Happy Birthday! Jake Is Four

Jake is four years old now.

It's so hard to believe. I remember being pregnant with him, and him being a tiny newborn, so clearly. It is true what they say: When you have kids, the days are long but the years are short. It's amazing to me that he's gone from:



To this:




He is now 39 inches tall, and weighs 33 pounds. He's still in the 25th percentile for height and weight, but he's on the charts! And he's very healthy. He has seasonal allergies, and tends to get upper respiratory bugs a bit easier than most, but he comes by that honestly (thanks, Mom). He likes a wide variety of food and likes to make healthy choices -- although he certainly also likes sugar, particularly cupcakes, popsicles, and candy.

He's incredibly verbal, with a large vocabulary. He has good fine motor skills and can write his name, and draw circles and other shapes. He can even draw recognizable pictures now -- for his birthday, he made "thank you" cards with pictures of animals and you could actually tell what they were. His teachers tell me that he is a good listener in circle time; he pays attention and can talk about the subject at hand.

Music is still one of his favorite things, and he loves to play his guitars and make up songs. He also likes to play in his playroom, having epic battles of Batman vs. the Killer Butterflies, or make forts for Godzilla to attack and destroy. We play outside a lot (Mommy is his usual playmate) and go walking or hiking quite a bit.

Jake likes to play the Wii. When we first got it, the Sports games were a little beyond him. He would get incredibly frustrated, to the point of crying. If Jake can't be good at something, or win, he gets very upset (it's scary to see your worst traits in your kids!). We're working on the concepts of "trying your best" and "being patient." He's gotten a lot better. We also got him some games he can succeed at. It's amazing how much better he's gotten, both in terms of the fine motor skills and analyzing capacity necessary to play, and in having the emotional control to keep trying and not get upset or give up to easily. He really is not a baby or toddler anymore!

But he's still a sweet, loving kid who likes to snuggle and is very thoughtful and caring. I'm so lucky to be Jake's mom! It's been a wonderful four years.

We Can Be Heroes

Jake with his light saber, a fun squirt gun alternative.

Jake likes to play with his water pistols. Because I am his usual playmate, we don't play games where we squirt each other unless it is really hot outside (hey, I don't want to get all wet).

One of his favorite games is to pretend that our front porch is a fort. Now that he's getting into "Star Wars," it's become a Rebel hideout that we must protect from aliens and monsters. I am "Mommy Princess Looey" and he is "Captain Hero Jake." We spot aliens and monsters and then shoot them with our laser pistols, er, squirt guns.

Jake comes up with some really funny monsters. For example, the Yellow Slugula, which drips bright yellow slime wherever it goes. Or the Giant Green Farticus, which is as tall as a tree, bright green with bumpy skin, and lets out a giant fart with each step it takes. Or the Spiderificus, which is a giant spider that likes to eat chocolate.

Sometimes he gets so excited while we're running around fighting the alien monsters, that he just spews out names: "Mommy Princess! Watch out! it's the Goobershnorklegrrblmldfkl!"

The other day, we were getting our squirt guns and going outside to play:

J: "Mommy, you can be the hero and I will be the princess."
M: "Okay, but you know Princesses can be heroes, too."
J: "Oh! Then we'll both be heroes!"

And that's how we spent our evening after dinner...being heroes, making the world safe from the dreaded Goobershnorklegrrblmldfk.

Two Conversations....

These conversations took place in my car recently:

#1 - Fly Me To the Moon
J: (out of the blue) "Mommy, I don't want to go to the moon."
M: "Why not?"
J: "Because I would really miss you guys."
M: "We would miss you, too, but you could always go for a visit and then come back. That would be cool."
J: "No. Rocket ships sometimes blow up."

#2 - What If God Were One Of Us?
J: "Mommy, what's that?" (pointing)
M: "That's a church spire. Churches have those on top of their roofs, so you know it's a church."
J: "Maybe we should go to a church."
M: "Maybe. What do you think happens at church?"
J: "I don't know...maybe something with animals?"
...
M: "Um...no, actually it's where you go to learn about God?"
J: "Who's God?"
...
...
M: (mustering all her well-honed parenting skills) "Well, some people believe God is a powerful force for good who created the world. And [insert lengthy yet simplistic explanation of the world's leading religions' take on the concept of "god."] "
J: "Oh. Can I have ice cream?"