familytastic!

Jake's about to turn 5 in a few days. I've noticed over the last few weeks that he's getting a cheeky wit about him. He likes to spar and joke with us, but because it's the holidays, he's easily bored and frustrated. Sometimes he gets grumpy when he doesn't get an answer he likes.

He's a huge fan of science fiction stuff. Sitting in front of the TV right now, he's rewound the same scene in Doctor Who loads of times now, just to hear him say "Are you my mummy?" referrencing one of Jake's favourite episodes, The Empty Child. He's obsessed with Iron Man at the moment - not because of the movie, but because of the old cartoon series running on the satellite channels. You know, the one where Tony Stark looks like a big sleazy pimp on steroids? What a hero...

Still, Jake's one of the most pliant children. Ask him to do anything for you and he does it without hesitation. I'm not joking. I asked him this evening to pick up some cushions from the living room floor, and he did it immediately. No grumbling, no wasting time.

I just wanted to record a few thoughts about Jake as he approaches his 5th birthday. A sweet, intelligent boy. Still quite shy around new people, and withdrawn when he wants to be. I can see little signs of him maturing and developing his wit.

We're working at the moment on getting him used to more reading and we definitely need to spend more time with him writing and drawing to prepare him for pre-school in September, but we'll get there.

Little Jake, tonight was your finest hour. You peed for the first time standing up.

In years to come, we'll take this for granted and you'll probably boggle that I even bothered to write this down at all. But I'm so proud wee man.

A couple of months ago, I talked to you about going to the toilet standing up. The idea sounded fun to you, and I even gave you a couple of demos as to how it should be done.

I think it was a mix of stage fright and impatience that made you give up after about a week. We decided it wasn't the right time, and I didn't want to pressure you.

Seems it was a good idea, because this evening, after Daniel vacated the bathroom (he's toilet training at the moment), you just sauntered up to the bowl. Noticing the swagger, I casually suggested that you might want to try it standing up tonight. We lifted the seat up and you got in position and let it fly.

Funny how watching someone pee can make your heart sing, but I was (and still am) so proud that you did this without thinking about it, without worrying. I think I'm going to try this at bedtime for a few nights and see if we can work it into the daily routine until you're comfortable working by yourself.

Oh, and congratulations on the wee shake at the end. You looked like you'd been doing it for years!

Jake was due to start nursery school in the middle of the month as part of the phased introduction to school life. However, Lisa got a call yesterday to say that Jake could start tomorrow if it suited.

Even though it was slightly short notice, we were more than happy to let Jake go in earlier - the classroom size would be slightly smaller and he'd benefit from being able to meet his classmates gradually. Going in toward the end means you're walking into a huge class full of strange faces.

So Lisa gave me a call today to say that Jake loved his new class and settled in brilliantly. Apparently once Lisa left the classroom he came completely out of his shell and started talking to one of the girls he knew in class and even spoke to the teacher. In his first day, he managed to do a painting and make some kind of cut-out picture (I'm getting this second hand - I haven't seen it yet).

Jake's confidence has increased this summer, and he's become much more articulate and chatty. The other day he actually wanted to just sit and "talk about Star Wars" and how the "four sword guy (General Grievous) is the best fighter".

He's always been a quiet, softly spoken wee lad. Mostly because his sister used to talk on his behalf. But he's coming into his own these days, playing with his own friends and having conversations that he likes to set the topic for. Lisa and I are both loving how our 'quiet man' is coming along.

I got a little weepy tonight as my wee 4 year old blew out the candles on his chocolate caterpillar birthday cake.

In honesty, he won't be four until tomorrow, but we had a party tonight in his granny's so his cousins could join him.

He is such a massive wee boy, he actually looks like he is about five or six years old, but it seems like yesterday when we brought him home from hospital all fresh and new.

His birthday has turned out to be quite power ranger themed. It doesn't matter what other gifts he gets....he has a green mystic force ranger, so all is right with the world.

Quick post about something I've noticed recently - Jake grinding his teeth in his sleep.

I noticed it a few times when I was putting him to the toilet at night, but then he climbed into our bed one night and kept us awake with this awful grinding sound. It was unbelievable.

So. now we know this is going on every night. First, I'm interested to know what's causing it. Second, I wonder if there's any way to stop it, or if it's something he'll just grow out of.

Has anybody gone through this before?

Jake has become a Power Ranger addict! I don't know how to treat it. Does anyone know of any good classes or groups out their for addicts and their families?

Every time I see him he has a power ranger figure in his hand. He sleeps with them, he eats with them, he takes them to school, they even get pride of place in our bathroom sink as he goes to the toilet. Suggest storytime to Jake and he wants to read his Power Ranger annual, suggest a game and it's swords out and we're all pretending to be rangers and zords.

He has been planning which colour Power Rangers he will get for his birthday since Christmas. We have the same discussion every day, though the colours may change... roll on August!

We got the long awaited letter today. The one saying that Jake has been offered a place in the local preschool nursery and thankfully will be attending in the morning session.

When Jake was first born I thought it would be difficult for him to attend preschool for two years. He was born in early August and so by the time he starts primary school he will be five years old. Now his fourth birthday is almost upon us and I am glad it is nursery and not primary school he will be attending in September.

Academically he could go to primary school and I think he would fare well, but emotionally I think he will benefit from the extra year at preschool and at home. Jake is still very dependant on us (his parents) and I think another year would help ready him for 'big school' and being away from home for 5 hours at a time.

Just flew back in from London yesterday to discover Jake had taken a nasty fall earlier that morning on the way to school.

While running with Rachel and some of their friends, he tripped over somebody's feet and landed face-first on the ground. He didn't even have time to raise his hands to protect himself.

Right now, he's got a glowing red cut on his forehead and his cheekbone and nose are scraped and raw-looking. Poor little fella.

Unlike his sister, Jake doesn't do drama. Apparently he was quite upset after the fall, but as he was getting cleaned off he calmed down and got over it very quickly. Even talking to me about it later, he was very matter of fact - yes his face was sore, but no it wasn't worth getting upset over.

Compare and contrast with big sister who just the other day cried for half an hour because I accidentally bumped her with a football!

So for the moment, Jake looks like the Terminator with half his face off. I keep expecting to see slivers of metal glinting in the light. And all either Lisa or I can say at the moment is "Poor little fella."

Just got up with Rachel and Jake this morning (Lisa's had a wee night out on the rip).

After they had a bite to eat, I gave them both a big drink of juice each. It's funny to watch how different their drinking habits are.

Jake literally necks his drinks in one go. You hand him a glass, and one long glugging sound later it's empty.

Rachel has a slightly bizarre habit when drinking - she taps the bottom of the glass. Why? "To make the juice come down faster." she'll reply, perfectly seriously.

What weird/funny habits do your kids have?

Our good friend Wooftie - on his annual visit from The States - dropped a couple of small-but-expensive presents on Rachel and Jake: Nintendo DS Lites.

At the same time, Lisa's mum gave us a PlayStation 2 and donated a boxful of old games including the highly addictive Star Wars Lego.

The children instantly became transfixed by Super Mario and Star Wars Lego, and begged to play with them at all hours of the day and night. Lisa's best laid plans - to restrict usage to weekends only - fell by the wayside pretty quickly as the novelty of computer games overtook our self-discipline.

Jake became very adept at Super Mario World on the Nintendo, and would get lost in the game until he hit a tough spot and needed adult assistance. However, he's become adept with the DS Lite in a short space of time, and I've noticed that his concentration is phenomenal as he gets absorbed in the game. Almost to the point of being oblivious to everyone else. I walked into the house one day last week and he was busy playing his computer games, looked up, smiled at me, and went straight back to the game.

Rachel's just as good with the games, probably better since she has a couple of years up on Jake, but her biggest failing with computer games is her impatience. She's alright on her own, but when in a two-player game with Jake or her little friend Lauren, she quickly loses her temper when the game isn't going her way. Jake also can become very frustrated, and you know this because of the anguished animal howls that he makes. That's usually a sign that gaming time is over.....

We're trying to teach her more about teamwork and being understanding when Jake doesn't understand what to do. So far to limited success. What works best is when you restrict them to single-player games and let them do a level or 5 minutes each.

Having said that, there are a couple of the kids' friends who we can't allow to play computer games. Too many kids = major kiddie impatience, screaming, shouting and bad temper. When those folks come to the door, we kick everyone out. They get fresh air - we get a few minutes of peace before having to referee the next row!