Jacob story...

Lately Jacob and I have been working a lot on writing his own name. Unfortunately, it has not been going well and I began to get a little concerned. I belong to a message board with some very bright mommies and even brighter little kiddos who I've learned have been able to write their name since about three. While I believe that kids in this area are not really at that level yet, I do realize that most four year olds can write their own name (based on my time I spent in Jacob's last preschool that had 3 & 4's mixed). So, I asked the other moms for some pointers on how I can help Jacob achieve this and got some great tips. Unfortunately, we still weren't getting anyway.

Fastforward to yesterday. Jacob and I were playing a little Farmville on Facebook and trying to collect 10 items in different categories. While checking to see what we still needed Jacob informed me with perfect accuracy the number of items missing (ie - we have 8 of these so we need 2... we have 5 of these, so we need 5 more). He's done something similar before, but not with such accuracy so I had assumed his correct responses were just lucky. However, getting 5 out of 5 correct on this day I realized he must really know his stuff! Aaron came home for lunch (he had to work this past weekend) and Jacob showed his math skills to his daddy and then watched tv with Brody while Aaron and I started talking in the kitchen and making lunch. I told Aaron that seeing Jacob do so well with math made me less concerned with his inability to write his name. Aaron's response was "Well, what 4 year old can really write their own name though?" and then I reminded him of the valentine's that were personally signed and what I had seen at the old preschool. Aaron then responded "I guess we just need to work with him more" and I was like uhhhh, where have you been? So while I'm explaining the things I've been doing to work with Jacob (writing with fingers using shaving cream on a cookie sheet, spelling out his name in dots for him to fill in, etc.), Jacob comes in the room and says "look what I did mommy!". I look down and in his little hands is the magnadoodle with a perfect "J", a perfect "o", a "d" (instead of "b", but clearly legible) and then two other scribbles... it was his FIRST attempt at writing his name ever! Without even having it written out for him somewhere to copy! My first thought was feeling awful that he was paying attention to our conversation when I thought he was distracted. My second thought was utter excitement that HE DID IT!!!! I cried. I still cry thinking about it. Poor Jacob... I think my sweet little guy was thinking GEEZ mom, writing my own name is LAME but if it's that important to you FINE!

So anyways... this proud mom moment is brought to you by Facebook ;) Well, it's a proud moment in that my baby wrote his name! But it's not a proud moment that we had that conversation within an earshot of Jacob. We are ALL learning here...

What else is going on around here....
Aaron found a deceased bald eagle last week. It was a full size eagle with no sign of trauma. It was on the ground in the wooded section right by the weir, for those familiar with the hatchery. They called the wildlife division of the DNR and they sent someone out to collect the eagle for an autopsy. After the autopsy the eagle will go to the Feds and then they are hoping they will get a report and the eagle mounted for the visitors center, but they will have to wait and see. Fingers crossed! Interesting the bird had tags on both legs, so I'm sure they have a lot of history on this eagle.

Last weekend we celebrated a 4th birthday party for Andrew Rysberg. It was especially fun because we did a few things that we don't normally do. First thing was a build and grow workshop by Lowes. I have a few pics I'll post tomorrow. The kids received a kit to build a little flower box that came complete with a little apron and safety glasses. Despite the fact that most kids didn't wear either, it was still cute! The best part about it? It was completely free! We will definitely be checking out another one of these workshops again. We then had a great lunch at a local restaurant and then went swimming! Andrew's Grandma arranged for us to have the pool all to ourselves for an hour and everyone had a blast! The water was warm and it felt great. The boys haven't been swimming in a loooong time, so it was fun to see them splashing around again and loving it. Definitely makes me excited for Florida - we leave on Saturday after Jacob's first soccer game.