Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Kiddo Update - Joshie

Joshua, Josh, Joshie – the kid that keeps on surprising me, I swear! Every time I think I have him figured out or I know how he’s going to react, the complete opposite happens and I’m baffled.

Let’s start with school. After having Kylie and watching how much she loved to learn when she was little, and knowing that Josh never did any of the things she did (and he hated being read to), I was prepared to have to really help him in school. I was so surprised last year when he was one of the top readers in his class and his teacher had nothing but great things to say about him. And now first grade…his teacher told me at his conferences that when she and the student teacher looked at his paper during a pre-test, they both looked at each other and commented that they had a special student on their hands. I get the idea that this year is so easy for him…he barely has to put any effort in. Every sheet I get back is either perfect or he missed something silly. The only area I have to push him in is reading, and that’s only because he just doesn’t really like to sit and read a book. He’s still super good at it and will read whenever he needs to (i.e. anything sports related), but he’s just not into chapter books. His handwriting is amazing and he’s even learned some cursive from Kylie!

As far as sports go, he’s his father’s dream! He plays Streak For The Cash with John and all the other big boys (Pappaw, Uncle Josh, Jarrett, etc.) and honestly knows what he’s betting on and his chances. He wants to watch sports every night (especially if John’s watching them) and knows so much about teams and statistics and everything else. And it doesn’t matter which sport…it was football during the fall, now it’s basketball and hockey…if there’s a winner and a loser, he’s in :)

He loves to play basketball in the basement with his scoreboard app on his iPod. Speaking of which, he’s completely addicted! He got an iPod touch for Christmas and he does so much on it…Streak For The Cash, all kinds of games, scoreboards, music, Tango…he even watches TV. He’s pretty tech-savy for only being 6 ½! He had a friend over one time and they couldn’t figure out an answer to something so Josh told him to “Google it” and the kid asked him what Google was! I bet Josh’s knowledge of Word and Excel surpasses many adults :)

He also loves to set up games on the Wii in the playroom and just watch them...not play, just watch the games to see who wins. He set up an entire NFL championship bracket one time...he matched up all the helmets and had games going all the time. The losing helmet would fall down the slide and he'd re-match as teams were eliminated.

Josh is my sensitive child. Even the slightest thing brings tears to his eyes, which, I have to admit, is so annoying! Take last night for example…I handed him a Lego man and told him to put it away. I find it on the stairs (strategically placed back in the corner) a few minutes later and I sternly told him to put it away and then commented I shouldn’t have even mentioned it to him…I should have just thrown it away. He should have expected this…he’s a great kid and the fact that he did this surprised me…but not as much as me finding him going to bed with tears in his eyes instead of watching the basketball game. Again, his reactions always catch me off guard!

He gets so annoyed with Ryan…poor Ryan just wants to do everything Josh is doing (as soon as Josh heads to the basement to play basketball, Ryan all of a sudden decides that’s what he wants to do too), but Josh has a hard time handling the 3 year age gap. He doesn’t have much patience for Ryan and the learning curve. When he does have the patience, he’s a great big brother and the two of them have fun together. With Colton, on the other hand, Josh’s face lights up when he sees him! It’s probably because he subconsciously sees another brother to hang out with in the future, but right now, he doesn’t want to play with his cars or use his basketball hoop :)

He is still a little boy, which I love! I was a mystery reader in December and the minute I walked into his classroom, he got up from the floor and ran up and gave me a huge hug! He still loves his mamma :) But not enough to guarantee me a free ticket to the Super Bowl should he ever play in it (the discussion at dinner last night). Kind of bothers me…I hate football, and yet I’m at every single one of his games cheering the loudest…that should guarantee me a ticket to the game and spot next to him in the parade car, right? (that was the discussion during the Parade of Roses – would he bring me with him and he said “no!”).

Josh is a tiny, little stick-figure of a kid. But he’s fast! He’s got some huge brown eyes with long eyelashes and makes some of the funniest faces I’ve ever seen! Again, they all catch me off guard and I usually erupt in laughter because they are so funny and unexpected. He is still an extremely messy eater…both on the table and floor as well as his mouth :) And he would still, here in January, wear shorts to school if I let him!

I love learning all about boys as he grows up. I don’t have any brothers, so John and Josh are my first experiences with boys…and I definitely still have a lot to learn! But Josh is a good subject…he’s a sweet and caring boy and I love him so much! And hopefully I learn a lot since there are two other boys coming up behind him :)


1 comment:

Sherry said...

He is a father's dream for sure and a mother's dream. His intelligence is amazing, from school, to computers, games. wow. He can do anything he wants to when he gets older and be awesome at it. Of course it all stems from his parents you now. You and your hubby have made sure he is able to do the things he wants, and you support him 100% so you two deserve huge kudo's too!! Love the pictures, he is so dang adorable you just want to scoop him up and never let him go!!!