Such a wonderful age

#1 Son went to a birthday party today. This is the first party that he has been invited to by a classmate. Mr. Husband had helped pick out a gift and they had wrapped it together. #1 son made a card. The boy, Jacob, was probably very suprised to learn that his name is spelled JKup but that's how #1 put it in the card.

It wasn't until we were in the car on the way to the party that #1 told us that he doesn't even like the kid. He wanted to go to the party because he thought that it would be fun and his friend Martin would be there as well. So he and Martin had a great time hanging out at the party together.

#1 read The Cat in the Hat with me before bed tonight. It was such a wonderful experience to snuggle with him on my fabulous bed and read together. I am continuly amazed at his ability to learn to read. I know that I have taught children to read but it is amazing to watch my son do it.

We read the words together and talked about the rhyming words. We laughed at the illustrations and pretended that Thing 1 and Thing 2 were the twinnies. We discussed what we would do if this actually happened to us.

When we were finished we cuddled and talked and then he tucked me into bed. He sang me a sweet song, pulled up the covers and kissed me on the forhead. He told me that he never sees me brush my teeth and I explained that I do actually do this but he's not in the room. Just like I shower and he's not in the room. He was worried because he knew that we had to take care of our teeth. Then he kissed me again and turned off the light.

I love when babies are first born. They are so small and so new. They need you for everything but you can hold them close to you without them excapeing.

I love when toddlers and just starting to walk and really explore. They are more independent and do not need to be on you all of the day but they do like to still be held close. They are exploring the world around them but they are quick to express their emotions by kicking and screaming. They have small hands and chubby feet.

I'm loving the age that #1 is at right now. This exploring life in a new way. He explains the world to me. He's almost always wrong but you can see where the logic lies behind the argument. He's really starting to read and he can now write sentences on his own. The words are usually spelled out Fo-net-ik-lee but you can actually read what he was trying to write down. It's so much fun to watch him learn and explore.

I hope that I always find something to like about the stage of development that he is in. I'm worried about the teenage years but still hold out that hope.