One Year Old Reading -- Our Truly Amazing Grace :o)

Our little Amazing Grace living up to her name! :o) Ha!

So proud of our little smart princess!!

She is so opinionated, determined, funny, and bright.

Seriously, who can read at one and begs to do it?!?

I know she's ours but I just think she's outstanding.

She's constantly teaching us to not underestimate her.

There is nothing I will ever believe this child can't do if she sets her mind to it.

First Day VS Last Day -- {of 3 year old preschool}

 

Our little man finished his very first year of school,

and with smashing success, I might add.

Joey learned so so so much this year and has made us so very very proud!!

Now it's time for summer :o)
 

 

 Trying to hide his smile from me.  Little stinker!
 

Right before his concert

 

With one of his best friends, Niko.  His little face just spells mischief!

 



 

And ohhhhhhhhh, our little so-not-shy boy who LOVES to sing, who comes home with Best Singer Awards, who got partnered with the best most expressive little girl in his school, who was put front and center for the show .. froze and cried and did not like the crowd.  Ugh.  Later when I asked him why he was crying he told me, "Because I just had a feeling I wanted to be by Mommy."  He did warm up after a while, but the beginning was rough!

 



 

Warming up and looking super tiny paired with the big kids in the front row :o)

 



 

Annnnnd then completely unphased, a little juice will heal a million hardships. Ha!

 

Later that night we went for dinner at Friendly's with my Mom and Joe's parents.  Joey's choice.

Obviously, for the ice cream. :o)

He had been wanting the rescue Bots, Boulder and Bumble Bee to complete his collection for quite some time and we had made him wait to get them.  We told him he could ask for them as an end of the school year present.  He also got the last Switch and Go Dino that he didn't have. These are his favorite things right now :o)

His excitement did not disappoint!

 



 

Of course, Little Sissy could not be left out.

 



 

Pretty Princess.

 



 

Bumblebee!

 

 

Joey with his Maymee.

 



Joey with his Mema and Grandpa.

We had such a sweet night celebrating our boy and all he accomplished this year.
Our kids are so lucky to have loving and involved grandparents who make everything even more special :o)

A Picture

Oh, this boy.

Nearly three and a half.

 He's so full of life.

And he's also so full of something else...

 He's reading, he's coming up with one-liners that are truly witty and funny.

And he's also doing something else.

His heart is forming.

Beneath all the endless energy, the jumping, and wiggling, the silliness and superheroes,

 something is happening.

He has always been very loving and compassionate yet he is showing a deeper sense of what

is means to be good.

An absorption of the things we have tried to teach him.

Autonomous gestures of forgiveness, contrition, love, gratitude, and respect.

And we get a front row seat to the show. 

  It is common place now that when he does something he shouldn't have

he will return, sometimes hours later much after the incident has been forgotten, and truly apologize. 

 You can see the emotion written on his face.

It washes away with the ease of a three year old's life when encountered with a simple hug.

Gets me every time. 

Today we were walking into a Chinese restaurant.

Joey was running behind me, apparently not watching where he was going, I opened the door to go in and hit him right in the face with the door.

Hard. Enough to make him fall to the floor. 

The noise the door made when it hit his face was enough to make me afraid that I had broken his teeth once I realized he was what I hit with the door.

As I picked him up, apologizing profusely, he looked up still crying with his eyes still pouring out tears, let his eyes meet mine and said,

 "I forgive you."

Every night at bedtime we pray.

We each talk about what we are grateful for.

For a long time most of what Joey was grateful for had to do with food. Quite a bit of sweetness scattered in but mostly things somehow having to do with food.  :o)

About a month ago Joey said

"I am thank you for love ... and I am grateful for ... you."

Every night since, I say what I am grateful for in my day.  It is always something different.

Joey always says he is grateful for me.

I prompt him to add something else.

Last night he was thankful for his Daddy playing Batman with him on the floor before bed.

Tonight while I listened silently,

"I am grateful for (he has stopped saying 'thank you for') you ... and I am grateful for Gracie .. she is so silly sometimes."

And I could hear the smile on his face and he love in his voice.

I said,

"I am grateful for Grace too and I think she loves you the mostest mostest."

He said, "Yeah"

And I could hear his smile grow bigger.



3 Years and 1 Month

 

Tenderhearted

Mommy's Boy

Also Known As The Flash, Superman, and Green Lantern

Beyond Excellent Big Brother

Sweet Teacher

Ice Cream Lover

Future Pediatrician

Occasional Future Garbage Man

 Generous Kiss Granter

Compliant At Bed Time

Belly Laugher

Daddy Wrestler

Letter Master

 

Says "L"s As "Y"s

Keeps Teachers Busy

Works on Simple Addition

"Very Yikes"Things Instead Of "Really Likes" Things

Drinks From Cups And Sippys Too

Water lover

Soccer Player

Grace Protector 

Learning To Walk In Line

Counts To 100 With Minimal Help

Engaged To Mommy

 

Caillou Watcher

Learning to Read

Rarely Forgets

Never Met A Stranger

Constantly Imagining

Fantasy Engaging Lover of Facts

Skillful Charmer

Highly Compassionate

 

First Born

Book Affectionado

Light Of Our lives

Laugher Inciter

Tension Breaker

Heartstring Tugger

Quick As a Whip

Blue Eyed Boy 

Apple Picking 2012

First Day of Preschool

Preschool.

Oh my.

Today was the big day.

There was a lot of build up to this day. For everyone.

Joe and I laid in bed last night, both of us with tears in our eyes.  I am normally the emotional one. 

I watched him, wanting to let him speak first.  He was sitting in that place that stretches you so hard as a parent -- wanting to hold on a little longer when you realize you have to let go, even if it's just a little bit.  When it's your baby it doesn't matter that it's just a little bit.  It stings just the same.

"It's just that he's my little guy," he said, "and if he has a bad day I just know I'm going to want to go in there and rip the teachers' eyes out."

And he looked at me out of corner of his eye.

And we both started laughing.

It's hard not to want to protect them from anything and everything.

Joey has been saying he doesn't want to go to school.

He is afraid Joe and I will "be lost" when he is at school and it worries him that I cannot go with him. A teacher's child and he didn't want to go to school.

We decided to expect the worst and cautiously hope for ... something better than the worst? Ha!

In the last two weeks he has been showing signs of serious seperation anxiety.

Well, my confident, silly, energetic, smart, friendly, all-boy, tender hearted Joey did wonderfully today.  After a short little "I don't want to go schooooool" pouty faced conversation we dropped the topic and had breakfast.  By the time he was dressed he was asking if it was time to go yet and ... he was eager! I seemed to good to be true.  I really couldn't believe his apparent change of heart.

He happily let me take about 700 pictures. Not normal.

The happily part, I mean, not the 700 pictures.  The 700 pictures is normal.

And then we got in the car.

Snuggle buggles (as he calls them) Dinosaurito and Froggy joined us. :o)

We parked about a block away and walked up to his school.

He happily jib jabbed all the way up to his school asking if this building or that building was his school, telling us we should address him as The Flash and talking about how he was as fast as the cars that were driving by.  We held hands and I reminded him he should tell people his name is Joey at school ... and not The Flash, which could totally happen right now.

We got up to his school, he happily posed for more pictures, and then seamlessly went right up the stairs to where the classrooms are. I heard a child crying as we walked up the stairs and internally breathed a sigh of relief.  It would be okay if he cried, he would not be the only one.  But in the end it was not an issue.  He got a name tag, easily took his teacher's hand when I urged him as she led him to his room, and sat right down to see what the teacher in his room was doing with the two kids who were already there. My mom and I looked at each other as they sorted and matched little colored rectangles.  The two little girls quietly held back, attached to the parents who were with them.  Joey sat on the floor and was completely himself.  Not shy at all.  He did not feel he needed me. He was doing well.

And so it seems the day continued, for Joey at least.

I was crying as soon as I turned to walk out and my Mom was too.  I blame you, Mom, for my overly emotional response to motherhood. :o) I drown my sorrows for an hour and a half at Target while my aunt watched Grace.  That seemed to do the trick.

He came home reciting and acting out quite an intricate song/chant about going on a bear hunt.

I was sure to have him show everyone of course.  His memory is amazing.  He will learn so much this year.

Of course it's only the first day and there will be challenges to come and bumps in the road, I know this.

But the first day was fantastic and, for now, that's all that matters.

We are so proud of our precious little love!

Happy First Day of Preschool Mr. J :o)

 

Also, today makes me think back to this day.