Four years old

Four years ago today, Matt and I embarked on the greatest journey of our lives: parenthood. I always smile when I think of how my water broke so unexpectedly that cold December morning, with Matt on his way out of town and me flagging him down in the driveway to tell him he probably needed to change his plans for the day. 🙂 Jackson Ross came into the world at 2:30 a.m. after 18 hours of labor. I will never forgot how velvet soft his skin was, how perfect he was from head to foot. He was our early Christmas miracle. What a beautiful moment, holding your firstborn child.

It was love at first sight for me with my Jack. What a charmer he was, and so very smart. He loved books from the very beginning, and we were always so amazed at how he would sit on his own and truly look through an entire book from cover to cover well before he was one year old. And how he loved music! Even as a newborn, he would immediately stop crying when sung to or when music was playing. By the time he was 18 months, our days were filled with the sound of his own sweet little songs from the moment we got him out of his crib in the morning until he sang himself to sleep at night.

To have a child be such a sponge for information was one of the joys of parenting I had never even considered until having Jack. He knew his alphabet and most of the sounds each letter makes well before he was speaking in full sentences. At age two, I was able to teach him to identify many of the fifty states (and who lived in them!) and all of the continents. Such an amazing little mind!

At age four, Jack continues to fill our lives daily with such joy. He loves dinosaurs, cars, and – much to our delight – he still loves books. Lately, he has become very interested in my cooking endeavors, and he always wants to be my little assistant, especially any time cracking an egg is involved. 🙂 He is very artistic and enjoys the daily craft time he and I share during the girls’ nap time each afternoon. I love to see his creations! He is such a tender little boy, and I truly covet his sweet hugs and declarations of, “Mama, you are my best friend!” Of course, riding his bike with his neighborhood buddies is possibly his favorite thing of all, and Matt and I have been so tickled lately by the fact that his preferred compadres always seem to be older girls!

One week