Jay turns Five!!!

This was back during the icy days...The boys had to release some energy and this is all I could come up with.

It entertained them all day and most of the next!

Eli still trying to flip over like Jay!

They flipped, wrestled, and danced all over the cushions....I guess this is one way to fluff your cushions!

"come here Eli, let me flip you in the air!"

As it turns out, picking up a few cushions is a lot easier than picking up toys at the end of the day

the harder they crashed, the harder they laughed!

battle wounds

The couch won.

Watching you tube cartoons at Wes' office

They are glued to Tom and Jerry

Jay's birthday with the Rosses!

He asked for a Ninja Turtle cake...he loved it...Eli is already digging in!

Eli is going in for another taste!  haha!

Soooo happy!

Wes and I made this sign about 20min before the party...Jay was ecstatic...I guess it meant we had an official party.

Picture with Papa and Mama Ross

wrestling with Brooks...they love their cousin!

Hugs right before they all body slam each other

Brooks is getting trampled on by those wild boys

singing happy birthday!

He was so excited to turn 5 this year...apparently, you can do everything better and faster when you are 5....

Thanks Uncle Oren....I really wanted Jay to have yet another gun in this house!

the big boys were so impressed

Of course Eli got presents from Mama Ross

He loves that fire buggy!

Wrestling with ninja turtle swords

Obviously, Jay slept well that night

Now celebrating at Mimi's house!  Ash and Kurt gave him his Woody costume, which is loves!

Posing for me

We tried to get mom with all of her grands....

It got out of control quickly

Eli is helping Gracie finish her supper

What a grown up boy we have!!

This girl knows how to handle her food!!  She is so much fun!

We thought it would be fun for all of them to bathe together. Gracie disagreed. Eli is giving us that "I didn't do it" look.

Jay had $5 to spend from Kurt and Ash and I needed an excuse to go to Target while in Valdosta.

If you ever wondered what a five year old would spend money on, this is it....face paint and silly string.

He asked for an Indian warrior face. I may need face painting lessons.

Jay's birthday present!

Close your eyes, Jay!

"Whoa!!!!"  he yelled. he was sooo excited!

I'm not sure how long he will need the training wheels but he has been riding on it every day so I doubt it will be very long.

Look at him go!

He has already had a bad fall....but it didn't slow him down. He loves telling everyone how fast he can ride his new bike!

Granny Curry sent Jay a card that folds into an airplane...he was totally impressed!

Look at that face....Eli is wondering where we are!

We took Jay to the Ga Aquarium for his last birthday surprise for the week.

They loved it!  Eli just plopped down on his belly and watched the fish for a while.

We "drove the boat" several times

Look at Eli trying to figure out what to do!

He's going along with it but has no idea what kind of game this is!

We let Jay be the photographer for the day (taking a picture of me in this one). He took pictures of everything....I haven't even looked back at them to see how they turned out yet. But he was so proud to be our camera man that day!

Eli was not into the 3D glasses....

We had the best time that day and the whole week....I cannot believe our Jay is this old!!

I have a lot more pictures to post but I wanted to keep this one all about Jay being the big 5!! I will update with the rest next time. As far as his birthday week....you saw the highlights above but we really did have a great time. I debated on having a party with his friends in town but decided we would do a big one next year after we've been settled in for a while. We did have a party at Jay's school and I brought a pinata for the kids to play with. That was the only other request, other than the ninja turtle cake, that Jay had. It was so funny to listen to him count down to turning five. He was so excited this year. It was like, once he turned 5, he could do anything. The day after his birthday he told me, "mom, but I don't feel different. I thought I was going to feel different since I'm five now." I went on to explain that he is different but has been changing over the last few months so he didn't see it. I reminded him of all the things he couldn't do last year that he does easily now and he finally believed me.

And as I write this I am reminded that I have not made a 5 year well check appt for him yet!  He won't get any shots this year though, thank goodness!  I also need to see how tall and how much he weighs...I am not prepared for this update, obviously. :)

As far as his other things: He is not as obsessed with super heros as last year but definitely plays with them often, just not daily anymore. He really doesn't focus on one particular toy or game at all. He likes switching around and doing different things every day. He does ride his bike everyday when he gets home from school and is thrilled about that. He is getting better but is not ready to ride without training wheels. After his bike ride, he and Eli usually spend the rest of the afternoon digging in the dirt. He loves baseball, soccer, and football. He is playing baseball with the YMCA this spring. It will start in about 2 weeks. That will be a fun outing for us again. I asked him if he'd rather do baseball or soccer and he chose baseball because, "I get a turn to hit the ball." and in soccer "everybody just runs faster than me so I never get to kick the ball."  I thought that was a justified reason, and shows how much thought he actually put into it too!

He still enjoys his pre-k at Mother's Love and loves his teachers, Mrs. Lindsey and Mrs. Lindsay. He complains about how long it is and that he always has to sit still and listen when he just wants to go play. I guess he better get used to it!  Hopefully now that it's warmer and staying light later, he will get his after school playtime back. I'm sure that will help his spirits. He knows how to write all of his letters uppercase, still working on lowercase but he's getting there. He can learn to read words when I take the time to sit down and go over them with him. I am going to make that a daily activity of the summer so he will be off to a good start for kindergarten. He is interested in reading but only for a bit, until he remembers he wants to go play. Of course, I know that is normal for his age.

He loves counting and, with a little help, counts to one hundred pretty quickly. We are starting to work on adding and subtracting (there are five monkeys and two go away so three are left), and he has a lot of fun with that. I was watching him from Lynn's office the other day and it was amazing to see how different each child was. For the first few minutes of circle time Jay was very still and engaged. After that he started fidgeting around and propping his head on his hands like he was bored. He never talked or became a distraction, but it was obvious that he was ready to move on. Lynn said he is the type that you only have to say it once or twice for him to understand something so, since others need more repetition, he ends up "checking out" for the last few minutes every time. Wes was the same way and got into trouble in elementary school for talking and daydreaming. I was always intrigued the whole time the teacher talked so I guess Jay is more like Wes in how he learns. I have noticed at home when we are doing a learning activity he gets annoyed when I repeat things a few times (thinking it will help him learn) but he just sighs and says, "I know Mom! You already said that, I understand!" 


His personality is still the same. Cuddly, sweet, and talkative. He has that red-headed temper still but does better at keeping it in check. If all else fails, he runs to his room and stays there, pouting, until he is over it. As I think about him as a 3 and 4 year old I realize how grown up he really is. He is so smart and inquisitive. He is compassionate and loves to take care of Eli, Jake, and Kitty. He was trying so hard to teach Eli how to pee-pee in the potty today. Eli didn't do anything but they had a good time making pooting noises as he sat on the potty. All boy, those two!  He is so driven and full of energy. He loves to work in the yard and will get completely out of breath before he sits down. He loves his family...all of them; grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles. He prays for all of his family and talks about each one randomly throughout the week. Being close to family is his favorite part of coming to south Georgia.

Jay lit up our lives from his first cry. He has a special gift of making people smile and has such a strong spirit. We love him more every day and are forever grateful for everything that he is and the perfect little child God chose to place into our lives. May God continue to bless him and keep him.