That's My Boy!

I am so proud of Cole! He had an issue with a boy at the Pirate Park and handled it beautifully.

He and Jay were playing pirates with a boy they met there. At one point, they climbed up a tall structure with a long tube slide. Suddenly, Cole flew out the bottom of the slide on his belly and landed face first in the sand. Poor guy was gagging from all the sand in his nose and mouth and could barely see with sand in his eyes. While I was comforting him, the new friend came over and admitted he had pushed Cole down the slide. When I asked him why, he replied, "A zombie was coming." After mildly scolding the boy (his father was close by, but didn't seem like he was going to do much), we went to the car to get water and wipes.

After a while, Cole asked if we could go back to the park. I was surprised that he still wanted to play. As we walked back across the street, I heard him whispering under his breath. When we got there, he walked right up to the boy.

"Are you still gonna play?" the boy asked.

"Yes," Cole replied. "But I don't want you to push me down the slide unless I say it's ok."

The boy agreed and they continued to run around like crazy pirate boys.

It turns out the muttering I heard was Cole rehearsing what he was going to say to the boy. I'm so proud of the mature way he handled it. Times like this make all the hard work of parenting worthwhile.

(We left when the kid found a discarded plastic golf club and began swinging it at the boys.)

A Typical Night (Right Before Bedtime)

The Jig Is Up

Puppy #2 came out of the closet!

Apparently, he grew tired of hiding on the top shelf of the pantry and took a kamikaze dive onto the tile floor.

Cole, Jay, and Puppy #1 discovered his existence when they went downstairs before bed to retrieve Orange, Cole’s beloved monkey. They found Orange in the kitchen, and then, a few feet away spotted Puppy #2.

Laughing wildly, the boys raced upstairs to show Rob (I wasn’t home).

“There’re TWO puppies!” Jay exclaimed ecstatically.

Thinking quickly, Rob told them it was puppy’s brother visiting from Africa for a few days. Then, this morning, Rob told Jay that puppy #2 had to go back to Africa soon.

“No he doesn't,” Jay replied. “His parents are coming here.”

Now we need to keep track of two puppies. I may be online ordering more spares.

(For the back story, see here and here.)

Shark Teeth

In continuation of his amazing teething abilities (his first baby tooth arrived at four months old and he quickly had the full set by 11 months), Cole got his first two grown-up teeth so quickly they came in behind his bottom front baby teeth.

I rushed him to the dentist because I had never heard of such a thing. The dentist took a look and nonchalantly said, "Oh, he's got shark teeth."

Cole thought that was incredibly cool. I would too, except it means that orthodontia is definitely in our future.

"I'm Four!"

After his friend Tyson had his fourth birthday in September, Jay insisted he also turned four and ignored any attempts to correct him.

One day a neighbor asked how old he was. He held up four fingers and said:

"I'm four, but my grown-ups think I'm three."

(Now that his birthday is a couple months away and talk of his own party has started, he's decided to be three again.)

Jay's First Day of School

Jay loves preschool and his teacher Ms Cathy. Almost every night he asks if tomorrow is a school day, and, if it is, he gets a huge grin and does a little happy dance. This year he goes to the Isle of Palms Rec Center program three times a week. It's a small class with one teacher and 7 kids.

The first months of school, he'd be ready an hour before we had to leave. I'd talk him into watching Blues Clues to kill time, and he would hop onto the chair with his backpack still on and his lunch box in his lap, ready to race out the door.

He, of course, wanted the same style backpack as Cole. As you can see, it's huge on him. It's hilarious to watch him walk with the bag bumping against his little bum. After careful consideration, he also picked out a Hello Kitty themos to go in his lunch box. So far, none of his friends have told him that Hello Kitty is for girls like I expected. Or, if they have, it hasn't bothered him. Already at 3 the kids are acutely aware of the lines between girls and boys. Jay, however, still likes pink and plays with his baby doll. I hope he can hold onto his individuality as well as his excitement about school.

Cole's First Days of School

It was hard for me to have Cole go to kindergarten. The school day seemed like such a long time away from home. The first few months were a big transition. I think he was a little homesick and I definitely missed him. Poor Jay really missed him. His constant companion and playmate was gone for seven hours each day and I was a poor substitute.

Now, several months into the school year, we have all adjusted. Cole seems to be loving it. He's so proud of the work he does. I'm glad we didn't push reading on him in preschool because he is at the perfect level to learn quickly and not be bored.

He's also making some good friends, some of whom we were excited to learn live in our neighborhood. A couple of the boys are only children, so Cole gets invited to their houses quite often. It makes me glad to have had two boys close in age who love to play together.