Jack!!!

Jack's 5!!  Say what?!!  He looks like he's 6 or 7 and wears the same size shoe as his 8 year old sister, so I guess turning 5 was bound to happen soon enough.  It still doesn't make it easy when I look at pictures like the one below. Why do little things have to get bigger?  I would totally get a puppy or a kitten if they would promise to stay small.  This boy absolutely won my heart when he was born and continues to steal a piece of it every day.  

This little nugget is the light of my life!  He makes me laugh every day just by the funny little things that come out of his mouth.  And to top it all off, he's developed a tiny little Texas drawl which makes me soooo happy!!  I am a sucker for accents!!  Lately I've been asking him if I can count his freckles.  I love doing this because for a short few moments, he will stand completely still and let me stare at his face while he stares back at mine.  I pretend to count all his "hundreds of freckles" while I actually just stare at his adorable little face.  I could stare at that face all blasted day.  I LOVE IT!!  

This year Jack started sports.  We were feeling like he needed some extracurriculars since we were always practicing the piano with Sadie and going to her concerts.  It was Jack's turn to shine.  He started with flag football with his buddy Preston.  They were much better at looking cute on the field than actually playing the game.  There were times that an opponent would run by with the ball and the two boys would just stand there and watch him make a touchdown.  Jack thought it was pretty fun to just get on the field and RUN!  It was his first experience with the game and we got a pretty big kick out of watching the other parents scream at their kids.  This IS Texas and football is everything to these people.  We were just happy Jack was having fun!

He was mostly excited about his trophy.  Isn't that the only reason we participate in anything?  So we can get a trophy?  That's what I thought when I ran my first (and only) triathlon and was sorely disappointed when they handed me a key chain at the finish line.  Jack's outcome was far greater.  

Jack loves everything about sports and will ONLY wear "basketball" shorts, unless they're in the washer in which case he will resort to a pair of khakis, very begrudgingly I might add.  He and George still love "shooting hoops" into our little Fisher Price basketball hoop we keep in the living room.  The other day I was complimenting Jack on his excellent basketball skills:

M:  Good job Jack!

J:  I know.  I'm an awesome basketball player.  You know what this sign is on the ball (white Nike sign).  That means it's the BEST BALL EVER!!!

Can't say he's not confident.  The other day he said "I'm really good at tennis, but my dad just has to teach me."  

He's even confident about sports he's never played!

The whole family was pretty excited about Jack's first trophy!!

Next sport to try out was soccer.  We put him on a team with his buddies Preston and Desmond.  He did a pretty good job looking handsome on that field.  He didn't really know what to do when a ball came near him but he sure had fun!!

We had fun watching them play too.  I love this picture of the spectating dad's with pudgy little George looking ridiculously chubby and adorable.  Go horns!!

By the end of the season , he was getting pretty good at kicking the ball and figuring out the game.  The best part was, he LOVED it.  He's wasn't the kind of kid who got devastated if they lost the game or if he never made his own goal.  He just loved getting out there and playing the game.  

.....and, he got another trophy!!!  Wahoo!!  

Here he is with his team (above) and his buddy Desmond (below), 

These two have become fast and forever friends as well.  George absolutely adores Jack and will copy everything he does.  Jack is so sweet with George too and will often give up a toy that G wants just to make peace.  One day I overheard him talking to George while they were walking along somewhere.  "George, lets go find Daddy.  C'mon George.  I'll walk slow for you." 

 Often times we'll hop on the scooter and drive over to the construction sight up the street where they are building a new road and some new homes too.  These boys will stare in a trance at the excavators, bulldozers and front loaders,  They know ALL the truck's names and could stand there all day watching them work.  Sometimes we'll even go on rainy days.  Jack once said "I wish Jesus was here, so he could stop the rain."  Me too buddy, except I'm usually wishing he'd bless us with more rain.    

His most exciting triumph was learning to ride Sadie's bike.  When we bought her  bike, we purposefully bought a gender neutral color so Jack could ride it too.  Sadie was more than happy to share since we told he she would be getting a new bike for her birthday.  We never even put the training wheels on.  I had him practice on little Chase's scoot bike first so he could get the balancing act down, then it was to the bike!!  He is our "cautious" child.  It usually takes him a bit to warm up to something (which is probably why it took me a year to potty train him).  He was very good at balancing and pedaling but would absolutely FREAK OUT if there was even the slightest downward slope.  It took him a while to figure out how to break going down hill and would only ride on level streets or in the cul-de-sac.   It took months just to get him to go down our rather steep driveway but once he finally figured out the brakes, he took off!!  He's totally a daredevil on that bike now and makes me VERY nervous when he zooms down our street!  

One day while we were riding bikes in the church parking lot after story time, I had to ask him to be a little more careful. In this instance, he was riding his scooter, which is another vehicle he's pretty darn good at.  Grandpa was floored when he rode that scooter all the way to the circle c park and back which is about 4 miles and totally kept up with us on our bikes.  This one day in the parking lot I told him he needed to stop for cars when they entered (which wasn't very often, but made us mommies very nervous nonetheless).  He replied:

J:  I don't want to stop for cars on my scooter in the parking lot.

M:  If you see cars, you need to stop so you don't get hit.

J:  No, I can just limbo under the cars.

M.  limbo under the cars?

J:  Ya, like a secret agent.  Like secret agent Pablo. (Backyardigans).  

Glad we have a fine grasp on the realistic view of things around here.    

Jack is a smart little cookie too.  I love seeing the things that he builds with his train tracks and blocks.  One day another mother at preschool sent me a picture of  a roller coaster he built out of blocks.  She was so blown away at his skills, she felt I needed to see it too.  It was a pretty impressive roller coaster. Sometimes he'll build train tracks at home weaving the tracks around the banister.  If a train were ever to derail it would go plummeting to the first floor below.  I love his innovative thoughts and way of executing such amazing towers.  I should seriously take pictures of everything he builds because they're all mini masterpieces.  

We like to build forts on the weekends and tell stories inside before the kids go to sleep in their sleeping bags.  One night Jack was telling Chase a very elaborate story about a pink monster.  Chase said he had never heard of a pink monster before and Jack said "that's because it's fiction."  We didn't know he knew what "fiction" even meant!

When Sadie was heading to the museum for a field trip, Jack asked if she were going to see real dinosaurs!  I told him she was only going to see dinosaur bones and he responded "that's because dinosaurs are dead, they're stinked (extincted) Mom."

He has also started LOVING the game Monopoly which thankfully Sadie will play with him.  That's one game I have NEVER liked.  One time while playing Chase when we first got married, I was getting richer and richer while Chase was selling properties and pretty much penniless.  It just about broke my heart, even though I knew it was just a game.  I never played the game since.  It makes me too sad when I win and too mad when I lose.  I overheard Jack and Sadie playing the other day and had to chuckle when I heard Jack  say "I need more properties!!"  When do you ever hear a 4 year old state that he needs more "properties" of all things.  

He's super guapo but very modest at the same time.  I told him he didn't need to wear a swim shirt to the pool one night because it wasn't too sunny.  He looked very concerned and said "I don't want to take my shirt off!  I don't want anyone to see my belly button."  Way to stick up for your standards Jack!!  

Chase was teaching the 11 year old scouts for a while and would bring Jack along with him to their activities.  The scouts LOVED Jack and he loved them.  One day he asked me "Mom, when am I going to be bigger?  Like the scouts?" 

He's still a slightly "undiagnosed" narcolept. He can fall asleep just about anywhere and does, quite frequently.  The other day I took him on a scooter ride while George was taking a nap.  I guess he was tired or I rode around FAR too long because all of a sudden I noticed his big helmet start to sway.  Then he started moving the steering wheel, even after I told him not to.  It didn't take long before his helmeted head finally crashed down on top of the speedometer where he immediately started snoozing.....standing up....while riding on a motorized vehicle!!!!  It was H-I-Larious!! 

He's also the one kid in our family that always seems to catch "the bug" when it skips by everyone else.  He's always had a sensitive stomach and gets fevers way more often than the other chiddlers.  

One day he had a pretty nasty couch so I asked him if he needed any cough syrup to which he responded, "No, I just have a little "bless you" mixed up with my cough.  The "bless you" makes the cough even stronger!"

And like his sister Sadie, the seasonal allergies have taken their toll on him as well.  He too wakes up with puffy, itchy eyes in the spring.  It doesn't get this happy guy down though!

We've been trying for years to keep "potty language" out of our house.  Jack thinks it's just too funny though. The other day he had this conversation with Chase:

J:  Dad, I just tooted.

D:  Ya, I know.  I heard it.

J:  You should give me a treat because I didn't say "fart."  

Little weasel. 

 Jack is my little super hero.  Whenever I find a "monster" (cockroach) in our house (dead or alive), I'll have Jack take a heavy bowl over to the disgusting creature and cover it up until Daddy comes home to kill it.   I won't go near the things, but Jack is totally brave enough to trap one.  One day, I found a dead one in my closet and said "Jack, guess what I found in my closet?" 

J:  What is it?  (probably hoping for something exciting)

M:  A cockroach!!!

J:  Why aren't you screaming then?

M:  (Chuckles)

J:  I have some big shoes on (my shoes) to stomp it out.  

I will always remember him walking into my closet wearing my over sized running shoes.  What a guy!!

Here he is at the Salt Lick, totally zonked out before dinner even arrived.  I guess he played too hard that day with Aunt Lizzie and Uncle Chad.  I love seeing him snuggled up to Chase.  He loves his dad and apparently Dad loves him too.  One day Jack proclaimed that "Daddy put chocolate bunnies AND cookies in my lunch because he wubs me."  It's true Jack.  Dad gives you double desserts because he wubs you berry much!  

When we were practicing writing his letters, I told Jack to write a "mommy D" (uppercase D) and then a "baby d" would be the lowercase D.  Jack told me he was going to call his uppercase D's, "daddy D's" instead because he "loves his daddy so much."  

He's such a sweet little kid.  We were making a birthday card for his teacher.  He decided to put it on red paper and put pink, purple and red heart stickers all over it because he "loves his teacher."  It looked a lot more like a valentine than a birthday card when it was done, but you should have seen the pride on that kid's face.  His teacher was going to love it! 

I camped out all morning to get Jack a spot at this amazing preschool this year.  I absolutely loved his school and he did too.  He also had a lot of friends in his class too so he never had any issues going in and making himself comfortable.  Here we are at the Mother's Day tea where I was presented with a beautiful hat and gifts that Jack  made me.  

I always asked him when he got home from preschool what he did and who he played with.  Sometimes he'll come home and say "Did you notice that Miss Jennifer let us eat our snacks outside today?"  Or he'll say "Did you notice that Henry pushed Chase on the playground today?"  I don't think he has figured out that "did you notice" can only work in a sentence if the person was actually there to "notice" the event.  He says "did you notice" all the time and I LOVE IT!!  

I once asked him if he played on the playground to which he replied ,"Yes!" I then asked him what he did on the playground and he said "I just played with Chase because I wub him."  He and his buddy Chase will forever be the dynamic duo.  They are besties for sure and had a great year at West Oak Woods together.  Here they are below riding their bikes.  Something they both learned to do this year!

When Chase and I got home from Mexico (another blog post of it's own) Jack told me that I smelled like "Idaho."  Pops and CC must have told him we were in Mexico and it sounded a lot like Idaho to him.  We brought back this mask for him and it would be a HUGE understatement to say he LOVED it!!  He told everyone he met that his parents brought him this mask from "Idaho" too.  The other night we thought it would be fun to show the kids Nacho Libre with Jack Black.  Jack was so overcome by the film, he ran upstairs and put his mask on while running around the room doing his best "wrestling" moves.  

He loved the mask so much, he even wore it out and about and to storytime.  The other day Chase asked him how anyone would recognize him if he were wearing his mask to which Jack responded "Of course everyone will recognize me.  I'm batman!" (Can you spot him among the crowd?) 

I felt a little bad for Jack on his birthday because it fell on a Saturday and we had a TON going on that day.  We did our best to make him feel special and even had time to make his favorite breakfast, German pancakes, before we ran out the door to Sadie's piano recital.

Ryan Gee knew it was Jack's birthday, so before the recital even started, he had Jack come up in front of the audience so we could sing happy birthday to him.  Of course Jack was a little embarrassed and the rest of us were astounded at his cuteness, and also, Ryan's incredible rendition of the song. Did we pick a great piano teacher or what?!!

Our next event was ward temple day.  I felt bad again for dragging Jack on a long car ride to San Antonio on his birthday, so we stopped at Chick Fil-A on the way there which made him VERY happy.  I was told that the youth and leaders watching the kids in the gym while we went to the temple also singled Jack out and sang Happy Birthday to him.  Of course the best part of the day was driving back to the temple after we picked the kids up to see the beautiful grounds and play in the fountains, of course.  

We celebrated with cake and presents the next day after church.  Way better than trying to squeeze it into that crazy Saturday!  Look at these three!!  What did I do to deserve such amazing little blessings for children?!

Oh my goodness.  That face!!

He got some legos and other toys but he was most excited about his new basketball shorts!!  It's always good to add another pair to the wardrobe so he's not wearing the same ones for five days in a row.  

Jack, words will never be good enough to express my love for you.  You are a gift from heaven.  A delightful, squishable, lovable, handsome little dude.  Thank you so much for all you bring to our family.  We all love you soooooooooooooooo much!!!