Saturday, December 31, 2011

NYE Countdown: 11PM

More trips. We spent a day in the East Bay, to visit Fairyland and Alameda Beach before your P/T and O/T appointments at a regional facility. I think this is right before you took off ona growth spurt. You're still inches shorter than your sister (now you're almost even).
You ADORE Snow White. You want to buy her Pez dispenser and you love her as a cookie jar.

Pretty soon you'll have to double over to get in ...

Berry patch. Your sister has to lean over to hug you -- she can't do that now unless you're sitting!

Again, good self-regulating! Sorry about the noisy birds ...

You did, however, love the Pacific Ocean!
You started to lose your baby teeth:

Then there was the long van trip to Washington state, to visit Daddy's mom. Boy, that was a fun trip. She got to see how much you'd grown, in so many ways!



NYE Countdown: 10PM

Oh my gosh, the Wonder League! You loved it so. Daddy took you to most of the games and was so proud of you! He loved to tell me stories about how cute you were and how fast you could run (and not only around the bases)! He told me how happy and proud you were to be playing baseball on a team. We were so lucky to find out about it and take part:
Running with your Buddy to score at home plate.

Your pictures. You still love looking at them.

You figured out more how to block out noises that overwhelm you, like at a coffee shop or even on a submarine ride:


You loved to yell out "Hi, Darla!" and wave at her.
You still had a thing for hats, which was cute on our trip to Disneyland. You also did not get carsick on the long road trip to LA, San Luis Obispo, and back home. Proud of you, big guy!
 

You also started using your words to tell us more of things you like -- such as requesting the Buzz Lightyear etch-a-sketch as your souvenir from our Disneyland Resort trip. You kept on using it too, which again is a change from before.

NYE Countdown: 9PM

Even at the end of Kindergarten in May, you still look so much younger to me than just recently in End of November/December.
You don't fit those shoes and that shirt is a little small on you now. I'll bet the pants are almost floods.

Still, we did enjoy the nifty sheeps' clothing at the Healdsburg Future Farmers' Fair.

More activities with your sister: Dining outdoors at the Hungry Puppy Cafe.

Drawing together with chalk on the sidewalk. You both loved doing that this year!

For the first time, you did writing: Dad, Mom, Anna, and ....

James

You're still my sweet boy, which is lucky ....

because I remember that when you're naughty.

The boy who cried at the Christmas show, five months later turned out to love doing
the Chicken Dance in front of everyone ... including me.

Big Development: James can sit criss-cross applesauce. This was the first time I ever saw him do it.
Also, he is letting the face paint stay on his cheek. Usually he swipes it right off.
End of year Kindergarten field trip at Haworth Park.

See this shot? This is Mommy enjoying the poolside while both kids swim in the pool, without fear or floaties.

NYE Countdown: 8PM

So many things about this year that I've forgotten, like all the things you and your sister started to play together -- like puppet shows in the tent clubhouse:


I totally forgot taking this one. You were "reading" the books,
playing with the dollhouse, and making that car go places!

You got over generator noises enough to enjoy a classmate's part at Pump It Up.
You even went inside one of the jumpies -- huge for you!

Oh my yes - how could I forget how much you liked t-ball and baseball this year?

The swing! And you are having fun by sitting on it, not hanging on your stomach!

I was dreaming of this -- and the day came this year!

You still love your bubbles and balloons.

My big helper! You also try to help sweep up inside.

You like writing your name and some of the messages in the cards you like to make and send.

By Easter, you could handle me in the classroom. You loved your class.

Eggsactly! I can see why you loved them!

You love this sign at a neighbourhood market, and you still love their films.

You still have that mouth fixation thing too!

NYE Countdown: 7PM

Dinner time is over! You are still eating the same thing for dinner: about 7 chicken nuggets (not too hot), pretzels or bread or tortilla chips, and apple slices (red apples only). After dinner, you are staying up longer. You used to go to bed by 7:30. Now it's between 8 and 8:30 (well, 8:30 on weekends).

You are still getting me up way too early in the mornings, but at we at least have our system. Before 6am -- lie quietly in bed, with Mommy hoping and praying you fall back to sleep. 6:00-7:ishAM - you can turn on the light in your room and play QUIETLY (with your door shut)  until 7(ish).Breakfast for you is normally 2 toasted blueberry waffles, with nothing on them. You get milk with a bit of Miralax, to keep things moving on through.

Here are some new things about you this year:
You started to write .. and even tried a bit of drawing.

You liked writing your name. This is how you started. Now you can write it on a lone on your homework sheet.

You started to dress up and play. You have a fantastically zany sense of style!

You also got so much better at dressing yourself. You're even better than your big sister at this.

You started wanting to take pictures, and became much more thoughtful about the ones you took.

You started understanding that you can type letters and words in computers to make things happen.

NYE 2011: Countdown at 6PM

2011, no offense, but you stunk at the end. Good riddance!

The beginning was not so bad. In fact, looking back at January pics, I can see how much the kids have grown. I remember the concerns I had then for them. How they powered on through and made their own success stories. That makes me happy to remember:


James went from not being very distracted in class, barely being able to write, and crying when I showed up to help at school to a confident first grader, who is able to sit in class for most of it, get A+ grades on spelling tests, and shows off for me at school singalongs.

In fact, this is what we read tonight, together:

I am almost reconciled to the fact that my baby boy is gone and my big, almost 7-year old is growing up and out almost every day.