What's in a name?

When we were pregnant, it took us a LONG time to come with a name.   Joe wanted something with meaning and I just wanted a name that didn't bring up unpleasant teacher memories or that was super-duper easy to make fun of. 

It seems to me that this school year Jairus has been pretty adamant that his name is "Jairus Lee Wolfe."  If someone asks him...he tells the whole thing.   If you try to throw in a different middle name, he will quickly correct you. 

Well, sometime in the last few weeks Jairus has added "Superman" to his name.   With consistency, he has been telling us that he is "Jairus Lee Superman Wolfe."    Interesting since he has never seen Superman.  But, we think he is super, so that is ok! :)

When we were with Grandpa over break he called Jairus "Jairus Bunny."  (He calls all the grand kids their names with bunny added on the end.)   Jairus wasn't too happy with that to begin with, but then he quickly adjusted.   He told Grandpa to call him "Jairus Lee Superman Wolfe Bunny."    Whew, that is a mouthful!  

Well, here we are several days later and that is the name that has stuck!  Hope he has fun bubbling in all those letters on the standardized tests.  Hee Hee.  :) :)

Fiction vs Non-fiction

At the beginning of this break you may remember that Jairus taught us "if the animals have clothes on, it's fiction. If they don’t have clothes on, it’s not fiction."   I can just imagine this being part, only part, of a discussion in his Pre-K classroom about fiction vs non-fiction books. 

I was very tickled when a couple days later we saw a cute little dog wearing a pink sweater.   Without missing a beat, Jairus said.."Look!  A fiction dog."  

It may be time to add more to that original definition -- like fiction animals can talk!  :)   But, I appreciate how quickly he processed and applied the knowledge he had. 

The fiction vs non-fiction also came up at the movies.   We went to see Tangled and to our surprise, Jairus cried through much of it.   He was REALLY upset that the "mom" was mean and evil.  We tried to explain that it was fiction.  But he wasn't sure he believed us. The characters were people afterall.   When we went today to see Yogi Bear (yes, we have seen 2 movies in the theaters one week which is more than Jairus has seen in his lifetime!), we reminded Jairus that it was fiction.   He has no problems with that -- obviously the animals had clothes on and talked! :)

Unique

This is what Jairus hung on the tree Saturday morning.   I have left it on there because it makes me smile EVERY time I look at it!  

Status updates:

Oct 2:    Lynelle Wolfe thinks its funny that Jairus wanted corn on the cob for breakfast....but at least he is eating it.

Oct 11:  Lynelle Wolfe just learned that Jairus speaks duck spanish too.

Oct 14:  Lynelle Wolfe thinks Jairus must have his daddy's math brain. When we got home today he noticed our house number 3225...he then added the 4 numbers and told me they equalled 12. I kid you not! He has been doing lots of math lately.

Oct 21:  Lynelle Wolfe is always impressed when Jairus can sing a song at the top of his lungs with another song blaring on the radio.

Oct 22:   In the words of Wash .....tonight we will do what we do when we do what we do, cuz that the way baseball go!!    *This isn't a Jairus quote, but I just like it! *

Oct 29:   Lynelle Wolfe is enjoying Jairus' recreation of the "pepper rally" complete with a band. He even says "the Eagles are here." LCCS (clap, clap), LCCS (clap, clap)

Nov 1:   Lynelle Wolfe is having a hard time finding something that Jairus, his wiseman (yes, only one), and baby Jesus want to eat for dinner AND that they can take with them on their ship, which is what was formally known the cave (behind the chair).

Nov 2:  Lynelle Wolfe learned that the wiseman likes apple juice, but Baby Jesus and Jairus only like grape juice. All 3 think that fruit snacks are a perfect after school snack and are space ship approved.

Nov 3:   When I picked Jairus up after school he told me he had acorns in his pocket. I had no idea he meant 28 of them!!!

Nov 10:  The acorn pocket count for today: 38

Nov 13: Jairus is adamant that the song is "Dingle Bells."

Nov 17: Last night Jairus told me that mean guys hit, punch, say stupid, don't love Jesus and like the Yankees and Giants.

Nov 26:  Jairus likes to push the singing Grinch, Frosty and VeggieTale nativity at the same time. They sing 3 different songs. It makes my ears hurt. He dances around loving it.

Nov 27: This morning Jairus asked if this was a weird Saturday or a normal Saturday. Being home this week has thrown him off a bit. Every day this week has just been "weird."

Dec 7:  Several times in the last few weeks Jairus has taken off his socks when we get home and puts them on chopsticks. He then calls them icecream cones.

Dec 16:  My garage is special. It smells like fresh salsa, has nice big colorful splashes of red on the floor & door, and glitters with shattered glass. I know you are so jealous!

Dec 16:  Follow up -- my 4 year old was very helpful in the salsa situation. "Why did you make a mess? Why did you break it? You should be more careful. Why are you cleaning up that way? Why do you need a flashlight? Daddy needs to help." (just abbreviated the 20 questions!)


Dec 19: Today Jairus went to "big church" with us. This evening he has been singing Gloria and Oh no, you never let go! He absorbs so much!

So Generous

Conversation with Jairus on the way home from school 12/10/10.

Me: How was your day, buddy?

Jairus: Good

What was your favorite part of today?

All of it…I loved it all!

Great! {Pause} What do you think you should get Mrs. Bain* for Christmas?
* his wonderful pre-k4 teacher

(very mater-of- fact): hmm…a new car.

(honestly laughing out loud in surprise) Well…that is one idea. We may have to think of some other ideas too.

I wish I wouldn't have laughed because that made him start to be silly and give me silly answers.  I wish I would have questioned him more about his idea!

After I posted this on facebook, several people commented saying they wanted to be on Jairus' list! :) 

To keep forever

I have been neglecting the blog.   Primarily because I use facebook every day.  It is easier to post pictures and status updates.   I have been posting funny Jairus quotes and stories in my status updates.  I planned on using it as my online journal to record great things I want to remember.   But, recently I discovered that I can only go back about 6 months on fb.   That made me realize that I better start using the blog again since it has a better way to keep my memory treasures longer.  That, or I better get a real paper journal.  

Here is my memory from today:
I learned that if the animals have clothes on, it's fiction. If they don’t have clothes on, it’s not fiction. Thanks Jairus, that is a good way to remember it.

That's Mrs Mommy to you!

On my way back from picking up something in the library, I stopped to visit with Jairus and his classmates who were playing with chalk outside. They asked me about the poster I had with me and we talked about their chalk art. 

As I was leaving Garrett said, "Bye Mrs. Jairus."

Jairus turned to him and said "No, its Mrs Mommy."

Did you know?

Did you know.....that your shirt is blue?

That's not how it goes.

Did you know....that we're watching baseball?

That's not how it goes.

Did you know....that I love you?

Ahhh....That's the best thing I've heard all day.


A daily interaction with Jairus.  Special.

Snow

As we "enjoy" another of many 100+ days in Texas, I thought I would share some snow. This is from our Wyoming trip last month. The cousins (Kyle, Haley, Taylor and Jairus) have fun in the cold and wind.

Exquisite

For some reason the TV was still on. For some reason, I sat down as Jairus was watching Sesame Street. Some actress, that I should probably recognize, was teaching Elmo the word “exquisite.” They wanted the viewers to say the word with them. So, I obliged and encouraged Jairus to do the same. He told me “I know Mommy.” He then ran off to the bookshelf and came back with this:

The squid card from a matching game from Sonic.

Hahahahahah  

Barf Bag

I wish I would have kept that simple airplane barf bag.

Was it used?

Yeah, kinda. Not exactly, but somewhat.

And you still want to keep it?

Yes, I wish I would have kept it. Here is why:

Written on it was a simple note. It was handed back to me from the lady sitting in front of us on our plane ride from Denver to DFW. I don’t know the lady..never talked to her. She was traveling with her daughter, son-in-law and 2 grandsons. We had all been in the waiting area for awhile since we were delayed boarding. We were probably over half way through our 2 hour flight, but already we had been on the plane a long time since we sat 45 min just waiting to take off. Jairus had looked out the window quite a bit. We had looked at the pictures in the airline magazine. We had a shared a snack of Ginger Ale and some Vanilla Wafers. Really, Jairus was doing great being confined to our little area for so long. I told him how proud I was of him and that I loved to go on trips with him. We were taking turns coloring in a special pre-school book. We were minding our own business and looking forward to being home. Then it came. The barf bag handed back over the seat to me. Written on it was a note that said “You are a great mommy.” I smiled and with my green crayon, I wrote “thanks” and passed it back up.

But as we sat there I had two reasons why I wished I would have kept the bag (and even kinda schemed how I could get it back as we got off the plane). One was just for plain old fashioned encouragement. True, this lady doesn’t know me. She didn’t see me get frustrated or worn out or not feed Jairus enough vegetables. She just saw me for one window of time. But at least for one window of time I did something right. Hopefully over Jairus’ lifetime those windows of time will outweigh the many many times that I don’t.


Second reason I wanted to keep that bag was as a reminder. I also need to look for ways to encourage others with random acts of kindness like this. She handed me a barf bag for crying out loud! Yet, on it was a message that brought me encouragement and even now, a couple weeks later it still has an impact on me. I want to look for ways to make someone else’s day brighter. Maybe make sure the manager knows when our waiter has done a great job. Maybe have kind words for the checker at Wal-mart. Maybe encourage a young mother someday. I don’t know. But I want my eyes to be open to see those opportunities.


As we deplaned it didn’t work out for me to try to find that barf bag in that seat in front of me. So, I write this blog as a reminder. Somehow, I doubt I will ever forget that airplane barf bag.

A long, long day

For as long as I can remember, if Jairus was telling a story or explaining something that was “a long time ago” he would say “a long long day.” Well, we knew what he meant. We would be diligent to correct him. Although, I admit that lately I haven’t….just because I thought it was so cute.

But, it finally happened. For the last couple of weeks he has been saying it correctly. It is now “a long time ago” in his stories and explanations. But, I will remember that a long time ago, it was a long long day. :)

Grandma's coming

Written last week (Tuesday, June 22). Posted today because it was a busy week with Grandma here.

As I was helping Jairus get dressed this morning, he told me we needed to hurry because Grandma was coming today! I explained that she wouldn’t be here until after lunch. Then 20 minutes later I hear the front door open.

Me: Jairus, don’t open the door unless Mommy or Daddy are with you! Did you hear something?

Jairus: No, I was looking for Grandma.

We have to go pick her up at the airport

She is too heavy to pick up.

No, I mean we have to go get her at the airport.

Let’s go NOW.

But her plane isn't here yet.

I have planes here.

Oh Jairus…trust me. We will go get her after lunch! *hug*

Finally -- she is here!

An Alarm System

I am copying an email Joe sent to me yesterday while I was at school for an in-service class. It made me laugh. Let me preface it with a brief explanation. For the last couple of years, we have used the alarms on our cell phones to help Jairus with transitions. For example: When the alarm goes off, it is time to leave the park. When the alarm goes off, it is time for bed. When the alarm goes off, your rest time is over. He tends to respond well to this. Now onto yesterdays interaction with Joe.

Jairus: “Daddy can you remind me while you are in the kitchen and I am on the computer?”

Joe: "What?" (not understanding)

Jairus repeated himself a couple of times.

Joe: "When?"

Jairus: (looking at the clock and using both hands to show 10) "10 min."

When the alarm rang, he didn’t stop using the computer, he changed activities on the computer!

Hide-N-Seek

Recently Jairus has decided he wants to play the game Hide-n-Seek. He has the basic concept down...someone hides and someone else seeks.

But the fine skills of the game he has yet to master.
* He basically hides in the same spot -- time and time again. (usually under his bed)
* When hiding he responds to the person seeking
* He doesn't look for the hiding person very hard. But he sure does have fun!

Here is a video (can you tell I like my new toy?) of me playing with him.

The proof

We stayed at a hotel this weekend. I wish I would have video taped his initial reaction. But this is still cute. And you can hear him say "hotel."

What's going on here?

When I came home Friday afternoon Jairus was running around without a shirt on. An hour or so later, I found him like this:

And a bit later like this:

Is this just his way to welcome summer or is he protesting that our brand new (since Dec) AC is NOT working?!?!?!

Cotton Candy

We purchased a Flip Video camera a couple weeks ago. I have taped a few small clips in the last week but today I finally had time to try to get them on the computer. Now, this is the test to see if I can get them onto the blog. Here we go...

From a Ranger's Game last week....

A Southern Boy

** So, I wrote this and copied it into a blog on April 21, but didn't post it b/c I was going to put in one picture. Why it took me almost a month to add one picture, I don't know. Alas...without further ado....

I suppose it is inevitable…Jairus is a southerner. After all, he was born and is being raised in Texas. He is surrounded by southerners day in and day out. What else did I expect? Being a southerner isn’t good or bad…it just is.

At least he can pick up some good southern traits. We are being purposeful in training him to use Ma’am and Sir. I have always appreciated the polite respect southerners exhibit with their Yes Ma’ams. I wasn’t raised to talk that way (no one in Wyoming was) but since being in Texas and married to a good southerner, I have been working on being more polite. Jairus is really getting better at responding with Sir and Ma’am with decreasing reminders.

Now I will admit that being a western/northern girl, I was hoping Jairus wouldn’t pick up a heavy southern accent. But who am I kidding? I have lived in Texas 9 years…even I have a bit of an accent now. It is just the reality of life – Jairus will have a southern accent. But sometimes I just have to laugh at his strong, thick accent. Several weeks ago, while taking a bath, Jairus was singing to his ducks the hymn “I have decided to follow Jesus.” But it wasn’t a simple, clear Jesus. It was Gee-zzus. And since our trip to Alabama for Catherine’s wedding, Jairus has been obsessed with hotels. And when I say obsessed…I mean OBSESSED. He points them out on all of our around town travels. Even apartments get labeled as hotels. And he wants to know when we can go to a hotel again. A couple Sundays ago I told him that I didn’t know when we would go on a trip again. Without missing a beat, he just asked “how about Thursday?” :) I don’t think so kid. Anyway – back to my point. When he says “hotel” several times a day, it comes out “hoe Teelllll” (nice and long!) I can’t help but smile at my little Texan.

But I admit that I beam with pride when he says “you guys.” That’s my boy! :)

S.T.O.P

This is a pretty selfish blog site. I honestly don’t write blogs because people read them. If that was the case, I would be pretty disappointed because only 2 or 3 people read my blogs. Plus, I am a blog reader and so I readily realize that mine is lacking in photo quality and writing. I blog because I want to remember. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that life passes too quickly and human memory is weak. I want to treasure Jairus growing up. So really, this is just a public journal.

Anyway – tonight’s blog is really something that I want to remember. It isn’t very unique, cute or funny. Sorry Mom.

Right now I just want to remember that “Stop” is the first word that Jairus can “read.” Now I know that “reading” is actually hard to identify. But, stop is the first word he has been able to identify on his own and in multiple situations. He has noticed it on stop signs for quite awhile. But a couple times in the last week and again just this afternoon, we have been behind a school bus on our drive home from school. On three different occasions, without being prompted by me because I was just in my own little world driving home, Jairus said “the bus says Stop.” Sure enough, on the back door is the word "stop." Not in a red octagon either. But what really convinced me that Jairus can “read” or sight recognize the word “stop” was last night walking into Chick-fil-a. We had to cross the end of the drive-thru lane to enter the restaurant. Joe was carrying Jairus to save us time. As soon as we got on the sidewalk Jairus pointed back down and said “that says ‘stop.’” Yes sir, painted in yellow on the lane is the word “stop.” I promise, we had never pointed that out to Jairus before. Both Joe and I were impressed. So, in my mind and now forever in my memory (thanks to this blog) Jairus’ first reading word is “stop.”

Now, Jairus can of course recognize his own name and has been able to do so for a long time. He started spelling his own name last summer (09). I didn’t think that really counted as a first word. Just for the record. :)

What comes after Z?

I honestly think we have counted to 100 a couple hundred times in the last month. It has been Jairus’ newest obsession. For a long time we have only counted to twenty, but at some point that all changed. We started out with taking turns saying the odds and evens all the way to 100! Yep, it takes some time, but sometimes time is what we are trying to take (like on the 15 hour trip in the car!). But what has helped Jairus the most is seeing the numbers written out (thanks for the flip book grandma!). I honestly think he gets the pattern – we noticed that he used to always skip the “7” numbers, but since seeing them written out, he doesn’t skip them anymore. Now, he only gets stuck on eighty and ninety.

Writing of numbers, we have heard the question “what comes after ________” a lot lately. Jairus seems to enjoy figuring out the sequence. He asks “what comes after (insert any number here),” even though he knows the answer (we sometimes turn it around on him). Every so often he throws in the “what comes before” question too.

So I ran into a snag when Jairus asked me “What comes after Z?” I reminded him that nothing comes after Z because it is the last letter in the alphabet. Maybe, he really wanted to know what comes before Z. No, he asked me again and once again I explained that nothing comes after Z. Jairus responded “Now comes after Z.” Huh….oh yes… QRS, TUV, WXYZ…”now I know my ABC’s, next time won’t you sing with me.”

How to be a millionaire

I know how I could become a millionaire. I just don’t know how make my product and distribute it. Are you curious? Do you think you could help me and get a cut in the profit?

Here it is – I want to bottle pure excitement. Many people mention wanting to bottle little kids’ energy, which would be nice too. But if I could capture one thing from Jairus…the one thing that I wish I could easily add into my life by swallowing a little pill or yummy drink, it would be his excitement. Jairus (as most kids) just loves life…and almost everything is new and exciting. It makes me smile. Just being with him as he enjoys life makes my life better.

I have a few examples that I have noted just in the last week. I know the list could go on and on and on…but here are 3 times that Jairus’ excitement has made me smile and appreciate life a bit more.

1 – Entering a restaurant last Monday the hostess greeted us and Jairus started clapping with a big smile on his face. He was excited to be there. It was also one of those places where you can see them cooking the steaks which Jairus also thought was the greatest thing! How often are the hostesses and cooks applauded? I think he brightened their day too.

2 – Many mornings when we get to school I need to make a few copies for my current events lesson. Jairus gets so excited to make copies. He counts the papers as they come out. He thinks it is great if they change colors in mid-copy job. A task that I find so mundane is super fascinating for him. The excitement makes everyone in the workroom smile.

3 – My favorite Jairus moment these last few months is when I return home from school. As I drive my car into the garage, the house door opens and Jairus stands at the door applauding me saying “Mommy’s home” or “Mommy you’re home!” I feel like a rock star (I guess…I don’t know what rock stars feel like). He is SOOO excited to see me. I love the excitement..love, love, love it.

So anyway, back to my main point. If you come up with a way to capture and sell that pure joy, lets talk! I think we could be really, really rich. But honestly, I am rich already because I have little boy who finds life exciting :)

Yep, it happened!

It was bound to happen. On Sunday (March 27) Jairus asked for Dr. Pepper... by name. Out of his mouth came the words…"I want a Dr. Pepper, Please.” Shocking? Well, not really considering the addiction Joe and I have to Dr. Pepper. We buy gallons of it at a time and have at least one can daily. Even when I was pregnant, I continued to drink Dr Pepper; so Jairus had it in the womb. (and I think he turned out ok.) Now, we were good and didn’t let him drink it in bottles or anything. In the last couple years he has had sips of our Dr. Peppers at restaurants. But we have never ordered him his own or anything. With kids meals he gets milk or juice. At home he doesn’t drink out of our cans. We don’t even call it Dr. Pepper – the code name is mommy’s juice. So, we were surprised when he actually asked for Dr. Pepper. But he is a smart kid afterall and he knows the good stuff! :) :)

Shake it off!

Recently I have been encouraging Jairus to shake off minor boo-boos. It is just a good skill for a kid to learn. So, if he falls and just kinda hits his knee, I say “Shake it off” and I help him shake. This of course causes him to laugh, which really helps get rid of any pain. The same applies for that stubbed toe, or hurt finger, etc. You get the idea.

Many times I add “bye bye owie!” But, when I do that Jairus doesn’t repeat me. He says “bye bye ant bite!” It doesn’t matter what the hurt is – he always says “bye bye ant bite.” I am serious. A hurt knee? Bye to ant bite. A hurt thumb? Bye to ant bite! Last fall he got a couple painful ant bites and I guess that made a BIG impression on him! He seems to think all boo-boo pain = ant bite!

A New First

Please notice the “marker” board in this picture. Everyday when the kids come into class, they move their personal marker from home to school. (as Jairus is doing here.) Then please note the 3 colored circles (not surprisingly green, yellow and red) at the top of 3 columns on the board. As one can surmise, those are warning spots. When a child has been disciplined, his/her marker gets moved into the next column.

Well, this week it happened. Jairus had his marker moved to green. Come to find out, he and his friend, Noah, were throwing a little bit of food at lunch. Thankfully, they both responded well to being corrected and made it through the rest of the day without incident. On the way home Jairus was able to talk through the situation with mommy and then again once daddy got home.

Joe and I both got a chuckle out of this. Not that Jairus got in trouble, but just the situation. Our little boy is a normal little boy. If only discipline would always be this easy! :)

God is always working

God is always working. What a comforting thought.

God isn’t a creative cosmic being that is drinking lemonade as he watches humans on earth like it was just a movie. Nope. He is working and moving on behalf of his adoptive children. We are actually assured that God works all things out for the good of those who love him. (Romans 8:28) God is engaged in circumstances on earth. He is interested. He cares. God never sleeps. Psalms 121 verses 3-4 remind me that God won’t let my foot slip because He is watching me. God is not “slumbering” or sleeping. Instead, He is watching over me. God is always working.

Either at school or at church (or maybe both), sometime in the last couple weeks Jairus has heard the phrase “God is always working.” I know that because he has repeated it at least twice in conversations with me or his daddy. (I am pretty sure he didn’t come up with that phrase on his own…he is a mimicker.) But much to our surprise, Jairus said the phase with a negative connotation. And I am 100% sure that isn’t how it was used in the context he learned it.

The best example was last Sunday morning when we were pulling into church. Jairus and Joe were talking about how the church was God’s house. As we were getting out of the car Jairus said, “Yea, but God is always working.” (negative connotation)

That is when it hit me. Jairus has grown up with Joe working from home. And as a teacher, I often do work from home as well. I couldn’t even begin to count the number of times he has heard us say “Jairus, I’m working” when he has requested a game, or a book, or to go outside, or….the list could go on and on. Not that we abuse him or he is neglected by any means. But, there are times when we can’t or don’t meet his immediate need. And what “excuse” or phrase do we use? “I’m working.” So, I figure that to Jairus, the idea of a God who is always working isn’t very appealing. I mean, who wants a God who is too busy for you? Who wants a God who has other things to do all the time?

This was just a good reminder that as parents, we have a huge impact on Jairus’ world view. How Jairus views God and his foundation of faith will be largely influenced by us. I am not afraid that we have scared him for life, or royally messed up. It was just a reminder, that is all.

And it made me thankful that we don’t have a God who is always working….that is too busy for us…that is distracted. Instead, we have a God who loves to listen to us, read books with us, spend time with us, and the list could go on and on!

Tickle button

Wednesday night I really needed to get some work done. Paying bills, balancing the check book, and school work filled my evening schedule. Jairus came into the computer room to visit with me and distract me. I took some time to tickle and wrestle with him. After about 10 minutes of laughing, I told Jairus that I had to get back to work and so “my tickle button is off.” Without missing a beat, Jairus walked up to me, gently touched my wrist like it was a button, and said “it’s back on.”

So guess what, we tickled some more. How can you say no to that?

Do that again

So, Jairus is a kid who likes repetition. If you know Jairus, you know that. Well, almost daily we end up playing some type of little verbal volley match. This morning it was kisses. As we snuggled waking up I gave him a kiss, he kissed me back, I fake kissed him and he returned it. Over and over we did this. The other night he wanted juice to drink, but it was kinda late, so I told him he could have water. He said “no juice.” I said, “no water.” “No juice” Jairus responded. “Water” “Juice” Waaattteerrr” “Juuuiiiccceee” If I whisper, he whispers. Whatever tone I use, he repeats. Jairus will do this game with me lots. It is cute and entertaining for a bit…but eventually, I tire of it. Jairus on the other hand, doesn’t. When I stop he sweetly entreats me “let’s do that again!” Oh my!

Eight

This last month Jairus and I have gone to a few basketball games at school. I could have made money on funniest home videos if I had a video camera at the middle school games a few weeks ago. Jairus enjoyed cheering for the eagles, as always. But the best part of the evening was watching Jairus’ keen sense of observation. From our front row seats (where Jairus could run around on the floor/sideline) Jairus had an eagle eye on one referee. I tell you, when the referee called a jump ball, Jairus immediately threw up his hands too. He pretended to hand kids the ball, he signaled free throws, he even ran backwards. Whatever the ref did, Jairus was just a second behind him. It was funny and surprisingly drew attention from many people in the crowd. Jairus was entertaining.

At home Jairus sometimes runs back and forth in the living room “playing” basketball. Recently he told me that he is number 8. I asked him what he means (b/c his favorite number is 3). He pointed to his back and said “here, number 8 here.” At the last game I checked, and the eagles do not have a number 8 yet…maybe in 10 or 12 years! :)

Green

If you spend much time with Jairus, you will quickly learn that green is his favorite color. It comes up with almost every conversation – from what he wears, to what he eats, to what toys he plays with and the list could go on. But what is also pretty cool is that he is curious to what YOUR favorite color is too. He will ask and more impressively, he remembers.

His teacher told me that EVERY TIME they do something with colors at school, he tells them that green is his favorite color, purple is mommy’s favorite and orange is daddy’s favorite color.

He can tell you that yellow is Mamaw’s favorite, but blue is both Papaw’s and Uncle Tony’s favorite. Actually blue is a popular favorite color. It is claimed by Deron, and a couple guys who work with Joe. Actually, Matt and Don didn’t know they needed a favorite color until Jairus was in the office and asked them. Matt had Jairus guess. Jairus correctly guessed blue. Surprised, Matt asked Jairus how he knew that. He responded, “Your shirt is blue.” Ah yes, good logic.

Tuesday will be a busy day!

It was Friday night and Jairus was told that he needed to take a bath. His response: On Tuesday... I’ll take a bath on Tuesday. Later in the evening he was instructed to pick up his toys. His response: I can pick up toys on Tuesday. A few minutes later, he was told it was time to brush his teeth and guess his response…. “on Tuesday.” Funny! We did get him to take a bath, pick up toys, and brush his teeth on Friday, but it just a bit more consuming.

So Saturday morning he started again! Anything he was asked to do, he said he would do it on Tuesday. It was so funny! At one point I said, “Oh, it is Tuesday now.” Jairus looked straight at me and answered “no its not!.” :) Oh smarty pants!

Tuesday will be a very busy, busy day!

Problem Solving

This story starts last night when Jairus and Joe returned home from Dallas. As I was helping Jairus out of the truck, I asked him where he had been all day. His response: “Playing with Mamaw.” I proceeded to ask him what they played. “I helped Mamaw play Bubbles on the computer,” he answered. Interesting. I have no idea what he is talking about, but sounds nice. Then our conversation moved on to dinner and other mundane items.

As I was checking facebook and playing Sudoku this morning (I could do that since we were home for an “ice” day), Jairus asked to play Bubbles on the computer. Since I had no idea what he was talking about, I told him “not right now.” A bit later, he asks me again. I told him that I don’t know what that was and explained that next time we see Mamaw we’ll have to ask. “Well” he says (which BTW, that is his recent favorite word and he says it like a true southerner…Weeelllllllllllll) as he trots out of the computer room. He quickly returns with his own camera and then SHOWS ME PICTURES that he took yesterday at Mamaw’s of the Bubbles game!


Now is that good problem solving or what? Unfortunately I still didn’t know what it was. Looked kinda like a tetras game. By asking Mamaw we learned that it is called Aqua Bubbles. Good news – I have now googled it! :) But now he wants to play green ovals. Looks like I have a problem to solve! :)