Easter

Yes, I am a little behind but we have been busy and I'm a little worn out at the end of each day right now! We had a really fun Easter as our good friend Gomero (Jason) came to visit us. It has been 3 years since we last saw him (very briefly) so we were thrilled to have him here for a few days. We also got to meet his girlfriend who stayed with us for one night and spent Easter Sunday with us.In honor of Jason's visit we hosted several of our friends for Easter lunch and we had a fabulous brisket and lots of good food.

The Boy

As promised (although a little late) I wanted to share my thoughts of my son. At six years old he is probably one of the most unique children I have ever met. He is at times a complete loner - loving to play alone and be by himself, and at other times he craves attention and must be sitting RIGHT NEXT TO US (he still doesn't understand personal space). His intelligence blows us away every day and I am beginning to think he has a photographic memory as he can spout off information about the most random subjects. Last night when JP was reading his bedtime story - okay, we don't get to read stories anymore - when they were reading about the planets, Bubba was beside himself that the book was incorrect in how many moons Jupiter has. He demanded to know when the book was written. We have recently completed these books:

The Human Body was a few weeks ago and I put my foot down and said I was not reading a bedtime story about the pancreas . . . just doesn't leave you all warm and fuzzy to go to sleep. JP has been doing most of the reading the last few weeks especially since he has moved on to the Solar System. Of course he can read these books without our help but he still likes the companionship of having one of us read to him each night which I am not ready to pass up.

Last week he participated in the school district's gifted testing so we can determine if he qualifies for the Self-Contained Gifted Program. We are very excited that the PV School District may be adding another classroom for this program at the elementary school right down our street. This is where we want him to go to school regardless and we will be extremely lucky if this program pans out. It will give him the additional challenges he will need to keep him motivated since he is far beyond the average first grader in terms of reading and math (not to mention general knowledge about science and geography). I don't know when we will find out if he is "gifted" but I know he is and I really don't need a test to tell me that. They gave us this great check list to help parents determine if their child is gifted and what I figured out is a) I was not a gifted child and b) JP was clearly gifted. I was what you would label a "Bright Child." This means I was smart and I enjoyed school but I was more motivated by accolades and grades than about learning. Gifted children are not typically motivated by grades; they enjoy learning. There are several more criteria and Bubba fits them all.

Beyond reading his passions are Legos and baseball. He can play either for hours at a time and has even created a baseball game out of his Legos. He is sensitive and loving and can be very emotional when something goes against him. He loves his sister and will play baseball and Legos with her and be silly with her. Just yesterday he gave up 50 cents so she could ride in the Mickey Mouse car at Babies R Us (in fairness he thought he was going to get to ride but figured out quickly that he didn't fit in the car). He also paid her $5 to poop in the toilet . . . .

Bubba's Birthday

Yesterday was The Boy's 6th birthday. It was an interesting day that left me so exhausted by night time that I was not interested in getting on the computer to blog or share pictures. I really don't know where to begin my reflection on the last 6 years as it has gone by so quickly and he has developed into this amazing person.

Let me start by telling you about his day . . . . It started around our usual time of 6:00 when I heard him in his room reading (not out loud but I could hear the pages turning). Once everyone was up we opened presents in our room and then got ready to go out to breakfast. He has been requesting breakfast at Denny's for a few weeks now so we figured this was a good day to do it. Well, we picked the wrong Denny's. The service was awful but the food was good and we left with full bellies. Pickle had swim school at 9:30 so we went home to gather our stuff and head out again. Bubba spent the 1/2 hour playing in the play area and sitting in the "castle" listening to princess stories with a bunch of girls. Luckily I am confident he was way more interested in the book than the girls . . . .

We ran over to Target and then JP had to go to the Dentist . . . pretty mundane stuff for a kid's birthday. The Boy and I spent most of Pickle's nap playing Monopoly. It was fun and I have given him fair warning that when he is 7 I will no longer tell him when I land on one of his properties. Maybe I'll extend that to when he is 8 since the game is recommended for 8 year olds and above, but we'll see if he learns to pay attention.

When Pickle got up I took them to the library as most of the day JP spent painting in Flora's room so I needed to get them out of there for a bit to leave Daddy alone. Now all of this brings us to dinner . . . which was chaotic to say the least. You see, The Boy requested crab for his birthday and not lump crab meat or imitation crab but crab. I know it was all about having the actual crab in front of him to study since he started talking about this 3 months ago when they bought whole lobster for my birthday. Unfortunately we live in a land locked state and getting crab (for a reasonable price) is not easy. So we settled for Raclette which is a thing JP's family did when he was growing up and we have adapted it to our growing family. It is a Scandinavian tradition of cooking your own food on the table. Bubba loves it so it was a good consolation for not having crab.

After phone calls from all his grandparents and his cousins and some brownie and ice cream, we finally got them both in bed. Now looking back on it the day doesn't seem so busy but being 35 weeks pregnant, I am much more relaxed sitting at work today!

I will get some pictures up tonight or tomorrow from his birthday party and the few we took yesterday and I will also tell you a bit more about him and his shining abilities.

The game

So two days a week now we load up the super Van and head over to the local ball fields for some little league. It is a riot to say the least. Bubba loves every minute of it. His exuberance gets the better of him quite often though as he routinely runs to cover first base, even if he is catching or playing right field. The only down side to the league is there are only three teams so we see the same people over and over again.


The other interesting part of a night at the game is chasing Pickle around. Not one to sit and enjoy the show she spends most of the night trying to escape parental clutches and get on the field with Bubba. She certainly enjoys going though.

Exhausted

One of the bonuses of getting a big girl bed in our house is being allowed to go to bed with some type of light by which to read. Pickle is usually given a headlamp because it uses the least amount of energy and the batteries are easily rechargeable. She was a little too tired after one of Bubba's baseball practices and neither turned off her headlamp nor did she scoot down from her reading perch. She basically passed out. Also note the two just in case pacifiers in her clutches.

Lego Play

Here's what Bubba did all afternoon last weekend while his sister slept. He had built this Lego Rescue Boat that actually floats and he pestered us for days to be able to pay with it in the water. He started out leaning over the side of the tub and then he got in the tub with his pants rolled up but slipped at one point and ended up with a wet bum so he changed into his swimsuit and went "all in."

Dental Surgery Gone Wrong!

This one is for my Dad! Pickle did this to herself and I couldn't resist sharing. They are plastic pliers so no harm and no pain!