JJ Update

A recent conversation with JJ (to set the scene, JJ & Justice had been gone for a few days with Jake at a tournament….they had just gotten back and this was after his bath):

Me: “JJ, come back in here you need to brush your teeth!”
JJ: “Why mom, I am sooooo tired!”
Me: “C’mon I bet you haven’t brushed your teeth in at least two days (the boys tend to forgo all body care when they are on the road without mom).”
JJ: “No mommy, it hasn’t been two days.....(pause, he’s thinking)……it’s been five days!!!!!”
Me: “Great, all the more reason to get in a good brush! Now…..where is your toothbrush…haven’t you unpacked it yet?”
JJ: “No, but it’s ok, I’ll just use whatever toothbrush is up here.” (And he said this as if this is a normal occurrence and he has done it a time or two!!!!!!!!!!!)

And so goes my life with boys. :)

JJ has tapped into his Daddy’s love for sports, and the two of them make quite the pair. On Saturday, the season opener of college football, they literally camped out on the couch the entire day and watched game after game. JJ can hold his own in any sports conversation and I heard him say things like “Wow, the Cowboys have a sa-weet stadium (the LSU vs. Oregon game was held there).” “Daddy, who you going for ~ Auburn or Utah State?” “Man, Oregon has an awesome running back.” “Where did Cam Newton go to high school?” and “WOW, Purdue blocked a field goal against Middle Tennessee to win the game!”and running into our bedroom where Justice was watching cartoons ~ “Justice, you should have seen it - Auburn did a short kick cause they didn’t get a touchdown, and #80 for Auburn caught it and then they got a touchdown! They won 42-38!” He can recount plays of games days after they happen, and he’ll remember scores and win/loss records just like Jake.

Although JJ turned 5 at the end of July, our plan (since he was a newborn really) was to wait to send him to school until he was 6, so he won’t start kindergarten until next fall. Jake works with tons of youth and he claims that boy’s ability to focus is so much better if they are older for their grade. And, of course, it’s better for sports if you are older in your class than younger, because you will be more developed at each grade level (life is all about sports right?). And what momma doesn’t want an extra year at home with her kiddo? The next question everyone has been asking me is if JJ is going to preschool. Since JJ gets so much social interaction hanging around the gym, I am really not at all worried about that aspect. And since I am blessed to get to stay at home with my kids, I figure why send them to preschool when I can just teach them myself? So, I am doing a combination of this Little Hands to Heaven curriculum, pre-school work books that I got from Target, and some other letter learning activities. Jake and I have also noticed that JJ has some major memorization skills, so I’ve been working on teaching him to read by word recognition alone. He doesn't really sound out words, but he can see a word once and and remember what it is the next time he sees it. Again, he got this great memory from Jake. I used to get so mad at Jake in college because he would hardly have to study and he would get A’s. I would have to put in so many hours of going over my class notes because I had to study things at least 3 times until I would remember it.

JJ will do anything to make Jayla laugh, and recently that means saying any of the following words: butt, poopy, naked, etc. He will also burp really loud so that he gets the reaction of “Ewwwwwww!!!” from her. Although they do this all in fun, we obviously had to put a stop to it, since it’s not always good when they yell this out at the top of their lungs in a public place. So, I started telling them “That’s not appropriate” and now if he says one of those words Jayla will respond with “That’s not app-o-pee-it JJ” and then they giggle even more. It's hard to be strict when they are so stinkin' cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JJ has been participating in the fall skills program at Jake's gym. There is one other little girl there who is 6 years old, and she and JJ are so fun to watch! Here are some videos I took of him doing drills last night...

Full court passing drill...


Right hand pound dribble...


Explosion drill...


Full court dribble between the legs...


Cross-over dribble with a lay-up...