bright our boy really is! As Aunt Razz so aptly put it in the "line of the year"... yes, cute, smart, lovable...that is EXACTLY what we "ordered"!!!

We're in sort of a holding pattern these days when it comes to potty training. For all those smarts...we just haven't gotten there yet on this one. As you know, he's almost automatic IF (and this is a BIG if) he's naked...or "naked boy" as he calls himself. Believe it or not, the school prefers he wear clothes (go figure?), so that's sort of a problem. We've given him a short reprieve because of the pneumonia and the horrible diaper rash the antibiotic has caused, but starting next week, he'll be going to school in ONLY big boy underwear. We've given them 12 changes of clothes and assume we'll get close to 10 back a day for a while until he gets the hang of it...oh my! (Well, at least we'll keep nanny busy with the laundry for a while...LOL) Sort of like going "cold turkey"...wish his teachers luck!

Jake just had his 3 year check-up last week and he's an amazing 40 inches tall now (95th percentile) and was 34.3 pounds pre-pneumonia (75th percentile)...post pneumonia he's back down to 32, but on his way back up. If you saw what he's eats, you'd be equally surprised at this growth rate! The pediatrician was just amazed at his progress...he talks in full sentences (non-stop) now (and boy, does he come out with some wild things), he can count to 100, can count to 20 in Spanish, knows his upper and lower case letters, can spell a bunch of words including his first and last name, mom, pop, Jordan (HIS girl), hot, stop, go...knows his address and phone number, his birthday, how old he is, understands the basic concept of adding and subtracting and recently, learned how to count to 20 by 5's. The ped thought he was all ready for 1st grade! I know I'm a little partial, but I think it's all nothing short of amazing!!!

And speaking of amazing, numerous times this past Sunday I would run upstairs to check the computer to see how Aunt Bear was doing at the Wisconsin Ironman (YES, she's AMAZING, but that's not the point of the story here) and Jake would follow me up and follow me down (see Aunt Bear wasn't the only one who got exercise that day...LOL). Later in the day, he said "mama, I'm going to check the "puter" to see Aunt Bear" and up he went. A few minutes later he yells down..."Ironman, momma, and the same name as on the front of JJ's (his uncle's) car." Now, being a little slow to follow, I asked "huh?" and after still not getting it after multiple repeats, I trudged up the stairs to see what the heck he was talking about. Well.....it turns out that the Wisconsin Ironman is sponsored by no other than FORD and YES, JJ does drive a FORD. OK, so that may not sound that impressive, but remember, we are talking about a boy who just turned 3 last week...one who can't even read yet! Just to test the theory, I called my mom and asked her what kind of car her son drives (JJ) and she said she had absolutely no idea...I rest my case... AMAZING!

This weekend is Jakey's big birthday bash (please PRAY for NO rain!!!). We have 40 people coming...and honestly, this is the 3rd year where I have to say...HOW is that EVEN possible?? And where, in heaven's name, will they all go if it rains?!?!?! Just goes to show there is no shortage of people who love this little guy! And after all, what's not to love????

Well, just to leave you with the line of the day today... We were riding home from his school and he was playing with his silly putty (yes, they still make that) and he holds it up and says "look mama, I made a penis"....YES, for those wondering, I did almost crash!

Back with more midnight posts soon...