Jack is…I don’t know how to explain it.  He is like JACK.  Or *****JACK*****!!  He is more Jack than I thought Jack could be.  One moment he is melting me by saying something amazingly adorable like “I certainly am feeling better” while tilting his head to the side; the next he is full out bawling because I told him he couldn’t climb on me like a mountain.  “Mom, it hurts my feelings when you’re mad at me!”  He is Jack*10, an emotional whirlwind of a kid turning 4 years old in four days.  He radiates.

His memory is astounding.  Last night David was recounting a conversation the two had in the car on the way home and Jack corrected him, “I didn’t say dinosaur, I said dragon!”  Prior to going to Texas with his dad, I told him we would go see Toy Story 3 when he got back.  Over a week later, I showed up at his dad’s and the first thing he asked was, “Are we going to see Toy Story?!?!?!”  (Gone are the days where I can promise him anything and be lucky enough that he forgets about it completely…)  He talks about his Aunt Holly and cousin Sabrina all the time and he hasn’t even seen them in 6 months!

I don’t know how this kid has the energy he does.  He didn’t fall asleep until after 11pm last night and was bright and bouncy this morning.  David insisted that he stay in bed when he awoke at 5:45am; thank goodness he fell back to sleep for a bit and bought us a few more Z’s.  Still, the adults are dragging and Jack was racing me to the car on the way to daycare.

Jack wants to know everything.  He is in the WHY stage.  He doesn’t ask the same why question over and over, thankfully.  I think we must be pretty good at flooding him with information in answer to his questions.  I’ve had a difficult time explaining how the days of the week work, though.  He thinks every day that the sun comes up is Sunday.    I’ve attempted to explain that today is Friday because it comes after Thursday and that there is an order to the days in a week but…”NO mom, it’s SUNDAY! See the sun?!”  Erm, okay.  I think it’s time to put a calendar up in his room.

Until recently, Jack refused to sing or dance (and he threw a fit if I tried!).  These days he is humming to himself constantly, telling himself stories while sitting on the potty, and asking to listen to Lady Gaga (yeah…I don’t know – he is also convinced that Rihanna is pretty and dances well even though he has only heard her on the radio.  He is a big fan.).  We dance around the house together without a care in the world.  He is constantly acting out “movies” that are basically him acting like a Transformer or Buzz Lightyear.  “Hey, mom, wanna watch THIS movie about gigantic aliens?? *pew* *pew* *pew*”  This picture was taken in daycare where he staged a dinosaur attack:

It always astonishes me to see how much love surrounds Jack (even the people who don’t like kids love him!).  He is a favorite everywhere he goes – to the point where I wonder if some people only acquaint themselves with me because of him (I’m serious – he has more adults coming to his birthday party than kids).  He is the leader at daycare and all the other kids want what Jack has (even if it’s just a knit hat that he calls a Viking helmet).  They will even try whatever veggie Jack devours – from bell pepper to asparagus.  (He is convinced that these foods will help him fly, by the way.)

I can’t help but think back to when he was a baby.  There were certainly elements of his personality there from the beginning but never could I have imagined that he would grow into the child he is now.  I’m astounded by this kid and totally blessed to have him as my son.  I adore him and my life is so much richer and more meaningful with him in it.

Tuesday is Happy Birth Day to us both.