Jed lately

Jed is so much fun lately! He seems to have turned a corner and is doing really well in kindergarten. He can recognize and write several sight words and eagerly points them out whenever he sees them. Last night, I took him with me to vote. He stood at the kiosk next to me and he must have thought that the white surface of the kiosk, not to mention the capless fine-tip pen chained there, was a white board. I was in the middle of voting for our state representatives when Jed pulled on my sleeve and said "Mommy, look, I wrote 'look!'" Sure enough, l-o-o-k was written beautifully across the voting kiosk surface. I told him he did a great job, offered him a wet wipe to clean up the "white board" and gave him a piece of paper to write on while I finished voting. He wrote happily until I was finished. Be still my heart!! 

Here are some other great things (or funny things) Jed has been up to recently:

 Bwahaha! This picture makes me laugh so hard. Here in Michigan, if you live in town, yard waste, ie leaves, yard clippings, mulch, weeds, etc... are put into ENORMOUS brown paper bags and then the bags are put out on the side of the road to be hauled to the dump. Our boys love playing with the brown bags. They love for Dave to put the bags over their heads and then the boys run around and giggle furiously. It is truly hilarious--they look SO funny with their little feet running around while the rest of them is hidden in the huge bag. One afternoon, we were playing around in the backyard and raking leaves, so naturally the boys were in the bags. Jed somehow got the idea that Dave was chasing him, so he began running...and ran straight into the side of the house. Because of the way our yard is situated, we couldn't see him until we heard the blood-curdling scream. He fought his way out of the paper bag and came running back to where we were, his face covered with blood. Poor guy. It was so sad and SO funny at the same time.

 We finally decided to add to our family again! Yes, we got some pets. Fish this time, because I have finally accepted my limitations. We started out with 7 fish and are now going strong with 3 (we have also had some very poignant moments around the toilet before pushing the lever). But these pictures here were taken the first day we got the fish. Jed was absolutely in love with his fish. He named them Sunshine, Fishey, and Dewey. The tetras are so small he ignores them (thank goodness, cause they all died after getting ich) and our algae eater blends in so well that we all kind of forget he's there.

 That yellow blur is Fishey, Jed's favorite. 

 Jed got sick the 2nd week in October. He spent that Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at home, running a fever, coughing pitifully and refusing to eat. I really enjoyed snuggling with my boys and watching movies with them while nursing Jed and pouring juice. Hank was happy to have Jed home but not very sympathetic to his plight, so he kept poking and bothering him. Jed would try to fend him off feebly and then say "Hank, you're getting a yellow light. Weave me awone." Apparently when someone misbehaves in his classroom, they get their name moved to a yellow light. Although sick, Jed certainly enjoyed giving Hank yellow lights!

 Playing in the leaves with Dave

This is one of my very favorite things lately. Jed brought it home from school yesterday--it is his latest self-portrait and signature. I absolutely adore the way he's drawn himself. It's kind of hard to see, but there are little fingers and everything.

I LOVE this boy. He still has his moments, but they are fewer and farther between. I feel like some of my constant prayers are having effects, mostly on my patience. Jed makes us laugh and surprises us every single day. He is witty and bright and so, so much fun. I am so glad to be his mama!