Too Cute To Forget...

Well, the boy has certainly come out with some good ones these past couple of weeks. I have such a hard time remembering most of them, so I figured I better get some on here before I forget them all.

I was in the middle of a little project at home this past weekend and Jake kept wanting to help me with it. And as anyone who has a little one knows, HELP is truly a four letter word or at least leads to many of them said in a grumbly voice under one's breath when they offer and you find yourself trapped into accepting. Well, this time, I was not in the mood for any "HELP" and asked him to just go and find something to do while I got my little project done.

About 30 seconds later, I'm standing up on the chair, balancing the drill in one hand, a pencil in the other and a screw in between my teeth while holding a level against the wall and wouldn't you know it, I drop the screw and it bounces down onto the floor. So, I look to my left where Jakey is slowly exiting the room and then I look down at the screw slowly rolling across the floor. And he says in just the cutest little voice... "See momma, everyone needs a little help some times"

Today on the way home from school I handed Jake a new healthy snack for him to try. As he took the first bite, I had my fingers crossed and looked back to see the verdict and as is the case 90% of the time, it was a No Go. So, I said... "Oh come on Jakey, how can you not like that, it's so good?!?!" To which he promptly and matter of factly replied... "We all have different taste buds, Momma. Just because your taste buds like it doesn't mean that mine will too." Now WHERE did that come from?!?!?!?

I took Jakey to my college softball alumni game this past Saturday and after the game he wanted to see where I slept/lived when I went to school there. So, I took him up into one of the dorms that I lived in and we went in search of the exact room that I stayed in. Well, that door was closed, so I just walked down the hallway till I found an open door and said "here it is, my old room". Well, he took one look inside (and clearly this one was occupied by two VERY messy boys) and then looked at me with eyes WIDE open and said "you really lived in there, momma? So, why do you always tell me to clean up my room then if that's what your room looked like?" Needless to say, it was just about impossible to explain that although I lived in a room just like that, it NEVER actually looked like that. Note to self...pick a female dorm room next time!!! lol

After dinner the other night, Jakey proceeded to walk away from the table and into the family room to go back to a puzzle we had both been working on. So, he calls me to come in and finish it with him to which I reply, well if someone would come and clean up their dinner stuff then maybe I could come in and play. To which he was very quick to inform me that "that's a mommy's job...a kid's job is to eat, go to school, play and have fun" Funny, I guess I didn't read the fine print...

As most people know, one of very few things I miss since becoming a mommy is my sleep. I'm typically up very late during the week (case in point, the time of this post) and get up early to get us to work and school on time. So, on the weekend, I implemented a very strict policy from the time that Jakey was old enough to play by himself for a while where as mommy is not to be woken up until the clock say 10- 0-0 (yes, that's 10:00). I leave him breakfast and a puzzle or some other project to do and he's been able to work the TV remote since he turned 3, so he's usually all set with enough to eat to hold him over and enough to do to keep him occupied until he notices the time and comes up to announce that it is 10-0-0 and time for momma to wake up. Well, this past Saturday, he just didn't want to be downstairs by himself and so he came up to my room at 8-0-0, climbed up on the bed, opened my eyes with his fingers, and told me "momma, I want to renegotiate our deal so that you get up at 8-0-0 instead of 10-0-0!!" OMG, "renegotiate"...where the heck did that come from?!?!?! Needless to say, although it was a cute and very savvy attempt, momma vetoed that idea.

Well, those are just a few of the many, many things I've forgotten. And if you're wondering HOW I could forget these kinds of things, you just have to spend one day with the boy to realize that he talks NON STOP from the moment his eyes open to the moment before they close (when I threaten him with his life if he utters even one more word). Did I mention NON STOP?!?!?

That's all for now...

1st Day of Kindergarten Tomorrow!!!!!!!!

Boy, did this day sneak up on me BIG TIME!!!! Last time I checked, I was waiting for Jakey to learn how to crawl...which he eventually all but skipped in favor of walking. Now he's 5 and ready to start kindergarten tomorrow?? How did THAT happen?!?!

We're both a little nervous about the big day tomorrow (ok, so truth be told, he's sleeping like a baby and I'm the one pacing around nervously...checking his list of supplies, double checking his extra set of clothes, making sure I have the camera ready...which come to think of it, I actually don't...crap) See?? Nerve wracking!!!! You'd think I was sending him off the college. Which, unfortunately, if time doesn't slow down a tick or two will end up seeming like only next year.

A couple of weeks ago, Jake had his 5 year checkup and true to form our boy remains off the charts. He measured in at 46.5" and 53.2lbs, which ends up being 97% for height and 95% for weight. That means in the last year, he grew 3.25" and added close to 12 pounds (which anyone who has tried to carry him, dance with him, or just even pick him up for a big hug can attest to). It also means he's added 3 or more inches each of the past 3 years in a row and the year before that he grew 5"!!!!!!! As the pediatrician always says...man, that's amazing, what are you feeding this kid?!?! Little does she know he lives on only about 5 or 6 basic foods, most of which are breakfast foods... though there is some exciting news to note on the food front. Jake tried and actually liked his very first HAMBURGER a week or so ago. (And yes, I know, that really did deserve a very own blog of its own) For those who don't know, he NEVER, and I mean NEVER, eats beef (other than all beef hot dogs, which he only eats because he doesn't know they're made of beef). Not a bite of steak, hamburger, meatballs and not even meat sauce.

Then one day while at our swim club, I bribed him with the promise of having an ice cream from the snack bar IF he tasted my hamburger. He took a bite and actually said "mmmm, that's good, mommy". I nearly fell off my chair!!!!!!! The next day, we returned to the pool with Aunt Bear and Aunt No No and he actually asked me to order him chicken nuggets AND a hamburger...which I was SURE he was not going to eat. Well, he not only ate some, he actually ate HALF. Not sure how many mommies actually celebrate their child eating half a hamburger, but for me (and bear and no no), it was BIG!!!!!!! And no, I didn't have the camera...uggh.

Jake has really made a lot of progress over the summer when it comes to reading. He now will read the signs we see while we're driving and of course, the "literal" reader that he is, this generates all kind of questions and interesting discussions. Such as..."mommy, that sign says No Stopping or Standing, but why would somebody stand there and get run over by a car?" And I go on to try to explain that they're not referring to someBODY standing there, but a car. At which point we get into an endless debate about how cars can't really "stand". Ahhh, so true.

Last time I was in Belgium and was being driven from the hotel to the office it really hit me what it must be like, as a child, to NOT be able to read signs and billboards and store names. I honestly had never really thought about it from that perspective before and it certainly makes a lot of sense to me now while he's so excited to be able to read everything. And, of course, point out to me when I'm going over the "speed limit", etc. Still unbelievable to me that he can actually read a book to me at the age of 4-5... but I guess we old timers were all just slackers back in pre-k and kindergarten;-)

A couple of weeks ago, Pops and I took Jake to his second Jets pre-season game and for the very first time, he made it all the way through the entire game. Actually, truth be told, I was so disgusted by their play in the second half, I was the one who wanted to leave with a few minutes left and he told me I needed to sit down and be "patient" and wait until the game clock said "0:00" (which is what I used to try to convince him to do). It's a lot of fun to take him and to see him there with his pops and actually learning about the game. Though he still finds some way to make it more about the numbers than the sport as his questions still often sound like "momma, why do the numbers only go up to 50 and then back down to 10 again? where's 0?" He'll likely be the one who can tell you all the stats on every game, as compared to him mommy, who rarely ever even remembers the score (though anyone who is a Jets fan knows that's more of a defense mechanism than anything else). So, this year he was able to go with both his pops and nanny to the pre-season games and fingers crossed, maybe we're only a year or two from attempting a regular season game.

In addition to seeing the Jets play, we've also been VERY fortunate to be able to attend 2 of the Liberty playoff games and sit courtside. This was quite a thrill for the boy and of course, quite a risk for the rest of us. Armed with "thunder sticks" he was frequently seen poking at players. towel boys and refs and it took many, many threats to keep him from launching one or both of his out onto the floor during play. He loves to go to the Garden though because he's convinced that his Aunt Amy runs the place and loves to tell everyone we meet (in line for twizzlers or the bathroom, etc.) as much and the highlight of his night is when we walk over at half time to go and see her. He just knows that some big security guard is going to try to stop him and that once his Aunt Amy sees him he's going to get to run right past that duffus and into her arms. During one game he even got to hold the game ball during a couple of time outs as one of the officials walked over and handed it to him and was on camera up on the big screen with his aunt bear. VERY exciting!!! Here's a picture of him and his Aunt Bear and Aunt CC on their way into the game.

Over the Labor Day Weekend, Jake, Nanny, La La and I went to visit our cousins Gerard and Amy and their 4 boys (2 of who are twins and are the same age as Jake). The boys swam the whole afternoon away in the built in pool in their backyard and for the very first time, Jake was able to swim in the deep end withOUT his life jacket!!!!!! We sort of tricked him into it by removing all of the flotation pads from his life jacket and not letting him know that the jacket itself has no buoyancy. Once he jumped off the diving board and swam to the side like that, we broke the news to him and although still a bit nervous, he jumped in without it. From there on out, he never put it back on the rest of the day!!! What a difference from a year ago when he wouldn't even put his face in the water.

Here's a picture of him and his cousins (same age, though preemies and twins, but not sure that accounts for the "slight" size difference??) ...

and a couple from the board walk with Nanny where he picked up 2 older girls so that he could ride on the Himalaya (neither mommy or nanny were signing up for that).

OK, I'm off to find the camera now!!! Back with his belated birthday post another day soon...

"Why do people have to wear underwear?"

OK, so I've gotten pretty good at all of these "why????" questions and believe you me, it has not been easy. The kids is just too damn smart for his own good. Gone are the days when I could simply say "Oh, I never knew that!" when I was caught multi-tasking and not quite really listening (which led to a full 2 years of "momma, did you never know?" questions). Now, he even throws in a trick question here and there, just to see if I'm listening. With that cute, innocent little "right mama?" behind it, just to see if I'm paying attention.

So Monday he started swim lessons at our pool club and afterwards, I take him into the locker room and begin to change him back in to dry clothes. At which point, with a number of ladies standing around, he begins to question the usefulness of underwear. It goes something like this...me saying, Jakey please pick your foot up and put it into this leg of your underwear please and him not moving said foot, but instead asking "but why do people have to wear underwear, mamma?" In hopes of moving him along a bit, I respond...ah because otherwise your shorts would rub on your bottom and give you a rash. Nope, doesn't end there. "But mama, my shorts are very soft so why would they hurt my bottom?" Me... "well not all shorts and pants are soft, so you need to wear underwear and besides your underwear keeps your bottom, which can get dirty and smelly during the day from touching your pants or shorts"

The Boy..."But then why does my Nanny wash my shorts and pants if they don't touch my bottom? And if my bottom does touch them, she washes them anyway, so it's OK" Me... "It's just a law of nature, you have to wear underwear (can you tell I'm running out of solid rationale here? and getting close to the "because I said so" line I swore I would never use) Boy Genius... "But mama, I could get dressed much more faster (he's big on "much more" these days) if I didn't have to wear them and you could save your money and buy me toys, I would much more (see what I mean) rather have toys than underwear"

A starting to get frustrated me..."Jakey, can we possibly have this debate at home and not here in the middle of the locker room with you and your naked bottom hanging out...cause mommy is tired and hungry and I'd like to get home sometime tonight?!?!?" The negotiator... "Then I shouldn't wear underwear and we could get home much more quicker, mommy"... An exasperated me: "OK, at this point, you're about to have to walk out of here butt naked boy, so pick what u want to put on and let's GO" Any guesses what he picked? Yep, NO underwear.

And the whole way home, "But Momma, WHY do I have to wear them, my bottom feels much more better like this?" Oy vey!!!!

And the truth is, I really could NOT think of one good reason why he had to wear underwear?!?!?!?!?!?!? Any and all suggestions (because this subject WILL arise again) are totally welcome...

1-800-Pimple Store... LOL LOL

One of Jake's new favorite things to do is to write down the 800 numbers that come on during the many commercials while watching "Are you smarter than a 5th grader" or "Americas Funniest Videos". A couple of weeks ago, he took the initiative to write one especially interesting one down. Then, when Uncle JJ came up from the manhole (AKA, the basement), Jakey proceeded to present him with the number and said "Here, JJ, this is the number to the Pimple Store for you". Now JJ, who insists of getting into serious conversations with an almost 5 year old went on to try to convince him that he didn't even have one pimple on his face...any guesses regarding who won that debate?

Just this past week, Nanny, Jake and I were watching TV together and of course, for those who know Nanny, you know she has a battery that never quits and can rarely, if ever, manage to actually SIT and watch TV for more than a few minutes at a time. So, during one commercial where I was distracted with my bb and Nanny walked into the kitchen to wipe a speck off the counter, Jake took the liberty of writing down the number for one of those electric carts that normal senior citizens sometimes use. He then proceeded to get the phone and dial the number and explain to the lady on the other end that he was calling to get one of those cart things for his Nanny. Then he went over and handed her the phone and here's how the conversation went...

"Hello, who is this? Oh my, I'm so sorry, my grandson dialed the phone and we didn't realize. No, no, I don't need an electric cart. No, really, I have no need for ...oh, what did you say it has? It does what? Ahh, wait a minute, no, no, I DON'T need one. Thank you, good-bye" Then she proceeded to chase Jake all over the house...him giggling out of control and her trying to catch him.

It leaves me to wonder what will happen when he figures out how to use my credit card to pay for things. We all know he could easily memorize the number and then who knows what will be showing up on the doorstep!!!

One more interesting update on our boy...so last weekend, Aunt No No and Aunt Bear came over to go to the pool and play. Afterwards, we decided to have an impromptu bbq so No No and I went off to the store to pick up a few things and Jakey and Aunt Bear stayed home and started playing one of Jake's states game. When we returned, Aunt Bear was so excited to show us how Jakey had learned to count syllables!!!! And sure enough, any word you ask him, he can tell you exactly how many syllables it has!!! I'm fairly sure I was in middle school the first time I even heard the concept of syllables...our boy never ceases to amaze us!!!

Hope everyone is having a good week! (And YES, 3 posts in the same month...woo hoo for mommy)

"Where's My Daddy?"

A month or so back, we were on our way to a birthday party and from the back seat of the car the question comes... "mommy, where's my daddy?" Now we've talked about this subject many times before and we've ready many, many books about it, but I could tell by his tone, this time was going to be different.

I started to explain about him not having a daddy and how lots of kids don't have a daddy and how he has SO many people who love him. And the question comes back..."BUT, WHERE is my daddy? I WANT to see him! I JUST WANT him!!!" Hmmmm, tough conversation to have while driving, no? I decide to take the "logical approach"... I AM an engineer, after all. And I ask, so what is it exactly that you feel you're missing with a daddy???? And the answer comes back "I JUST WANT HIM!!!"....hmmm....this is clearly not going well.

So, I try to explain the whole thing again about how I don't know who he is and he doesn't know about us. Now, here's where him being a little smartypants gets me into big trouble. So he says "then how can his sperm have met up with your egg if you never met him?" Oh boy, now I'm talking about sperm and eggs with a 4 year old...while driving, no less!!!!!

So, I calmly explain the the doctor took the egg from mommy and the sperm from the donor and put them together. So he sits straight up and says "then let's ask the doctor who my daddy is!" Hmmm...makes sense, no? So, I try to explain that he's not allowed to tell us who his daddy is because it's a secret and he'll get in big bad trouble if he does. And he laughs and says, "that's just silly mommy, he'll tell me who he is because he's MY daddy!!" Oy Vey...

At this point, I can tell that he's getting a little bit upset so I decide to pull over and get out his picture book and show him the only picture we have of his daddy FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME. (Yes, on the side of the road...and NO, not what I had planned) I pull over and ask "would you like to see a picture of your daddy?" And OMG, you'd think I just told him Santa Claus was on the roof of the car with a bag of toys just for him.!! So, I take out the book (which he's looked through a hundred times, but never known who that boy was in the middle of one page) and I show him the picture of his daddy as a child. He bends down and kisses the picture in the book and says "momma, wherever my daddy is he knows that I just sent him a kiss." OK, so it's breaking my heart at this moment. And I sit there on the side of the road wondering was it fair to have made the decision to bring him into this world knowing he would never be able to meet his daddy? Was it cruel? Was it selfish?

As I try to fight back the tears, he looks up at me, closes the book and says "mommy, why are we still sitting here, I'm going to miss the cake!" And reverts back to his non-stop chattering about the "beautiful clouds" and how "much more better" he is at something or other than anyone else in his class and on and on and on. And just like that, we returned back to life as we know it...

Though I'm quite sure this is not the last conversation we will have on this subject...

Holy Cow!!

Recent pics

Nanny and her Chuchee's on Easter / At Jet's training camp with Pops

OK, so "Holy Cow" was about all I could say when I logged on and saw that it said my last post was on April 17th!!!!!! OMG... in the life of an almost 5 year old, that's really just about a lifetime ago. I could come up with a ton of excuses, but I'm fairly sure I've used them all already at one time or another. So, as I'm fairly certain every mommy has to do for one reason or another each and every day, I'm going to forgive myself and move on...

The question is, where to even begin???? We had yet another awesome vacation to the Dominican Republic and yes, it was our 5th time returning to the very same resort. At this point, we're almost like family. Nanny, Aunt Bear and Aunt No No were with us this time around and other than a little rain on the first day, we had beautiful weather.

Jake was absolutely AMAZING in the water this time around. Nanny and I had to laugh thinking back only just a year or so ago when he would cry anytime water even came close to splashing on his face because this year he was jumping, sliding down the slides and swimming (still with his vest) in the deep water in the big pool. To see him DIVING for rings though, honestly left me speechless!!! Just two weeks earlier during his swim lessons at the YMCA he would barely put his nose into the water when the instructor asked him to put his head under...so it was just amazing to see what a difference two weeks can make (and the incentive of diving for something).

The trip was fairly uneventful, other than a little episode at the Japanese restaurant. At home, when we get sushi, Jake typically eats sweet potato rolls and loves them. Well, at the Japanese restaurant they served sushi as an appetizer before the actual cooking began. Before I could say anything, Jakey ate 2 or 3 of the rolls that contained God only knows what kind of raw fish. I wasn't sure if I should stop him or panic or both, and so I basically just sat and watched and waited. Well, about 5 minutes later, he laid his head on my shoulder and I had a feeling things were about to get interesting. As I turned to ask him if he was ok, up and out came the sushi (and just about everything else he had eaten all day, it seemed). Aunt Bear, who was on the other side of him, sat there in a state of shock for at least the first 2 minutes and then I think No-No must have slapped her to force her into action. Luckily the others sharing our table were VERY understanding and after a complete change of clothes and a showering off, he was back at the table good as new (with a bowl of dinosaur "opameal" brought down from our room).

All in all, a great trip and I have lots of pictures which I'll hopefully get around to posting sometime before he turns 10...lol

Jake has made a ton of progress in terms of gross motor skills... he swings a bat with authority now and likes to play hockey in our driveway with uncle JJ (and make him use the little stick), he road his bike around our entire block for the first time and it's a mile around, with a few pretty tough hills, he's gotten good at gymnastics and is even going to move up a level in Sept. To my surprise, he even asked if he could play soccer when he turns 5, so I've signed him up for the fall session and hopefully, this time around he won't spend the majority of the time sitting on my lap.

He's going to start kindergarten in the fall at his Montessori school because our public school only has half day kindergarten and there was no way to make that work! Academically, he's still just amazing and the teachers have started to call him Doogie Howser because of his math skills and now even his ability to read and learn new words so easily. I think a lot of it has to do with his amazing memory...the kid can really just recall anything he's seen or written back till what seems like 5 days after he was born. Most of our conversations these days start with "mommy, remember when..." and most times, mommy doesn't remember AT ALL until he spends the next 10 minutes telling me everything that surrounded the event...what I was wearing, where we were, who else was there, what he said, what I said...until finally this old brain of mine locates the memory in between all of those cobwebs.

He's frequently heard telling people how to spell his name backwards, his phone number backwards, and all kinds of other freaky smart things. I have NO idea where he comes up with this stuff, but I'm quite sure he has some form of photographic memory that allows him to visualize whatever it is he's repeating backwards...whatever it is, he continues to just amaze us each and every day with something.

He still struggles a bit on the socializing side of things and truth be told, he probably gets that from me because I'm not good about getting to know new people or talking with strangers. It seems he's much more comfortable talking with adults than with children and when asked who was his favorite friend from his first day at camp, he answered "my teacher, Ms Jane" ...which, sadly, did not surprise me. He had brought in his geography floor puzzle to school that morning, and the other kids really wanted to do it with him, but he got very frustrated when they were trying to put the continents in all the wrong places and especially when one tried to put North America below South America...you would have thought the other kid had insulted him momma!! LOL

Jakey Line of the Week...

We had a bit of rough start at summer camp this year and he was basically crying and every morning about not wanting to go. One day, he even almost negotiated his way out of it when he promised his Nanny that he would be good if she would take him home with her to the shore. So, yesterday, we tried a day at a new camp which just so happens to be on the same campus as my office (can you say, oh so convenient?). As with any first day at a new place, he was a bit nervous and shy and I arranged to stay with him for the first hour and we brought in his picture book so he could have something to show his new friends and talk to them about.

Well, in the course of page flipping with his new teacher, we came upon the picture of him and Jordan and when the teacher asked who that pretty little girl was, he said proudly "that's my sister, Jordan". I wasn't about to correct him, I know better than to get into that debate...been there, done that, not pretty and no intentions of going back ANY time soon. Then we came to Hallie and baby Lea and the teacher asked who are these 2 adorable little girls and he answered "that's my sister Hallie and my other sister, Baby Lea". Well, at this point, the teacher was definitely looking at me and I was still not talking.

Then we turn to the page with all of his donor siblings and the picture of the donor in the middle. Well, at this point I was seriously questioning what the heck I was thinking when I had agreed to bring that damn book in... And in the very next breath, he points to the picture in the middle of the page and says "that's my OWNER (aka, donor), he's my daddy, but he just doesn't know it". Now it was the teacher's turn to be speechless. So, he goes on to add "he gave he sperm that my mommy's egg needed to make me, but mommy never met him either because the doctor put the sperm and egg together". Again, I don't look up and she says nothing...mouth clearly agape at this point. So, on he goes sensing he has a captivated audience..."the doctor knows who my daddy is, but he can't tell me because it's a secret and he'd get in big, bad trouble if he did. But that's ok because I have a pops and a JJ and a nanny and mommy says daddy's aren't always all they're "smashed up" (aka cracked up) to be. Plus, I have a posse and I don't know anyone else who has one of those, do you?!"

Needless to say, I had a lot of explaining to do... LOL LOL

The "Average" 4 Year Old...

I was reading online on babycenter.com about what the "average" 4 year old is doing when it comes to math and it was just too good to not share... Here's what it said:

Your 4-year-old now
The average 4-year-old can count up to ten, although he may not get the numbers in the right order every time. One big hang-up in going higher? Those pesky numbers like 11 and 20. The irregularity of their names doesn't make much sense to a preschooler.

Don't get caught up in trying to persuade your child to count much beyond ten or 20 right now. Most fours can't fully comprehend how larger numbers correspond to actual quantity. They usually count between four and ten objects correctly.

I'm guessing that means that counting by 2's, 5's, 10's, 100's, etc. is considered a "little bit" ahead?!!? The other day, when Nanny got lost driving to meet me at the finish line of my 20 mile training run, he counted from 1 to close to 800 on the way... just a tad over 20. LOL The boy is just plain AMAZING!!! And hey, I'm his mommy, so I CAN say that!

Today we had a great time playing at Chuck E. Cheese's with Jakey's sisters Hallie, Baby Lea and Abby and Sharon. Then we went to see the Lori Berkner band in Princeton and had a blast dancing and singing along with the music...especially Aunt Bear's favorite song... "Buzz, buzz, buzz..buzz, ba, buzz, buzz". It's is SO awesome that the kids are able to grow up together and we feel SO lucky to have our favorite 4 pack live so close by!!!!!

Pictures next time...promise!

Bike Riding with Nanny & La La

Just when you thought it couldn't get any more risky than having Nanny & La La on the loose on bikes in an adult community, we added Jakey into the mix. This was, BY FAR, the longest he has ever shown an interest in riding and even in spite of a few spills, no tears were shed (other than laughing) and no pedestrians were harmed...LOL

I had thoughts about trying to remove the training wheels in the near future, but when I mentioned this to Jake he was quick to inform me that he wants to keep his training wheels on FOREVER. Hmmm...we'll see how long that lasts, eh?

Here are some shots of the biking extravaganza...sort of like a three ring circus on wheels! LOL

In an effort to maintain "fair balance" in these updates...we've been having a little trouble at school these days on the listening front. Although I always thought that children were born knowing that THEY are the child and that children must listen to adults, including parents and teachers, etc., it seems this is not the case...or maybe Jakey was missing this gene (obviously from the donor's side...LOL). This equates to a total lack of understanding of WHY he needs to be the one who LISTENS and why everyone else gets to tell him what to do?

I've exhausted many, many attempts at describing how this whole "I talk, you listen" thing works and last week, in a last ditch effort, I broke it down into the simplest language I could come up with (he is, after all, only 4). I told him that a parents/teacher's job is to TEACH and that involves telling children what to do and a child's job is to LEARN and that involves listening and doing what you're told. He thought about this for a few minutes and then said "Then I choose to be the parent". Oy vey. When I explained that that was not possible right now, but that some day he would actually be the parent, he had two questions for me. First, how long till we can switch? And then when I explained about his OWN children, he asked how that was possible since I had told him that boys could NOT have babies. Double oy vey!!

I had to have a special meeting with his teachers and the asst head of school and all joking aside, this really has me TOTALLY stressed out. Bottom line, the boy has a total lack of respect for authority. He feels that he is among equals and expects that he TOO be listened to and that HIS opinion can, at times, outweigh mine or his teacher's. He is frequently heard saying "you're not listening to me". During the conference, one of the teachers was telling us about what had happened just that very day. Jake was sitting doing his work in his kindergarten book (what he does when the other kids his age are napping) and a little girl from kindergarten walked in and was working with the teacher on learning some new words. Well, it seems she was struggling a little bit on the words, so Jake started saying the words for her before she had a chance to say them. Needless to say, the little girl was NOT happy about this, so the teacher asked Jake to please stop and explained that the girl needed to practice/learn them herself. Well, mr. stubborn proceeds to continue to say the words and the teacher threatens to move him to another table...long story, short, he gets moved. (Who among us didn't know that was coming?)

So, he moves to the other table and proceeds to write a note in his workbook that says "Mrs. Byra is a nauhty (his spelling) girl. She was rude to me. She doesn't listen." As the teacher was telling us this story, she stopped and said, I have to tell you, I was just so impressed with how he wrote those sentences that for a minute, I forgot that I needed to respond appropriately" and we all laughed, we just couldn't help it. Even when he's being a TOTAL buster (Bad to the Bone), he's amazing.

Over this past week, I've tried taking away his TV priviledges, but that didn't seem to bother him too much. Then finally, one night, I hit on what might be our saving grace... I told him that instead of the 5 books we read at night, he would only get 3 if he didn't have a good listening day. Talk about a TOTAL meltdown!!!! You'd think I told him he couldn't have ice cream for a year...oh wait, that would be me who would get upset about that, not him. So that's the new rule and since that night, at the risk of jinxing us, we've had 2 GREAT days in school in a row. Which effectively doubles our previous longest streak!!!!! LOL

Now, as you would expect, he's negotiated some modifications to the arrangement and he now has the ability to earn 7 books if he's able to have 5 great listening days in a row. God help me if we hit that, because I'm going to be reading for hours. But, at least for now, we may have found something that works. And for those thinking, hell, the belt/shoe/wooden spoon worked just fine for me when I was growing up...believe me, I'm right there with you. But that's just not "in vogue" these days and besides, I hate to hear him look up at me and say "you hurt me". Now, it's just "you hurt my feelings"...and that, I can live with.

Bye for now...

A Day At The Zoo...

Well, maybe not a whole day at the Zoo...anyone who knows us, knows we don't get out early on the weekend and this was no exception. We had hoped to go with Jordan and GG, but we were having a pancake breakfast with Pops, so we couldn't go late morning and then Jordan's afternoon nap got in the way (we're basically on opposite time lines...Jordan gets up hours before we do and just when we're ready to rock and roll, her battery needs recharging). We certainly missed them, but tried to make the best of our time at the zoo.

Jake was totally into the zoo map this time and wanted to be sure he was giving direction as we made our way through to see each and EVERY animal on the map. Sort of like a "turbo zoo" trip and we did everything but check off every animal we saw (if I had a pen, I'm sure we would have ended up there). I have a feeling that I have a backseat driver in my immediate future...LOL

Later that evening, we met up with the Posse for a pre-race dinner for No-No to help her load in some carbs before her half-marathon the next morning. Jakey was surrounded by both his girls...Jordan and Christiana and of course, all of his Posse aunts whom he LOVES, LOVES, LOVES. Can't be sure how many carbs No-No got, but I can assure you that Jakey got his AND her share as he ate 3/4 of a plate of pasta and countless slices of Italian bread. Lucky for him, Jordan doesn't mind his version of "sharing"!!

Here are some pics from the dinner event, as you can easily see...lots of love and fun going on here!

And we HAD to document Aunt Bear eating short RIBS!!!!! What's next, seafood?? LOL

Was an awesome day all the way around!!!!

OMG...Multiplication & Division at Age 4?!?!?

OK, so let me start out by saying that I am just SOOOOOO far behind on these posts that any hope of catching up is nothing more than a pipe dream. Yes, yes, yes, I know, I'm a BAD mommy... let's just get that out of the way as well. I have a bunch of excuses (training for marathon, crazy job, Lyme disease, etc.), but they all sound so lame, they're not worth wasting any valuable typing time on them. After all, this blog is about THE AMAZING BOY we all know and love.

So, what's he been up to these days (and all those I've failed to write about)...Well, I know it sounds CRAZY, but it's TRUE...Jake is learning how to multiply and divide in school now. And not just the easy stuff either, he's gone all the way through to his 10x tables and is learning to divide by 2, 4, 5 and 6. And for those non-believers who may wonder if this is just a little mommy white lie or exaggeration, not to worry, I have pictures to prove it. (And to be totally honest, I didn't even believe it myself when Nanny told me until I saw the worksheets and quizzed him a little)

Now, I was considered pretty darn good at math when I was growing up and they even brought in some high school work for me when I was in middle school...BUT, I'm sure that I was in 5th or 6th grade when I learned multiplication and division. And even if I'm off by a grade, I know for certain I was NOT 4!!!!!!!!! I'm scared to think what he will be doing when he's in 5th or 6th grade...maybe teaching it??? LOL

Here's the proof...

And for those who were thinking, oh that's not so hard, he just had to count by 2 or count down from 7...here are the mixed numbers problem sheets. Since this time, he's started doing problems like 2,222 x 4, which for him is as easy as 4x2. CRAZY!!! I'm running out of room on the refrigerator to display all of these amazing pieces of work. Anyone with any spare room on theirs, please let me know...LOL

When he's not totally wrapped up in math of some sort, he's really into puzzle balls these days. Regular puzzles were starting to be way too easy, so these puzzle balls (3D puzzles) are SO perfect for him. Unbelievably, they even include a link to his favorite things in life - numbers - as the back of each piece has a number...some up to 540 pieces. His absolute favorites are the ones that I found that include the 8 planets in our solar system. It used to take US days to put one together and that was with quite a lot of team work, but these days, he's able to do them ALL by himself and this usually buys me a little more sleeping time on Saturday mornings. Today we donated a set to his classroom at school which made the teachers chuckle a little when they told me that Jake would likely be the only one who could actually do them. Which again is a little shocking considering some of the kids in his class are 7!!

Here's a picture of the entire solar system (I did my best, but I'm sure I don't have them in the right order...I still can't tell Mars from Venus and Neptune from Uranus...oh vey)

and a close up of Jupiter (my personal favorite).

Last month, in light of being hit by snow storm after snow storm, Jake had a chance to go sledding quite a number of times. We even dragged Nanny along with us one time and had a BLAST listening to her SCREAM the entire way down the hill. Of course, I have NO pictures of these events because I've somehow slipped into this no picture coma and try though I may, I've not managed to snap out of it. I have like ZERO pictures of the boy from the month of Feb and so far in March...at this rate, next year's picture book is likely to take much less time to put together and cost a whole lot less. I think I may be experiencing second child syndrome with the first child...is that even possible?!?!? Whatever it is, let's hope I snap out of it SOON. (And it doesn't help that Nanny's camera has gone MIA...yes, another one!! Nanny goes through cameras like Jake goes through shoes...LOL)

A late addition to this already late post... I DID manage to break the camera out of retirement and take some pics of our recent trip to Turtleback Zoo, a pre-race dinner for No-No with the Posse and some cool bike riding pics with Nanny and La La. Will continue that in the next blog... and yes, that new one will come before he enters college...LOL

Back soon...

When I Was In Your Tummy...

Every night I read a 3-5 books to Jakey before bed and we always read at least 1 about nature (planets, mountains, glaciers, etc) and one about the human body. Now these books are written for children, just not really for 4 year olds, but he loves them, so I figure what's the harm, right? I must admit, though, there are times when I'm reading about veins and arteries and platelets, etc. that I wonder "am I just really reading to myself here, is he getting any of this???"


Well, last week as I was reading to him about the heart and about how it pumps blood and about the job of white blood cells and platelets in fighting germs, he says "wait, mommy, the other page showed that purple cell eating a germ". Now, truth be told, I had NO IDEA what he was talking about...but I've learned better than to doubt him. So, we flipped through the pages of the book and just when I was sure it had to have been another book, or that maybe he read about that in school, wouldn't you know, there it was!!!!! A purplish cell eating a germ...just like he said!!!! We hadn't read that book in at least 4 months, and it just blew my mind that he remembered that page and the color of that cell and the fact that it WAS eating a germ!!!!!!! I could not have recalled that if my life depended on it... NO way, No how. Left me wondering, if I shouldn't be less worried about what HE'S getting out of these books and more concerned about what I'M getting out of them...LOL


Lately, he's been very much into talking about what it was like when he was in my tummy. He knows about the umbilical cord and I've shown him the ultrasound pictures that I have (and with the high risk pregnancy, I was fortunate enough to have some almost every other week, so I have a lot) and he just loves the idea that he was somehow inside my tummy.


So, a couple of weeks ago, after having this never ending debate about how he doesn't eat meat, I decided to invoke one of the stash of mommy white lies that you're given when your child is born. I said "wow, you know what I just thought about? When you were in my tummy, you used to LOVE hamburgers!!!" This just blew his little mind...he was stunned at that news. So, I continued (once you burn one of those little white lies, you might as well make the most of it...LOL), "yes, you loved them so much that when I would finish the first one you would say more, more, more mommy and kick and fuss until I had to give in and eat another one and Nanny would say you're not going to eat another hamburger are you? And I would tell her that I had to because you just loved hamburgers and you were asking for more." Well, he just LOVED this story and he was so intrigued with the whole deal that he asked for more and more details and I embellished the story further and further...just short of having moved into the local burger king...LOL


When we arrived at school that day (this conversation took place on the drive there), he proceeded to tell his teacher that maybe he just thinks he doesn't like meat, but maybe he really does like it because when he was in his mommy's tummy he used to love hamburgers and kick and fuss until I ate more and more of them. Needless to say, she saw me wink at her and played right along. Then we saw Aunt Bear that night at gymnastics and he asked her about it and luckily she was filled in on the whole deal and she played right along.


Now, before anyone gets excited about this, we still haven't gotten any closer to trying a hamburger yet...but maybe the door just inched open a tiny, tiny bit?!?!? I know, I know, some day he's going to be 6' 3" and be sitting across from me at McDonalds eating 2 Big Macs and a double cheeseburger while I eat my salad and I'm going to laugh at myself for ever worrying about this...but I've come to realize, that's what mommy's do, they worry!!!

Catching Up (If that's even remotely possible)...

I'm convinced that having a child pushes you into some parallel universe where life runs at much faster speed than normal. My last post was Dec 30th and here it is, Jan 30th already...how the heck did that happen?!?!?! And where did January go exactly???? At this rate, I'm going to be 70 in the blink of an eye...LOL

I never did get a chance to catch up on Jake's Christmas, but it seems a bit late for that now, no? All in all, it was WONDERFUL!!! I'd have to say, 4 years old seems to be about the perfect age for whole Santa experience and he was really, really into it. We had to leave milk and cookies for Santa (and a note for Uncle JJ telling him NOT to eat them), and we all had to be in bed early for fear he would pass us by.

In the morning, we woke up in my bed (he's allowed to come in anytime after 5) and for a few minutes, he actually forgot it was Christmas. We laid there and laughed and snuggled and we were playing and then it was like he just suddenly realized what day it was. He was mid sentence talking about something else and then, WHAM, he jumped to his feet, vaulted off my bed and bolted for the door. The morning was just magical with Jakey running down the stairs yelling "mommy, nanny, he came, Santa came!!!!" And as nanny and I tried our best to get ourselves downstairs he came up and down giving us a report of what Santa had brought... "Mamma, did you never know that Santa brought me my own BIG house?!?!?" And on and on and on... Then we had Aunt Bear, Scuzzle and Poppy over to our house for Christmas dinner and we all had a great time (especially shooting Aunt Bear's marshmallow shooter).

January seems to be mostly a blur, with Jakey getting back to school and me getting back to work. The Jets shocked everyone by making the playoffs and Pops and I actually went out to San Diego to see them beat the Chargers and then this past weekend, we flew to Indy to see the Colts beat us. All in all, we had a crazy and fun time and even with the loss it was well worth going...though I still haven't caught up from being gone.

As always, lots of germs going around in school and we've had several colds, fevers and the dreaded stomach virus (twice now) where it isn't possible to even keep water down... not fun. But despite a runny nose or tummy troubles, he's still one of the happiest kids I know and still remains the best part of every day!!!