The Golden Age

We learned in Elementary Ed. that 5 was the golden age, and I can't believe my sweet boy is already there! He has grown up so, so much this year.  It seems like it started around the time he entered Pre-K, and he's matured and changed so much since then.  He talks very grown up, and is a lot more independent.

Someone referred to James recently as an old man in a little boy's body, and that is so true.  He is an old soul in a lot of ways.  He thinks things through to make good decisions, he takes calculated risks, he's responsible, likes to clean up his room and sighs with delight from the cleanliness of it when he's done, he gets himself dressed and buttons his top button, and I can't think of more examples now, but I notice that from time to time.  He'll say to me, "Don't forget Jack's shoes!", or things similar to that, that make me laugh.

James is very into creating things.  He has an incredible imagination and loves to go off on his own and just create things.  He uses just about anything around the house that he can find (which can be annoying because he makes lots of messes).  The detail in his creations amazes me, too.  One of his favorite things to make is airplanes or jets.  When we got back from Disney World, he went off on his own and drew the Magic Kingdom castle from memory.  It looked very much like it!  Seriously better than I could have done.

James can be a very good brother, and a typical rub-it-in-your-face/push-your-buttons big brother also.  He and Jack have such a love/hate relationship going on right now.  He and Jack's relationship can make my heart smile, and then make me want to pull my hair out at the next moment.  I truly love it though.  They are enjoying each other more than ever. James makes Jack say funny things, and then they both laugh hysterically.  They love to wrestle like bear-cubs, and I love how James gets tickled with Jack's silly two-year-old behavior and grins from ear to ear about it.  We just moved into a new house a couple of weeks ago, and it seems like their relationship has blossomed even more since then.  I've been so busy, I guess, that they have no other choice than to play together!  They love to play chasing games together, pretend, tickle each other (more James tickling than Jack), and just fun physical brotherly games, but they don't always play too well together with toys.  This typically brings out the death-scream in Jack.  Some days are better than others.  More things on them, James calls Jack "diaper boy", not in a bad way, but that's just his nickname for him. They also like to pretend to be characters from their favorite tv show...typical conversation. James, "Jack, do you want to be Marina, Snee, or Bubble Guppies?  Jack, "Bubble Guppies." :)  Here's an example of James being a stinker to Jack... Jack had slept really late (9:30), so he missed Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  James decided to go into his room (without my permission) and said in a sweet, high-pitched, fake-sympothetic voice, "I'm sorry you missed Jake and the Neverland Pirates!", and said it several times.  Jack would not have even known, but of course now he's crying because he missed it.  Thankfully I had it recorded, so Jack watched it, and James went to time-out!

James did this while I was packing. :)  He loves to take care of his stuffed animals.  When Josh says, "I'm the Daddy, James, you're the brother" (after he's tried to parent Jack), he'll say, "Well I'm the Daddy to my teddy bears!"

James has gotten swimming down!  A few weeks ago, he wouldn't let anyone let go of him in water.  Now, he's swimming with his head under water, laying flat as he swims (this was a challenge for him...he wanted to be upright so his head would stay above water), and pushing himself further every time we swim.

James is beyond excited about Kindergarten.  We went to K round-up, and it was so adorable how excited he got!  They took the kids out while the parents had a meeting, and he walked over with only slight hesitation and pushed back a big grin.  After our meeting and sign-ups, we went to go get him, and he was practically skipping with happiness.  We looked in each Kindergarten room and thought they were so much fun.  At one point, I said to Josh and James, "I like this room.", and James said, "Thanks."  :)  I loved that he had taken ownership of the school already!

James had an end-of-Pre-K evaluation, and his teacher told me that he is one of her "readers".  He can read Bob Books and loves to try to sound out words when we're out and about.  He knows a lot of sight words, which is all him learning this.  I am excited for him to pick up more reading skills when he hits Kindergarten!

James has always been a cautious boy, but his daring side has come out lately!  He still knows and abides by his limits, but I have noticed a big change in this lately.  He has gotten a lot more confident lately, and is just really coming into his own.  It is a joy to watch!

Two big struggles of his have pretty much gone away this past month!! His struggle with going #2 in the potty is pretty much gone!  Hooray!  That is such a huge relief for him (and Josh and me).  Also, his slight stuttering problem has gone away, and he is speaking completely fluently now.  In fact, these two have happened at almost the exact same time, which makes me wonder if they were connected.  James would hold his #2 for a week, then have little accidents until he finally would go.  It was very stressful.  After a lot of research, we tried a few things, and it just clicked!  He goes almost every day now.  (TMI, I know, but I'm so proud!)

I interviewed James around his birthday, and here's what his answers were...
Favorite Food: grilled cheese
Favorite Color: blue
Favorite Thing to Do: play with my toys
Favorite Toy: Police Car
Favorite Restaurant: Baylor taco bueno
Favorite Trip: Georgia
Favorite Thing to do There: ride in Nana Anna's gold cart
Favorite Thing about Jack: eating food with him
Favorite Thing about Mommy: hugging and kissing you
Favorite Thing about Daddy: tackling him
What do you want to be when you grow up? doctor policeman
(Me: Why do you want to be a doctor? James: To help people feel better.   Me: Why do you want to be a policeman? James: To arrest people.) lol:)
Favorite Memory: getting ice cream from McDonald's after the Y
Favorite Sport: football and soccer
Favorite Team: Little Kickers (his soccer team), The Lions (soccer team last Fall), Georgia, Alabama, Dallas Cowboys, and the Braves
Favorite tv show: Dino Dan (although I would say for sure it is now Jake and the Neverland Pirates)
Favorite Day of the Week: Thursday
Favorite Time of Year: April
Favorite Day of the Year: my birthday

We got James a basketball goal for his birthday, he has picked it up really fast!  He and Josh have lots of fun playing horse out there together.  We have all loved having a basketball goal, and I know that goal is going to get a lot of love over the years!

James is a little monkey and loves to climb as high as I'll let him.  He has really good balance and will climb, jump, and hop over things like it's nothing.

James' class at church has a bunch of high-energy, all-boy boys in it, and on Sunday mornings, they have started calling their class "the man-cave".  When a girl comes in, they get annoyed, because she messes up the man-cave. :)

James continues to love all things church.  He pays attention to all of his Bible stories and will tell us lots of details on the way home.  He knows some of them better than I do!  I need to do better than that!  He insists that we read our Bible story every night (not that I object, but we read 4 stories every night, and if I'm tired and tell him to pick 1, he picks the Bible), and the sweetest thing lately, is that he prays on his own!  I've caught him praying out loud before, and he'll tell me that he prayed for such and such.  Nothing makes me prouder than that.

He is truly such a source of joy for us.  He's such a great buddy to have around, very helpful and hard-working (when he wants to be), funny, silly, sweet, loving, compassionate, and just fun.  Five is such a milestone year, and I'm just trying to hold on to this age for as long as I can.  I'm not ready for him to get any bigger than this, because I know that once they hit school, times seems to speed up.  I'm so thankful to God for giving us this precious boy for the past 5 years.

Conversations with James:

1. James: It's going to be forEVER before I can be a daddy (in an "ugh" tone).  I have to be a kid for a really long time!

Me: Just enjoy being a kid!  Being a kid is great and you'll be a daddy before you know it!



2. James: Why can't I get married when I'm a kid?

Me: (hmm...thinking) Because you need to be older to make that decision.  You don't need to get married until your in your 20's or 30's!

James: Well, who am I going to marry?

Me: God will lead you to the right girl for you to marry.

James: Well, who am I going to marry though? You and Daddy?

Me: No, Daddy and I are already married to each other!

James: Who am I going to marry then?  Miss Aubrie? (his favorite babysitter)

Me: Lol!  Probably not!  (I wish I could have gotten into his mind to see what he was thinking!)