Jack

This is basically my project LIFE post for Week 38. I only took 1 picture last week! I guess it was because I had taken so many pictures the week before when we were on vacation that I went on a mini-strike! But, there was one moment on Saturday where I could not resist getting out the camera.....This is Jack! I think this picture sums up his personality so well! Saturday afternoon we were waiting on some friends to come over for dinner when Jack came downstairs wearing my socks with his already mismatched outfit! I just had to laugh! And, he thought it was hysterical that I wanted to take his picture!

Who is Jack now? I want to write a few things down that I want to be sure to remember about him. He is such a loving AND affectionate child. One of his top love languages is definitely physical affection. He loves to give and get hugs and kisses and snuggles. He almost always wants to be touching my arm and has a weird obsession with kissing my arm. Random, huh? Recently he has declared that he has a new girlfriend at preschool named Addie. And, even more recently he told us that he got in trouble for holding hands with her. He said, "me and Addie were holding hands and Ms. Rhonda told us to DROP it!" Apparently Addie has reciprocal feelings for Jack because Ms. Rhonda told Chris that the other day Addie was holding hands with another little boy until Jack came in the room............she promptly dropped the other boy's hand and took off running to Jack! Oh, preschool love!

Speaking of preschool this is turning out to be a fantastic year for Jack. He loves his teachers and his classmates and is really enjoying all that he is learning. As they work through the alphabet.....they are also learning the signs for the letters. I'm amazed at his ability to sign the letters so far. Jack has never really cared much about coloring or writing but he is starting to have an interest in writing his letters and he will ask me, "mom, am I holding my crayon right?" So, apparently.....they have been working with him on that too. This makes me happy because I've been trying to tell him for a while but I guess he's one of those kids who will respond better to a teacher telling him. Ha! He is VERY into his letters and the way they sound. He wants to know how EVERYTHING is spelled. The other day he asked me out of nowhere how to spell queen. When I asked him what he thought it started with he thought for a minute and then said, "Q"! He knows how to spell toy, joy, boy, and Jack. It's not much but it's a start. I think he could probably spell a few other words but those are simple enough for now. He wants to read as he has always loved books. So, we're about to start working on that a little more since he wants too. I figure it will be a great thing for me to do with him after the baby is born and I have a lot of time where I need to nurse her.......Jack can sit beside me and we can read. One more thing about letters and I'll stop.....today we were eating lunch and he said, "mommy, your body makes an "L." He just "sees" letter shapes in everyday situations. It's pretty cool to me.

Jack's prayers are becoming more and more involved. He used to only pray for his cousins each night and then say, "you can finish, mommy or daddy...." But, now he prays for whoever is in the room with us (if we are eating dinner with other people or something) and he prays for recent events and he always prays for mommy and daddy and the baby. And, he ALWAYS says, "and thank you God for that Jesus died on the cross." It's very precious to hear his little voice talk to God. I think it's one of the best parts of being a parent.

Now, 85% of the time Jack is sweet and polite and easy going but wow............that other 15% is CRAZY! He is VERY VERY VERY STRONG-WILLED! He can go from being strongly insistent on something one minute to sweet and calm and precious the next. Last Wednesday we were spending time with Jack's friend Caleb and his mommy before the moved :-( And, Kimberly and I made the mistake of asking the boys what they wanted for lunch. Jack wanted McDonalds but no one else did and that wasn't an option. Everyone else really wanted to go to Chicago's pizza for their lunch buffet which includes a great salad bar and some pretty decent pizza too. Jack was NOT having it. He was so mad. I tried and tried to ignore him and let him calm down on his own but it took forever. I was to my wits end. Then, all of the sudden Jack said in a very nice voice in stark contrast to what I had been listening to for the last 30 minutes....."Mom, I just don't want pizza......Can we have Chick-fil-a instead?" As soon as Kimberly and Caleb agreed to Chick-fil-a he turned it off and was pleasant for the rest of the day. Nice, huh? I told Jack I was sad that we weren't getting pizza and he told me he was sad we weren't getting McDonald's. So, I guess in a weird sort of way we compromised. And before you start critiquing my parenting skills - I just want to say that had that not been our last day to spend time with Caleb and Kimberly before they moved far away......I would not have bargained so much and we probably wouldn't have even been having a discussion about what we wanted for lunch. It would have been something at home and straight to nap for my obviously hungry and tired boy.

Speaking of a tired boy.....he still takes an almost 2 hour nap each day and for that I am always happy especially on days like last Wednesday :-)

This is getting way too long.....if you're still reading........thanks! Have a good night!