4 1/2 year old Jackson

Jackson, you are a delight. You are almost 4.5 years old and are a nice, charming, handsome boy. You are growing taller and more agile. Your sparkling blue eyes shine with your curiosity, humor and mischievous personality. Your brown hair looks good short, leaving us at the barber every 4-6 weeks or you look scraggly. You play hard, with dirty calloused feet, skinned knees and elbows and dirt under your fingernails. Like your mother, you hate wearing sock and shoes and prefer to wear comfy pants. You would live in flip flops, a baggy tshirt and athletic shorts if we let you. You can dress yourself completely (even buttons!), although you usually plead for help from me each morning because you like the attention. 

As we have said before, you are silent J no more. Your loud, high voice echoes throughout the neighborhood as you call out for Luke and Katie or yell as you zoom along on your scooter. 

Things you say: 

Mo-veels: It's some combination between motorcycle and vehicle that you came up with years ago and still use

You say "th" now! As in THREE. We worked on it for a few days and you were very agreeable to learning that correct part of speech. 

"Won!"Whenever you win at a game, let's say UNO since you seem to beat us most of the time, you play your last card and simply say, "Won". 

Mom, this cornbread tastes like skin. Real skin. (Note: my child has never tasted skin).

Likes:

Counting, math, board games, flashlight tag, scooter, running, playing, make-believe, action figures, baths with Rachel, chicken nuggets, flavored water, sprinkler, collecting rocks, TV, organizing items, trucks, I Spy, phonics, fruit, gummy vitamins, friends, zoo, park, flossing, preschool, giving money to church, wrestling with Rachel, Kashi, toys

Dislikes: 

Veggies, art/drawing/painting/coloring, naps, baths, getting your nails trimmed, time out, sitting still

Dinner with Blair, JB's college roommate

You have finally started to understand phonics and recognize most of your letters. This is a fascinating process to witness and I love watching you grow and develop more language. Your teacher, Becca, has really been a gift for you and we are so thankful for how you have responded to her methods of teaching. Whenever you talk, you either find words with the same sound like Ball and Blueberry or you find rhyming words. "There's a car. Rhymes with far and star!" You can recognize more letters and numbers when we are out driving and ear learning that we read left to right, which we practice with speed limit signs since you are much more confident in quickly recognizing numbers. The other day at the library, you colored a picture (!!) and wanted to give it to dad, so I encouraged you to write a D on it for daddy. You told me, No mom, that would be confusing. I'll write a J on it for Jonathan. (Again, note, that we do not let our kids call us Heather and Jonathan). However, Jackson wrote a legible "J" for the first time without tracing and I wept in the library I was so proud of him! Right now I'm trying to reign myself in with my excitement at his language growth and find subtle ways to work on it while keeping it fun, most of all. 

J beating us in UNO

You think that Rachel is pretty great most of the time. In the morning, you want to be the first one into her room, at which time you jump into her crib and hug her tightly. You two eat breakfast together (she only wants to eat your food). You have trouble sharing your toys but every so often will be generous and it usually sounds like this. "Here Rachel, I don't like this toy anymore. I want to give it to you". You will push her in the wagon and like to go down the slide with her. Your favorite time of day is the bath and bedtime routine. You two splash in the bath and giggle a lot. Then, once you are in PJs you two wrestle! Our favorite book is still "Tickle Time" by Sandra Boynton. Rachel picks it out and comes to me saying, 'tickle tickle' and then you jump in the action and we have a tickle fest! Rachel then starts to hug and body slam you around her room. when it's time for her to go to bed, you crouch down, reach out to gently hug her and give her a tender kiss on the cheek, saying, "Goodnight baby. I love you. You are so sweet". It is the perfect end to every day.

Cousins Riley and Piper

Here's your typical day:

You stay asleep/in your room until your green light goes on at 6:30am (what a HUGE success!). You find me, either reading my Bible or still sleeping sometimes and we cuddle for a few minutes while you still wake up. Breakfast typically consists of a bagel thin with cream cheese, fruit, yogurt and milk. We play or watch some TV before school, which is 9-12. You adore Ms Becca and your friends at school. After school we play outside until nap time and attempt to rest/nap from 1pm until at least 2. Some days you are very tired and you sleep the whole time. Other days you play (loudly...) in your room and protest the nap time. In the afternoon we play, outside, at the park, the zoo, the library, wherever! You love having Luke and Katie next door and hang with them most of the time. You play hard, stopping briefly for a snack and water break. You protest coming in for dinner but eventually comply. Dinner takes anywhere from 20 minutes to 1 hour depending on what veggie you have to eat that night and how long it takes you to eat it. You clean up your dishes, and get ready for bath. When Rachel goes to sleep, we play games or occasionally have a movie night before reading 2 books and tucking you into bed. We pray for you, rub your back and give you "kisses and tight hugs". You still sleep with a night light and a dim overhead light on and are protesting your sound machine right now. 

Fun with Fine Motor!

You are organized, type A, have a vivid imagination, play well by yourself and with others. You are a leader. You like structure and routine but you don't like to be told what to do. You are helpful to dad, Rachel and me. You love to have a few, close friends. You are still shy and prefer not to talk to new adults but you are very outgoing with people you already know. You love face timing or being with your grandparents and easily transition to weekends away with them. Every so often, you come up to dad or me and give us a huge bear hug, gently saying, "I love you SOO much." You want multiple kisses and hugs from me before you go to school or I go to work. 

Best friend, Aurelia

As I tell you often recently, God gave you to dad and me to be our son. We love you dearly. But, if we got to choose our children, we would still pick you and Rachel to be ours. You are perfect for us and we are so blessed to be your parents. We love watching you grow and learn and are so excited to continue to see who you are becoming. 

Fun with co-worker and friend, Cass

Rachel and Grandad

Little Boo is 4

Dearest Jackson,

Happy 4th birthday to you. You are full of life and energy. Can you imagine we used to call you Silent J? Our days are full of chatter now. You are quite the conversationalist and have a memory like I have never seen before. You keep us on our toes with questions about little things like the names and ages of the Rescue Bots to bigger questions about death and heaven. 

Your days start around 6am (thank goodness it's not 4:30 or 5am anymore!). You hit the ground running, literally. I know you are awake when I hear a large THUD of your heels hitting the floor, you run to turn on your lights and start playing. We've resurrected the green light from the land of broken objects and we're back to staying in your room until 6am. The first thing you want to do each morning, and then every waking moment after that, is to play with friends. You love William, Luke and Katie, Sylvie and Iris, Charlotte and Caroline and Molly and they are all in very close proximity to our house. Now we just need to stop you from sneaking out of the house long before 7am to go knock on doors (sorry, friends). You have turned into a leader but you don't have too much of a bossy streak. If friends aren't available you will entertain yourself with your Rescue Bots and Ninja Turtles, making up stories of great adventures! Speaking of great adventures, your favorite stories in the Bible are the "bad ones". Hmmm...we'll have to clarify that later, but we know that you mean the ones like David and the giant, Goliath, and the crucifixion. At mealtimes, you were not very excited about praying by yourself so instead we go around and we each say something we are thankful for and all thank God for the food. You are usually thankful for the trees, sky and flowers, but occasionally you pray for something like safe travels for your friends or good health for someone who is sick. You also initiate prayers for Rachel when she hurts herself or is not feeling well. Sweet boy. 

Things you love:

School with Ms. Becca and your classmates

Running, scootering, climbing trees/anything

Playing make-believe with your action figures and cars

Bath time - floating

Being the first one to get Rachel out of her crib in the morning

Rescue Bots, OctoNauts and DinoTrux (Netflix)

Grandparents and friends

Books

Phonics (finally!), basic addition/subtraction

Goodbye kisses/hugs

laughing

Things you could do without:

Veggies, all of them

Bath time - getting washed

Immediate obedience/listening to parents

your green light/staying in your room until 6am!

Fine motor: writing, drawing

Recognizing letters

Dancing

We are so thankful to God that you are our son and that you are Rachel's big brother. We can't imagine our lives without you. Life must have been so quiet before you arrived! We love your sparkling blue eyes and long curly eyelashes. We love your brown hair and how are you are getting so tall. We love how you are strong but sensitive, a leader but also an observant follower. We love that you are learning integrity and repentance, forgiveness and love. We love you Jackson

And now some pictures of your sweet sister from your birthday party! 

Rachel and Pop Pop 

Rachel's penultimate month (aka 11)

My handsome, sometimes nerdy, wordsmith husband loves using the word Penultimate as much as possible. I, being one who scored several hundred points lower than him on the verbal section of the SATs, had no clue what that word meant until we started binge watching many series on Netflix and he had ample opportunities to refer to the "Penultimate episode!". So, this is Rachel's penultimate month in her first year!

Each month of their first year and then every 6 months after that, I write our kids a note. In it, I tell them about what they are doing, their stats (height, weight, hair length, etc), what I love about them and what I pray for in their lives. I'll just share a little of the one I wrote for Rachel...

Rachel, you are so funny this month! 11 months looks good on you. You talk all the time and very loudly now, too. Your words are: dada, Jackson, Lincoln, doggie (Do-GEEEEEEE), Nak (Snack). I think I heard "Momma" yesterday too! You can sign "more" but you just prefer to shriek to get more food.  You also have cries of excitement for when you see Max, the cat, and when Lincoln barks. You sing to yourself and in the mornings I often find you orating to the wall next to your crib. This certainly is a change from your brother, "Silent J", as we dubbed him. 

 The first thing you look for in the morning is usually J or Link to come into your room. You love to dance and drum on things. You absolutely can't get enough of being tipped upside down and often throw yourself backwards. You can crawl up the stairs but prefer to sidestep up like a boss. In fact, you seem to have a radar for when the gate is open and do your fast crawl right for the stairs to climb up! 

Food - you love it, all of it. I weaned you fully on August 24th and you now drink whole milk from a cup and eat 3 meals and 2 snacks. You are better at biting things like crackers but I'm cautious with what I give you because you choke often (yes, mommy has done many finger sweeps on you in your short life...you daredevil child). You got your top 2 middle teeth on August 20th and the 2 lateral to those on August 31st. You love to smack your lips when you eat and you learned how to grind your teeth this week. You click your tongue, love Pat-A Cake and have started to play peek-a-boo where you hide! 

 You love to give things away and when I say thank you, you hurl yourself into my lap and roll so you are looking up at me. I have no idea what you are doing but it's snuggly and cute. You are a fast crawler and will cruise with 1 hand around the whole house but you rarely let go. You can stand without anything to pull up on and have taken about 6 total independent steps. 

You love to play outside, eat mulch and sand, swing for a few minutes, go on walks/runs. Recently, you don't mind riding in the car. You wear dresses most of the time, hate bows and hats and will tolerate and even enjoy shoes.  Bedtime is slightly more flexible but mostly at 6pm after a bath and stories (you don't sit still, however). You sleep until 6:30am, nap 9-11:30 and 1-2:30 or 3. 

J is very rough with you and you take it all in stride, sustaining 2 noes injuries that barely phased you. There are no signs of separation anxiety yet. You get whiny when I am around and like to be held by me most of the time (less than Jackson, thankfully!), but I don't mind. Sometimes you will cuddle with me after a nap or before bed and it's the best time ever. You started giving hugs this week and it melts my heart.  

We pray that God will protect and grow you. That He will guide us as we parent you. That He will give you godly friends who will encourage you and build you up. We pray that your little light will shine to those around you! I love you. I love you. I love you. My precious blue-eyed, sweet, spunky, curious little one. 

joyful moments with our almost 4-year old

Our almost 4 year old is very lively and leaves me craving sleep more than I ever have in my entire life until his point. He keeps us laughing, running and having long conversations. He has this incredible ear-to-ear grin that just makes me smile in return! J really loves going to Busch Gardens with Jonathan, and his recent favorite ride is the sky-flyer thing, like a ski lift over the whole park. 

He is having round 5 of 'separation anxiety'. At this point, it's totally manipulation on his part, hoping to keep me around longer. He was fine until I went back to work on July 6th. Now, he screams and throws a tantrum each day I leave, regardless of who is staying to take care of him. The other day, I asked what would help him to be brave when I leave for work. When he was scared to go to bed a year ago, we wrote out a Bible verse on the wall and prayed it each night. So, he told me that he wanted a piece of paper on the wall to say, "Be brave. Mommy will come back. Don't throw a tantrum".  I wrote out a verse to go with it and serve as encouragement and point him towards God:

"As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you". Isaiah 66:13. 

Reading is still a huge part of our day. We always read 2 stories before nap and 2 before bed. Our recent favorites are the whole Berenstein Bears series, How I Became a Pirate and Spiderman. We also discovered the Elephant and Pig books by Mo Willems....hysterical and great for early readers if you have one of those in your home!

Summer has been a great time for the pool, water table, ice cream, sprinkler, the beach and popsicles! We haven't made it to the pool as much as I would like to, but when we have a chance to go, Jackson loves the water! With a life jacket on, he can independently kick his way around the pool. He also loves to put my glasses on and hold his breath under water! We thought it would be an amazing summer to capitalize on his interest in the water and sign him up for swim lessons at ODU. However, the only week that worked was the same week he had camp at LUMP. I had to wake him up on Monday afternoon for the swim lesson. He got in the water, did two laps of kicking and then protested until I took him home. We did not go back :( Oh well, there are plenty of chances for me to teach him how to swim!

Water table fun with a friend down the street.

When J was a baby, i never went into his room after he was already asleep. Why mess with a good thing? Now,  however, he will often turn on his bedside lamp and read or play in bed after we tuck him in. When I head up to bed (not long after he does!), I'll creep in quietly to tuck him in and turn off the light. It's the most beautiful feeling to watch my son sleeping peacefully. 

J's best friends are  the compound kids and we continue to enjoy our group dinners together!

Hannah Anderson, author of Made for More, came to speak at a church event last May. She talked about how we all have value, simply because we are made by and in the image of God. Part of her talk was about work and caring for creation and how we can teach out kiddos about the beauty of creation. When asked how to practically do this for kids, she gave the example that each afternoon she instructs her children to "Cultivate the space you have been given (aka you bedroom) and be a good steward of what God has given you". I've been using that language with Jackson to assist with maintaining his bedroom in a state that looks less like a tornado of cars, books and stuffed animals hit! Last week, we were out walking to our car in a parking lot and Jackson bent down to pick up a (clean-looking) bag that was apparently trash. JB asked him what he was doing and J said, "Being a good steward".

Saturday of last week we had an amazing day. The green light was downstairs waiting to be fixed (hmmm, who could have broken it?) but J stayed quietly in his room until I came to get him at 6:10am. He ran a few early-morning errands with me for Jonathan's birthday and then played nicely with friends. Although he did not sleep during nap time, he played quietly, which is a perfectly fine alternative.  When I went to get him, he'd set out a picnic and camping on the floor of his room. So, we played make-believe for a while before I got super tired! Always a boy who loves rules and structure, he said, "Mom, when I am sleeping you are awake and when I am awake you can be sleeping. But, moms never sleep!" He has no idea how true he is.  We lay around having tickle wars and giggling until my face hurt from laughing. It was one of those moments of parenting that I hope I remember forever, especially in the hard time.

J is an outstanding brother. He looks out for Rachel's safety, helping me to keep her away from outlets and the stairs. He shares his food with her, gives her huge hugs and sings to her when she is fussy. He talks in this super high pitch voice and says, "Oh Rachie! Oh cutie! I love you! Oh sweetie."  We love you too, big guy. 

Visit with Riley and Piper

We had a fabulous visit with Aunt Karen, Riley and Piper this past weekend in Springfield. We roughly split the distance between our homes and end up at mom and dad's, and they cook and care for us :) Win Win! J adores Riley and it was fun to get them together again. Plus this year Piper was old enough to keep up and the three of them played fairly well all weekend. 

 We set out for Frying Pan Park to see the animals and there was a 4H fair that day. Riley was ecstatic and I was a little nervous. I am a control-freak who likes to know exactly what is going to happen when my day starts out each morning. I was not ready for a fair, but we had 3 adults for our 4 kids, strollers and enough money for parking and ride tickets (JB had raided my wallet but no worries because Grandmom was there to pay of course!). 

 The kids had a blast on all the farm equipment, petting a horse and watching the pigs. Then, we rode a few rides and ate a sno cone (Jackson's first), which always makes it a great day! I was also able to practice some photography in a harsh mid-day sun setting. Rachel gets all of her hand-me-downs from Riley and Piper, so you can see why she's such a well-dressed gal! 

Look at Piper's curls. Aren't they just adorable??

my, how time flies (2015 vs 2013)

Jackson and I were bed buddies since it was such a full house. It was a rough 2 nights of sleep! This boy is like a helicopter blade all night, spinning in every possible direction. At one point I woke up to two feet about to kick me in the nose. A few hours later, his head was wedged in my armpit and I almost elbowed him in the face when I turned over. He pushed me so far out of the bed that I had to sleep laying on my side, arms up like I was diving into the pool :) But, it was fun to see my little guy sleeping and gave me a renewed joy for motherhood in this weary season. 

I don't have many pictures of Rachel with her grandparents because I'm usually either attending to Jackson, watching them interact or resting/sleeping/passed out with exhaustion somewhere. Sometimes it's just nice to sit back without a camera and watch the moment in real life, not from behind a lens. Rachel just adores all of her grandparents and truly recognizes them, which is so exciting!  

These two....I love watching them become buddies and hope that they can be friends in addition to brother and sister. 

By the end of the weekend, Riley and Jackson were like brother and sister. Loving on each other and stealing each other's toys. She was so good with him and was the one to compromise and be the bigger person. We're thankful for Aunt Karen and her sweet, funny, kind children.