Monday night was a big night for Jack. He read his first book all by himself. He knows about 8 or 9 sight words and can sound out simple three or four letter words. It's pretty darn cool to watch. So he read a book called Oswald Adds, which is from the SuperKids reading program at his school. The first time through, he struggled a little to sound out "adds" and "Sal", but the smile on his face when he was successful was amazing. And he was so proud of himself at the end of the book. "I read the book, Mom!" Yes, yes you did, kiddo. And as soon as Dad got home and came up to say good night, Jack asked to read it again for him. So cool.
As if reading wasn't a big enough accomplishment for one night, he also finally tied shoes all by himself. This is one of the benchmarks for first quarter at school, so we've been practicing for quite a while. Tying shoes is no easy task, especially if you have small fingers. But on Monday night, Jack finally got it. And again, he was super proud of himself. He came running out of his room to show me the shoelace puzzle that we use to practice. Then he wanted to do it again to show me.
I don't think there's a more proud parent moment than watching your child accomplish something by himself and be proud of himself for doing it. I think that's why I want to make sure I remember this. Tying shoes and reading books will eventually become second nature to Jack. But for right now, it's a huge accomplishment and a symbol of his ability to accomplish a goal (or two) on his own.
Kindergarten is a lot of work for Jack. He gets homework every week. He's memorizing prayers and his phone number. I often feel like there's constantly something for him to be working on. So in order to keep perspective and to do something fun just for us, we are reading Harry Potter.
Lately, Friday nights have become pizza and movie nights at our house. We put a couple of beach towels on the living room floor, order a pizza, and pick out a movie from Netflix or Amazon. Then we all huddle on the floor together eating and watching movies. One Friday night, we decided to try Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Jack loved it. So the next week they watched the second movie. That one was a bit too scary. So to keep the love of Harry Potter going without giving our children nightmares, we decided to read the first book instead. And it's going over very well.
Jack will lay in bed listening to me read a chapter for the full 20 or 30 minutes it takes to read. He'll stop me when he recognizes a scene from the movie or makes some other connection that he just has to tell me about right then. And truth be told, I'm really enjoying reading the books too. Although I've seen many of the movies, I've never picked up the books to read. It's kind of nice to be reading them for the first time with Jack.
So that's what's new with Jack.
