Jackson Rides a Bike

Sometime last summer, back when we were still living in Castle Rock, Jackson requested that we take the training wheels off Travis.  Travis Michaelson that is.  Because every child gives his bike a first and last name right?  We obliged, took a few obligatory photos and  a video or two and let him roll.

It was a valiant effort, but not particularly successful.  It was only a few days before he wanted the wheels back, but we insisted that they were off for good and he needed to learn to ride without them.  As a result, the bike sat untouched for nearly three months.

On occasion Drew or I would suggest that he give the bike another try but Jack was completely uninterested.

One day in late October while taking Ruby for a quick walk after school Jackson asked if he could ride Travis.  He was worried that Travis was getting a little lonely hanging in the garage all by himself.  (And I imagine the twin 6-year-old girls next door who rode their bikes - without training wheels - had a little to do with it as well.)  It was the first time Jack had expressed an unprompted interest in his bike since the training wheels came off so I seized the moment.  I spent the rest of our walk explaining to him how easy it was going to be for him to ride on two wheels.  I told him it was all about keeping your balance and looking straight ahead while your legs did all the work.  I reminded him what a good athlete he is and that he is very strong so it was going to be a piece of cake for him.  By the time we got back to the house he was pumped up and ready to go.

Drew was still at work, but I decided to keep going while we had this momentum.  We walked across the street where there is a nice wide sidewalk through a green belt area.  I held on to the back of his seat while Jack got his balance.  Then I gave him a little push and let go.

I'm not sure which of us was more surprised when he pedaled away as though he'd been riding forever.

No running behind and holding the seat.  No crashes and skinned knees.  No lesson from Dad, a former cyclist himself.  I like to think my pep talk had a little to do with his instant success, but more than anything I think he was just ready.  We were both pretty proud to show off his new skills when Drew pulled down the street and witnessed the little cyclist in action.

Since then Travis has been replaced with Travis 2 thanks to Grump, the avid cyclist who always seems to have the next size bike ready and waiting for the grandchildren.  Jackson has been on countless bike rides, including a 6 mile trek on the river trails when Gram & Grump visited over Thanksgiving.  There were also a couple of helmets under the Christmas tree this year so now the whole family is ready to hit the trails once the weather warms up.

And just like that, Jackson Rides a Bike!

Five

Dear Jackson,

I can't believe we are celebrating your FIFTH birthday!  You've been waiting for this day for a long time, but for me it came way too fast.

We've thrown all kinds of challenges your way the past year.  First, Daddy moved to Colorado while you and I stayed behind in Kansas.  Then we all moved in to Nana & Papa's house for a while and you started a new school.  A few months later we moved again - this time to our brand new house in Fort Collins and once again you started over at a new school.  Three schools in one year!  You have been so brave on all of these adventures and I couldn't be more proud of you.

You have also done some really cool things since we moved to Colorado.  Like play soccer and lacrosse and learn to ride a bike.  You throw a football better than kids much older than you and are such a good athlete.  I just love going to your games and watching you play.  You've also learned so many things in school the past year - like how to read and write all of the letters and numbers.

You are a good friend, a good helper and always make people laugh.  You remember everything you hear and surprise me every day with your vocabulary and all of the things you know.  You are tough, but you are also sensitive and kind to others.  You are by far my greatest joy.

Five is going to be a great year.  You get to start Kindergarten!  And you are officially a big kid.  I can hardly even pick you up any more!  Even though sometimes I wish you were still just a little boy, I sure am proud of the big boy you've grown in to.  And I can't wait to see what the next year brings.

Happy, Happy Birthday Jackson.

I love you all the way to the stars...and back again!

Love,

Mommy

 

It's Official...I'm a Soccer Mom

First, let it be known that my husband hates soccer.  I'm not sure when or why this hatred developed, but it may very well be his least favorite sport of all time.  I could go on, but suffice it to say, he's not a fan.

Jackson, on the other hand, loves anything and everything that involves balls and sticks - including soccer - and has been playing sports (from golf to basketball to baseball to football) with his Dad since he learned to walk.  This is his mother talking, but the kid is athletic.  He can throw a spiral, hit a golf ball, run faster than most his age and has pretty awesome hand-eye coordination.  But we've never had him participate in any organized sports. We neglected to put him in soccer while living in Lawrence (see above). Tee Ball would have been an option this summer but since we were temporarily in Castle Rock, and somewhat unsure how long we would be there, we didn't pursue that either.  Once we got settled in Fort Collins getting him enrolled in some sort of fall sports was a top priority.

After some research, we decided that the programs the Parks & Rec Department offered were probably not the best fit.  They were mostly basic skills classes which we thought would be a little boring for Jack.  He's still a bit young for any football or basketball leagues and with tee ball season behind us the only real option at Jacks' age, much to his father's chagrin, is soccer.  Enter the Fort Collins Soccer Club.  

I discovered FCSC less than 1 week before the season's first game.  Based on the registration policies (teams are formed by geographic location on a first-come, first-served basis beginning in June and based on date and time of application, etc.) getting a spot less than a week before the season seemed like a long shot to say the least.  I'm pretty sure that's why Drew went along with it and we agreed to give them a call.  Long story short, while Jack's elementary school team was full there was one other team with a spot left (a private Catholic school in town) that happened to be using our neighborhood school as their practice facility.  He was in!

Reluctantly, Drew agreed that it would be great for Jack (although I think he secretly hopes that after playing it for a bit Jack will decide it's not his favorite either) and that very day we hit up the sporting goods store to buy shin guards, socks and a soccer ball.  

When Jackson learned we had found him a team he was absolutely overjoyed.

First Soccer Practice

Warming Up

Dribbling Drills

Flirting?  There's no flirting in soccer!

Go team!

I have to admit, soccer at this age is absolutely adorable.  One little girl declared, about 1.5 minutes into practice, "Coach...I think I'm done with soccer now."  A few minutes later 2 kids disappeared from the field to go pet a dog that was being walked in the park.  It's like herding cats.  And to top it off, Coach Chris let the kids vote on their team name this year.  The winner...Giraffes.

And so it begins.  Our calendar is now booked with soccer practice on Wednesdays and soccer games on Saturdays.  Jackson absolutely loves it.  He practices almost every night (at his own request) and despite knowing absolutely nothing about the game until last week, he's already getting the hang of it.

Drew and I laughed our way through the first game.  I should have kept a tally of how many times a coach or parent yelled "Wrong way!  Go the other way!"  There was a giant stuffed unicorn (or as Drew thought, a giant My Little Pony) in one of the goals to help the kids remember which was theirs.  There were snack breaks at halftime and following the game.  And while we were chuckling at being called Team Giraffes, our opponent was Team Mickey Mouse Club.  So there's that.

Pre-Game Warm Ups

Game Time!

Getting some pointers from Coach Chris.

Who knows if Jack will stick with it or not, but for now it's fun for all of us.  

Here's a video (from my phone - sorry for the poor quality) of the Giraffe's in action.  And yes, that's Drew, Mr. Anti-Soccer himself, you hear cheering in the background!

{Another} First Day of School

Last Wednesday, August 7, Jackson started school at Primrose Fort Collins.  His third school in 6 months.

I have to admit, while the consistency of transferring from one Primrose to another made it a little less scary, I was worried about him.  While it's hard to believe for those that know Jack, he's actually a pretty shy and timid kid at first.  It takes him a while to find his comfort zone when he doesn't have Drew or I to rely on.  I was bracing myself for tears (his and mine).

Just before we headed out the door I decided I needed to find him some sort of good luck charm.  Just a little token from home that he could keep in his pocket for the moments that he was feeling lonely or scared.  Of course, with no advanced planning and most of our belongings scattered about in boxes my options were slim to none.  That's when I happened to spot 2 yellow Livestrong bracelets at the bottom of my jewelry box.  I gave one to Jack and wore one myself. I explained to him that we had special matching bracelets on so that if either of us ever started missing one another we could just look down at our bracelet and know that we were thinking of each other.  He loved it.

When we got to school he was clinging to me pretty tight.  We went through the motions of finding his hook, hanging up his backpack and meeting his teachers and then it was time to go play.  He clung tighter.  I reminded him about his bracelet and then asked his teacher if we could draw pictures together for a few minutes before I left.  I was sketching a picture of Mickey Mouse (I can draw absolutely nothing...but I do a mean Mickey Mouse!) when another little boy came to sit by us.  I asked him his name and he replied, "Jackson".  Of course, my Jack's face just lit up and it totally broke the ice.  After drawing each Jackson a Mickey Mouse I asked them if they could try to draw one for me and I would pick them up after school when I returned.  They were all for it.  My Jack gave me a high five and a wave and off I went without even a whimper.

He had a great first day and told me that evening he only had to look at his bracelet one or two times.  He wanted to wear it again the next morning, but by day 3 the bracelet was old news and no longer necessary.

The other factor that turned out to be a huge stroke of lucky timing is that this Primrose is still in summer school mode, otherwise known as Camp Primrose.  All summer long the Pre-K and school aged kids have field trips every single day.  Most are educational and some are just purely fun.  Camp Primrose ends on August 16 so Jack's first week and a half included the last batch of field trips as they wrap up their summer fun.  In addition to getting to ride the bus (which he thinks is totally cool), he has gone rollerskating, to a ballet, splash park, inflatables gym, gymnastics center, miniature golfing and several picnics at a different park each day (if there's one thing that's plentiful here in the front range, it's parks)  Needless to say, getting him out the door in the morning is not hard with such fun activities on the agenda!

Monday morning they're back to the regular school year.  With a week and a half under his belt, I'm sure that transition will be totally painless.  Jack is thrilled because that means they get to wear uniforms again.

And so we've conquered yet another first day of school.  The next one will be Kindergarten.  But I'm not ready for that yet.

Taste of Fort Collins

As often as possible, we have been spending weekends in Fort Collins.  It gives us a chance to check on the house progress and get acquainted with our new hometown, gives Mom & Dad a break from our family of 3 plus the Labradiva living in their basement and, most importantly, gives Drew a break from making the dreadful commute back to Castle Rock every day.  Plus it's a super cool town and we always have a blast.  So when we heard that the annual Taste of Fort Collins was June 7-9 we marked the calendar, booked a hotel and headed up north.

Taste of Fort Collins is one of the biggest events of the summer in FoCo.  A 3-day festival featuring local food and beer, national bands and lots of other activities from a kid zone to eating contests to a craft fair.

We started the day by meeting some friends in nearby Windsor, CO where the fire station was having an open house.  One of our friends is a chief at that station and we knew the kids would love to see the equipment and hang out with the firemen.  From the kid-friendly obstacle course, to the firetrucks, ambulances and police cars to the free hot dog lunch to the jaws of life demonstration to the burning up of an old beater car it was a huge success.

A pause from the fire excitement to give Slapshot, the mascot for the Colorado Eagles hockey team, a five.

After all of the morning's excitement, we headed downtown to the festival where Jack and his buddy Brody (ironically wearing matching fedoras) worked up quite a sweat playing on all of the inflatable slides, bounce houses and obstacle courses.

Of course, we indulged on lots of delicious food (The Waffle Lab is quite possibly the most dangerous food truck we've ever encountered) and drank our fair share of local brews.  Even Jack recognized the logo for his Dad's new favorite by New Belgium.

Clearly, Fort Collins is well versed in the execution of an outdoor festival.  Despite crowds of over 30,000 people, the lines were extremely efficient, the bathrooms plentiful and even fairly clean and the trash/recycling readily available and never overflowing.  The meeting planner in me was more than impressed.

After pausing to listen to some live music for a bit, we decided to call it a day.  On our way back to the car, we walked through the kid zone again and despite being a bit timid earlier, Jackson asked to give the giant trampoline a try.  We were skeptical, but let him give it a shot.

He started slow, but got the hang of it pretty quickly and before we knew it he was quite the daredevil.

Cheers Fort Collins!  We can't wait to call you home.

Jackson's Preschool Graduation

How did this happen?

This week was graduation for the kids at Jack's school.  Despite the fact that Jack's not really "graduating" to Kindergarten quite yet (his birthday is too late to start school next Fall) we decided to let him participate with his classmates anyway.  He was looking forward to the day and since he will be leaving Primrose in the next couple of months as we make our way North to Fort Collins it seemed harmless.

Little did I know it was going to be absolutely adorable and totally tear-inducing!

I'll let the pictures do the talking this time.

The program.  It was all quite official.  :)

Commencement address by Dr. Batterberry.  The owner of Primrose.

The handshake (2 pumps) followed by the fake diploma (because the kids just crinkle them up, ya know).

Photo op.

Jack's teacher, Miss Holly, addressing the class.  He adores her.

Blocking the sun.  It really does feel hotter and brighter up here at 6000 ft!

A wave.  He spotted me.

Nice graduation pose.

Silly graduation pose.

 

Me and my big boy.

More silliness.

The classroom centerpieces for the cake and punch reception.

The real diploma.

I'm not sure what I expected of this ceremony, but I do know that real caps and gowns ("It's not a dress!" as one of Jack's classmates shouted multiple times after the processional), pomp and circumstance and commencement addresses were not in my minds eye.  It was absolutely darling.  And I really did have to fight back tears.  Thank goodness for Cortney who was keeping my sense of humor alive as I text messaged her the play by play and kept the tears at bay.  I know every mother says it a million times, but holy cow does time fly. 

And because I couldn't resist, here is a little video of the ceremony.

Happy graduation little man!

Jack's Wedding Day

This is an old story as it happened nearly two months ago, but it's too good not to have documented.

Jackson is smitten with a girl at school named Ruby.  They are great buddies and play together all the time.  Several months ago he told me that Ruby was growing her hair long like the princess in the movie Tangled (Disney's current version of Rapunzel) and once it was long they were going to get married.  A few days later he told me he was changing his name from Jackson to Bluejean.  Upon further questioning I figured out that he was referring to the "prince" in Tangled, whose name is actually Eugene.  (Eugene, Bluejean, same difference, right?)  Again, it was so that he and Ruby could get married.

Fast forward about a month.

While getting ready for school one morning Jack insisted that he get dressed up and wear a tie. 

"Ruby & I are getting married today!" he declared. 
"Wow!" I said.  "What will you do when you & Ruby get married?"
"We'll dance and then I'll spin her around."  he replied.

Because, duh, that's what happens in the Disney movies.  They dance and spin around!

On we went with the morning routine until it came time to brush his teeth.  Jack was fighting it and we were about to come to blows.

"Jackson," I said "You can't marry Ruby today if you don't brush your teeth.  That's gross!"
His eyes widened, he turned on his heels and marched into the bathroom.  "Oh, fine!" he said.

So for the first time (and I'm sure not the last), I used a girl at school to manipulate Jack.

After arriving at Princeton I told the story to his teacher, Alijah (the other girl at Princeton that he is smitten with) who was not a bit surprised.  According to her, the kids act like a little old married couple all the time.

A couple of hours later Alijah sent me the following pictures.

 

Turns out Ruby had dressed up too (it was her wedding day after all!).  And, by some weird coincidence, they totally matched.  Alijah took pictures of them and then they asked her if they could have a dance.  She obliged and their wedding dreams came true.

Ruby's mom and I exchanged e-mails and chuckled about it all day.

Since the big wedding day the two of them have continued their plotting.  We arrived at school one Friday in full superhero gear (it was "home toy day") only to find Ruby running around in her own cape and mask.  On "crazy hat day" during Dr. Seuss week the two of them arranged to wear their cowgirl and cowboy hats - hers pink with rhinestones and his brown.

They're adorable.  We'll sure miss Ruby when we finally head west to Colorado. 

Oh...and hopefully the next time Jack gets married he'll at least invite me to the wedding!

How Monkeys Got My Kid To Sleep In His Own Bed

Ahhh, bedtime.  It's been an ongoing struggle with Jackson since, well, birth.  And an issue that has been well documented on the Elser 411.  It seems like we've tried everything. 

Most recently, his routine has been to sleep in his beloved spider man sleeping bag on his bedroom floor, which has gradually become the hallway outside his bedroom door.  We let it go.  After all, he was going to bed on his own and staying asleep all night.  That's a win, right?  But then Drew headed to Colorado and I allowed Jack to sleep with me (for my sake as much as his if I've being honest).  Fearing I was traveling down a path that would be awfully hard to undo I was determined to nip this thing in the bud once and for all.

So I turned to google.

In my research, I read about a token method.  It's much like the more traditional sticker chart, but there are some key differences that I loved.  With the token method, your child can earn tokens for a variety of tasks or behaviors - some of which are worth more tokens than others.  This allows for more opportunity for the child to earn tokens and more opportunity for you to use positive reinforcement.  For example, Jack earns 3 tokens for sleeping in his own bed all night long.  If he leaves his room at any point in the night, rather just denying him his three tokens I can offer him one token for returning to bed promptly without arguing.  It immediately turns a negative situation into a positive one.  The best part is that the power of the tokens lies with the child.  They can be cashed in at any time for some agreed upon rewards.  Rewards such as staying up 15 minutes later, additional TV or iPad time, extra stories at bedtime, a special dessert and on rare and extreme cases a small toy or trinket.  Of course, you tailor the rewards to things that are important to your child and assign values based on the size of the reward.

Jack and I discussed this new method for several days (I wanted to be sure he had a clear understanding of the rules and expectations) and then scheduled a special trip to Target to buy supplies.  In our case it was a silver bucket that Jack decorated with transformer stickers from the Dollar Spot (all picked out by him).

I intended on buying poker chips to use as tokens but in the end we decided on a Barrel of Monkeys (Jack chose blue).  Mostly because they were cheap and readily available, but also because they're cute, fun and appropriate for Jack since I've lovingly called him "Monkey" since birth.

Long story short, we are now 10 days into our token method and Jackson has slept in his own bed all night long every single night.  That's not to say we haven't had some more challenging nights than others, but the end result has been the same.  He absolutely treasures those monkeys.  He also doesn't hesitate to cash them in.  In fact, his most requested reward is extra stories at bedtime.  So much better than bribing him with sweet treats or unnecessary toys!

While this whole project started with bedtime in mind, the added benefit is that is has provided me another way to reward Jack for his help around the house.  With Drew gone, Jack is the primary dog feeder and is a great helper in taking out the trash.  He also has his own chores (make his bed, rinse out his sink after he brushes his teeth, pick up after himself, etc.) as we work together to keep the house clean and show-ready while it is on the market.  I'm asking more of him during this transitional phase and I'm thrilled to be able to reward him for his efforts.  Especially because in this case, the rewards are rarely about buying something or collecting more junk stuff.

I'm not ready to declare it a resounding success quite yet.  It's only been 10 days after all.  But we've made huge strides for sure.  I also think the timing was right. We are in the midst of lots of change right now.  Maybe in some ways that makes this adjustment a little easier for Jack.  Also, I have the time and patience to be extremely diligent about the processes right now.  And frankly, I think he is finally ready.  He just needed a little boost to prove it to himself.

So there you have it.  How monkeys got my kid to sleep in his own bed!

Princeton's Winter Program

We got to check another first off the list this year...Jackson's first winter program.  The kids at Princeton put on a little show for their parents followed by hot cocoa and cookies in the multi-purpose room.

A four-year-old Christmas Concert?  That's right up my alley!

Warning:  The video below is nearly 5 minutes long.  Unless you answer to the names Nana or Gram it could be a painful 5 minutes.  No hard feelings if you can't quite make it to the end!

 

More on Turning Four

Jackson is too young to grasp the awesomeness of turning four years old on 12-12-12, but I think it's safe to say he still had a pretty fantastic day.

It started with a surprise from his buddy, Elf.

He didn't get to skip school completely, but he did get to come home early after enjoying some pretty special cookies with his classmates during afternoon snack time.  (Shout out to Cami at Cami's Cake Co. for being my go-to-gal for cookies, cupcakes and cake!)

Then he waited with his best friend for Dad, Gram & Grump to arrive so the real celebrating could begin.

Celebrating in the form of presents!

I'm not sure which of these Elser boys was most impressed with the Playmobil ship.  They've come a long way since Drew's collection back in the day!

In keeping with tradition from my childhood, dinner was the birthday boy's choice.  He chose spaghetti.  Then we dug into a Spiderman cake - the theme of the day if you haven't noticed.

After dinner and dessert we took advantage of technology and Jackson opened his presents from Nana & Papa via facetime.  It wasn't long after that all the fun, excitement and sugar came to a head and the birthday boy hit a wall.

Despite the near meltdown come bedtime, it sure was a happy birthday.  And I still find it hard to believe my little guy has turned into this big four-year-old!

Happy Birthday, Jackson.  I hope all your wishes come true!