Jackson Quarterly: Age 4

My big boy is now 4 years old! I've been looking back at baby pictures of Jackson and still remember him as a baby so well. He made me a Mommy and it has been such a joy to watch him grow and learn. I am so excited for his bright future. 

12/27-1/26

We went to the children's museum and Jackson wanted to play with HBD dominos over and over. He kept running away from us and going back to the domino table. He also wanted to do the big bubble but kids weren't taking turns well. Eventually we got a turn and Jack made a huge bubble! Bigger than himself! 

He got a tube of little toy sharks at the children's museum and he loves them! He tells us al of their names. His favorite is the Japanese saw shark.

Jackson heard the cat purring and said "kitty sad!" And pet him and kissed him trying to make him happy. We explained that the kitty makes that noise when he's happy but Jackson still thought he was sad. 

1/5 he began preschool at Our Beautiful Savior Lutheran. He went right into class and promptly found the magnetic letters. His teachers said he carried the red L around with him all day. I'm so glad they let him keep it throughout the day. He cried when we left it at school when I picked him up. I hope this will be a good fit for him. The teachers are much more patient and want to work with him and see him succeed. I feel much better about this environment for him. 

Climbs into the chest in the living room (coffee table) and pretends it's his pirate ship. Daniel will climb on there with him. He paddles with a tinker toy and sings his pirate songs. 

1/12 fell and bumped his head on the wooden play kitchen at preschool. They called since it left such a large bump. When I picked him up at the end of the morning I took him to the walk in clinic just to be safe. It was such a big goose egg! I couldn't get a picture to do it justice! It bruised up real quick too. They said he was probably fine but to keep an eye on his behavior. 

He was a bit clumsier after his bump on the head. He kept tripping over things and falling over. He would sing noises along with the CDs in the car but not the words to the songs. He was much more emotional the following day and had a rough start to cubbies that night, but they helped to calm him down. I am keeping a close watch on him, but I think he probably just has a headache that is affecting him.

1/14 I asked his preschool teacher how he's been doing and she said overall he's adjusting. He's doing better and better. Sometimes he doesn't play nicely, but they can tell what the reason is by his words so he is learning to use his words more often. They are great about getting down to his level and finding methods of redirection that work for him specifically. I am so thankful for two wonderful teachers, Mrs. Ruiz and Mrs. Flowers, who are patient with him and want him to succeed and learn. Mrs. Ruiz said that today he had some awesome moments where he would get frustrated and come tell the teachers instead of reacting. He will also remove himself from the situation if there are too many kids around and go to a calmer part of the room. I am so proud of him and so thankful he is learning how to respond to other kids on a positive way! 

Jack got mad at Matt for telling him he couldn't do something. He went into his room and slammed the door. While it's good he goes into his room to cool off, we're working on not slamming doors. A few minutes later to come stomping out and slaps a book down on Matt's desk. Matt looked and it was "llama llama mad at mama". Jack has brought that book to me before when he was upset too! It's good he's beginning to try to explain his feelings. They read the book and Jack felt better. 

(1/27-2/26)

Has been reading and spelling so many words: and, God, wig, her, food, now, big, August, October, July, one, two, help, green, red

During our January 2016 snowstorm, Jack loves playing outside! He threw snowballs at trees, hit icicles on the fence, and made his first snow angel all on his own! I didn't even know he knew what those were!

Jackson has been improving every day at preschool. I pray with him before school every day that he will share and play nicely. I really think that helps! The teachers are so wonderful! They tell me how his day went, both the good and bad. They are learning his triggers and work with him. They try to understand why he does something so instead of assuming he's a bully when he grabs toys away they have observed that he's thing to join other kids on their play. So they try to teach him words to use when he wants to play. That makes me so happy that they watch his actions and understand where he's at developmentally. Jackson really has been speaking more too. He did have his first accident at preschool today. He was outside and didn't want to go inside to go potty. But his teachers were so great about that too. I am so thankful for this school! It is such a blessing to my Mumma heart! 

2/4 the past couple weeks Jackson has bitten kids at church, play dates, Daniel at home, and today at preschool. It seems to always be a personal space issue and it's so hard to teach him how to react to that. Thankfully, he has only bitten this one time at school so far but they have a 4 bite policy and I am just so fearful that he will get kicked out again and I will be embarrassed and disappointed. His teachers are working with him to try to help him develop socially and they are very understanding about him. I hope we can all get through to him to stop biting once and for all and to use his words. 

2/18 his teacher was doing his assessment and she said she set down her paper and Jack read it! She was so shocked he was reading sentences. When she was trying to go over other things he wasn't interested and was distracted, but when they went over letters he was zoned in and very attentive. He is so smart but just needs to learn to listen and obey and work well with others- which will come with age. 

I bought more books on feelings and behavior to read to Jack. He likes them and pays attention when I read. He quotes them to me too. It seems to be helping him learn to name his feelings when he gets frustrated or angry.

(2/27-3/26)

2/29 we had our first ever parent/teacher conference! I talk to Jack's teacher pretty detailed when I pick him up, so a lot of it we knew. She showed us some evaluation papers Jack had done like writing his name and choosing what is biggest and matching numbers with the correct number of pictures. We know he knows all of that and she knows he does too- but he does not like doing projects or art so it wasn't surprising that his papers weren't exactly correct. I will begin working with him on listening and following directions for some art and projects so he can obey his teachers better. Even with his trouble areas, she says he makes many more food choices throughout the day over bad and he is improving so much in the short time he's been in school. What really stuck out to me was when we talked about clean up time. She said he didn't always participate, but she and the other teacher noticed that he was just looking overwhelmed since that is a more chaotic time. The other kids are running around to clean up quickly and invading his space and it is too much for Jackson, so he shuts down. They will go to him and help him clean up one area in a calm manner. I love that they try to see why he won't clean up instead of just assuming he doesn't want to help. It gives me so much hope that he has teachers who want him to succeed and are observant to him. This preschool has been such a blessing. 

Much to my dismay, I am officially "mom" now instead of Mumma. It makes me sad, but it is still very sweet when Jack calls me "mom". 

Jackson calls our babysitters "Miss Lyssa" and "Miss Laina". I just love that he is building relationships with people and remembering their names and interacting with them. 

When we've had play dates recently Jack has followed his friends and said things like "Gavin, play sharks!" Or "Ellie, play doctor!" He wants to play with friends instead of just near them and he is using his words to invite them. I love seeing him grow and am so thankful for his preschool experience. 

When he gets frustrated or when he gets in trouble he will go and sit in his red chair all on his own. He uses this to calm down. This is a great method for him to calm down and I'm so proud of him for doing it on his own. We loved the chair into the living room when Daniel moved into Jackson's room, so now it isn't as private for him to calm down. But he still sits with his arms folded and pouts until he's ready to talk. 

Grammie and GrandPops came to visit for Jackson's birthday! He was so excited to see them and knew exactly who they were. We went to the zoo, played in the play room, went to the park to ride his new bike and throw rocks in the river, and had a little birthday dinner party. Jackson was such a nice boy and talked so well with Grammie and GrandPops. They could really see a difference from where he was when they saw him last at Thanksgiving. When we were in the play room in the trampoline he remembered GrandPops counting "1 2 3 go" and Jackson would fall down. He asked to do that game again all on his own! What a good little memory. 

3/26 Jackson got so many nice presents for his birthday! A green bicycle from Mumma and Daddy, sea creatures and a shark camelbak and a marble maze from Grammy and Papa, and hot wheels toys and first reader books from Grammie and GrandPops. He loves all his toys! He also got play doh tools, dominos, and some games.