Friday, March 9, 2018

Happy Birthday, Jack!

I am officially the mom of a five year old. Wow. That even feels a little odd typing it.

I know, for those of you who have older kids, five seems like nothing. But to me, he was my tiny itty bitty baby just yesterday. I remember it vividly still, the night before I went into labor, the weeks leading up to me being hugely pregnant and overdue. I was desperate to get him out of me and into my arms. But of course, Jack being Jack, did things on his own time table.



On Jack: 
Aside from being late entering this world, Jack has been pretty much ahead of curve on everything else. I'm #sorrynotsorry for bragging on my kid, but he's so smart. I'm astounded by his intelligence and desire to learn. He asks a billion  and one questions a day, understands my overuse of hyperbole and now picks up on his dad's copious usage of sarcasm.

He loves school. He is such a social creature and will play with any kid who looks like fun. He is so brave about meeting new people, which is so great to me considering how shy I have always been.  Jack is still a huge mama's boy, but loves hanging out with Dad most of all and absolutely adores his little sister.



Size & Eating Habits: 
Jack is about  slightly above average in height.He's close to 40 inches, I think. He has a well-check visit next week. He hasn't quite hit the 40lb mark in weight yet. He's still skinny. And picky as hell about food.

He says his favorite foods are: pepperoni pizza, Ramen noodles (lolz), waffles, chicken nuggets, sweet peppers and grapes.

He eats a handful more food items than that, but not much. I keep hoping this pickiness is just a stage. I'd hate for my kid to go off to college refusing to eat anything but pizza, Ramen and chicken nuggets. UGH. Although I guess he already does have the college kid diet down. *shrug* we are working on it.


School: 
He's reading at late-first grade reading level, according to his recent UPSTART preschool assessment.  Although his interests usually fall under math and science. At his regular preschool, he is a popular kid with the students and his teacher said he's kind and helpful. He's super excited to go to kindergarten next year.

Hobbies:
Jack loves playing outside, but he also has spent a good amount of time playing video games with his dad this winter. He loves Mario and Kirby the most. He's also a big Plants vs. Zombies fan. He also loves blocks, Lego's and anything magnetic. He has a few favorite shows on Netflix like Pokemon, WakFu and Voltron. He's definitely into various anime series, which is something he must get from his dad. Ha! Although I've been enjoying watching these shows with him. Beats the Paw Patrol and Dora I have to watch with Luna. lol.



Anxiety: 
I've mentioned this about Jack before, but the poor guy did inherit some of my mental struggles unfortunately. His anxiety is getting to a pretty debilitating point. In some ways, it's improved and he's developed better coping skills. In some scenarios he really struggles. He's terrified of being left alone in a room in our house for even a minute. He has full-blown panic attacks if he's unsure of where one us is, even if he knows we are in the house somewhere. It's difficult to even go to the bathroom without terrifying him. However, he's vastly improved with how he deals with going to school (loves it!) and if he goes to his cousin's house while I work until Daniel picks him up, he does really great. It's helpful that our cousins are amazing and live right next door. Ha!

I'm just grateful we've been able to identify and have his anxiety diagnosed at a young age so he can get the help and support he needs to cope. I recognize a lot of what he goes through as to similar issues I had when I was his age. I'm really optimistic that Jack is going to be just fine overcoming these struggles, and if he falters, he will have a strong support system at home.


Brother Jack:
As I said above, Jack is the best big brother. He loves Luna and she is in awe of him. She copies everything he does. They hang out all of the time and only once in a while have regular sibling squabbles. It's the best feeling in the world watching these babies of mine grow up together with such a strong bond. I'm so lucky to have them both and they are lucky to have each other.




Well that is the update I have for you all my sweet kid. I know you probably all see a lot less photos of him on social media now, but that is because he's always moving and isn't terribly cooperative for pics. But that is okay. I will take what I can get. Ha!

Being a mama is really hard. It's by far the hardest phase of my life thus far, but having this kid to parent, definitely makes it worth it. I underestimated how much I could love another person until this little human came along. He's definitely taught me more than I feel like I've taught him. I truly feel incredibly lucky to know him and to watch him learn and grow every day.


Happy, 5, sweet boy.

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