Jack at Eight Years Old
This is sooooo over due (I am going to start working on his 9 year old birthday post in less than 2 months!). Jack keeps asking me if I have written his birthday post yet and while I had written most of it, I had yet to carve out the time to do the final edits and add photos. But, alas, here it is...and it makes my heart swell times a million to know that he looks forward to reading these yearly updates!
Jack turned eight (waaaay back in October) while he was in second grade. As a second grader, he has been to three different schools in three different cities in three years, but you would not know it. He easily transitioned into his new school (likely the easiest transition to date!) and quickly acclimated to new teachers and friends. It brought such relief to us and truly spoke of his adaptable and easy-going nature.
This year, he has chosen to take more acting classes, start Kenpo which he incessantly "practices", play soccer, and learn squash. I don't think soccer is his favorite thing, although he did give it a good try (it probably helped that David was his coach). Jack is learning piano too. He goes only “because my mom makes me,” but I am okay with that; I think he will appreciate the skill of music playing some day.
Jack is a strong and voracious reader. Library days at school are some of his favorite, and he's flying through Goosebumps books, the My Weird School series, Bad Guys, and any other scary genre of stories that catches his eye.
He continues to love art and will easily draw and create for hours in his free time. I think this is why homework is sometimes a difficult part of our day, it takes time away from reading and drawing and creating. His mind never stops imagining which is difficult in dealing with the day to day necessities, but also such magic.
He continues to be a good and conscience eater. He eats a variety of foods at every meal and asks a lot of questions about where certain foods have come from and how they are made. He always likes to tell me what he chose to eat at lunch which makes me a proud dietitian Mama.
Jack is a good friend to both boys and girls, new kids, loud kids, and quiet ones too. I am sure he will go through a stage of life where he will not feel as comfortable having close girl friends, but I love that for now he doesn't seem to discriminate among genders.
To my dismay, he is always talking, pretending, and daydreaming about scary things like Chuky, Stephen King's It, and Goosebumps. He brings home ghost stories from the library and stares at the pictures. It makes me a little nervous since I don't like scary things, not even a little bit, but, I keep reassuring myself that either this is just a phase, or that authors of horror books or directors of horror films were once young and probably liked scary things just like he does.
Jack likes to sing along to radio hits from the backseat. He knows the words to a lot of songs, and his favorites are One Day by Matisayhu and Believer by Imagine Dragons.
Jack is starting to show signs of adolescence which is weird and wondrous all at the same time. His attitude is becoming more pronounced, he is showing a few signs of insecurity, and expressing his need for space and quiet more often than he used to. Despite these changes, he continues to adore Rigby and genuinely loves to have him around (most of the time).
It is fun to watch Jack grow up! He is really a cool boy, and I'm delighted to know him so well.
We love you so, Jack Jack.
I’ve continued our birthday tradition by asking Jack the same set of questions each year…it is fun to see the changes and the similarities (mostly the similarities) in his answers from year to year!
1. What is your favorite color? Hot Pink, Orange, Blue
2. What is your favorite toy? Mr. Incredible from McDonald's
3. What is your favorite fruit? Cantaloupe and Honey Dew
4. What is your favorite thing to watch? Sponge Bob Square Pants
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Ham and Cheese Sandwich and Doritos 6. What is your favorite thing to wear? Auburn "Aubbie"hat
7. What is your favorite game? Monopoly
8. What is your favorite snack? Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels
9. What is your favorite animal? Tasmanian Devil
10. What is your favorite song? Feed the Birds from Mary Poppins
11. What is your favorite book? Finn Family Moomintroll
12. Who is your best friend? Thomas
13. What is your favorite cereal? Lucky Charms
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Climb the magnolia tree
15. What is your favorite drink? Sprite
16. What is your favorite holiday? Easter
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Myself
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Biscuits and Figs
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Hot Dogs
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Person who Works at a Restaurant