Spring is here.

What a weekend! Friday we had the Ladybug Social (a/k/a The Great Ladybug Massacre or The Ladybug Stomp) at Jake’s school. He loved having us at his school and loved playing with the ladybugs. He was wonderful this year (at not squashing them) and braver than most of the kids who wouldn’t hold them at all!




Saturday Jake had his first swim lesson! He was hilarious. As soon as he saw the pool the shoes came off, the shirt came off… he was ready to drop trou right there on the deck as long as it meant he could go SWIM! Once dressed he hovered at the shower waiting for the teachers to be ready. His teacher explained that she was going to get a bite to eat and walked over to the side. The second she stepped away from the area where she had been eating, he was on her: “are you done eating? Can we go in now?” He did great. He kicked. He paddled. He blew bubbles. She was super impressed with him and he smiled the whole time. It was fun. Lessons start full-time (every weekend) starting in May.
Monday was Passover. Jake and I have been reading a selection of Passover books for weeks now (mostly Matzoh Ball Boy and Dinosaur on Passover) so he was completely looking forward to the seder. He has learned many new words in preparation for this particular holiday including yarmulke, plague, recline, afikomen, bubbe, rabbi, yenta, feh, and nosh. He was looking forward to the following things, in no particular order: wearing his yarmulke, saying the four questions, dipping “kid wine” (grape juice) out of his cup for the plagues, and finding the afikomen. I coached him to say “Ama, what’s it worth to you?” when he found the afikomen – for which he got a new Chuggington chugger. Very exciting. He did a great job with all of it, including being patient while we went through the ceremony (quickly. Most of it.). He also loved dinner (he mostly ate eggs, matzoh ball soup, and strawberries and rhubarb). All in all, I think he’s hooked on Passover (but it will probably fade when Hanukkah comes around).
In other news, he’s doing really well with his guitar, having fun at school, and still loving the new bike. Spring is here and the days are just packed!

Super Jake!

OK, he was being Metro Man (from MegaMind), but Super Jake is cuter...

3 1/2 years!

Well, Jake turned 3 ½ on the 28th. It’s been ages since I’ve updated this blog, and there’s no way to cover all the darling that’s occurred since January, so I’m just going to have to settle for this weekend.

Friday: We got to try out the bike trailer that my wonderful brother gave us. At first, Jake was scared to be on it, because he’s only been on a bike with training wheels and this one tips like a real bike as Steve rides (at the moment it only hooks to Steve’s bike, but we’re working on that). He was making these sad little panting noises, it was terrible. But after about 3 minutes on it, as I suspected, he was in love! He can pedal, although it’s almost too big, and goes just as fast as we do! It makes our rides to LoLo’s house quick (and easier that jogging behind him as he rides his bike) and will make going to ice cream on Tuesdays much faster. I can’t wait for the water to go down so we can ride on the bike trail by the river!

Saturday: I had to go to San Fran again for my last Bar Grading meeting so, after guitar (Jake is doing really well and playing like a big boy already!), Jake and Steve went to the Sac Zoo for their Earth Fest. Mostly because they had face painting and Jake wanted a spider. Back up: Jake wanted a Spee-I-Der, like MegaMind says it. In fact, he wanted an Arachnis Deathicus, just like in MegaMind. However, Jake had not yet mastered his “th” sound and still says it like “f,” which leads to it being and Arachnis Deficus. Well, that would be a totally different spider, and certainly not one that you would want on your face (ew! A poop spider!). This pronunciation also led to a lot of laughter on the part of his sadly-not-Latin-deficient parents. Well, Jake hates nothing more than being laughed at, so he actually taught himself to say “th” just so he could say “Arachnis DeaTHicus.” He over-pronounces and spits a little, but it’s progress and it’s SO cute. Good going Jake!

In general, Jake is a happy, smart, and polite little guy. He is also 3 ½. He tells me “NO” on a regular basis. The benefit of this rebellious period, as opposed to when he’s 16, is that he’s still small enough for me to pick his sorry little butt up and make him brush his teeth. Sweetie, the harder you cry, the easier it is to reach your molars. But, as he will tell you, he’s a BIG BOY now, and he’s getting better at doing things by himself all the time. I had him go in his room and change his shirt all by himself yesterday! Ok, he put it on backward, but he put it on himself! So proud. It seems like no time since it was only ½ and I’m sure it’ll be no time at all until there’s a 1 in front of that 3. Thank heavens he’s such a cool kid that, no matter what, it’s always fun.