On the occasion of your fifth birthday (how can that possibly be?), allow me to share 5 “Jack Facts:”

Fact #1 – you’re smart, very smart

Read some of the blogs I’ve written over the past year, when you were four and three.  I’ve tried to capture how your (not so little) brain works.  You’re on top of your game,  aware of your surroundings, sharp as a tack.  You know what’s going on and have a naturally curious mind.  You’re not stuck (or hiding) in your world like most little kids, you’re in the game, in the moment.

Fact #2 –  you’re a real chatterbox

this may be a by-product of your smarts, who knows, but you’re a great conversationalist, always asking questions, probing, inquiring, thinking.  With you, it’s a natural flow; you don’t struggle for words, they are on the tip of  your tongue and that little tongue never stops moving.

Fact #3 –  happy, handsome (okay maybe this is two things, not one)

Let’s start with happy.  You’re not  a grouchy kid or a crabby kid or a high maintenance kid.  You go with the flow and are almost always in a good mood.  About the only time you’re not is when  you’re tired at the end of the day.  You love to be around others and have a killer smile.

Speaking of smiles, that smile goes on a handsome face.  Sometimes I look at  you and I think “he could be a model”  or “he will drive the ladies crazy when he’s older.”  You’re that handsome – a natural, rugged type.

Fact #4 –  you love the outdoors and are tough (okay another extra)

There’s nothing you enjoy more than being outside.  Whether it’s going to one of your siblings’ games or helping your Dad around the house, it’s the place you want to be more than anywhere else.  Cold and blustery?  Who cares, get me out there.  Rainy? That’s why there are raincoats. Snowing?  Give me those mittens and boots.  A couple weeks ago when you came to visit, you helped me put away the outdoor furniture and take down the Halloween ghosts, chatting the whole time and enjoying every minute.

As far as being “tough,” you’re one of those rare little kids who never complain. Sometimes you get beat up in your outdoor adventures (falling, scraping a knee, etc.) but you brush it off and move on.  You hardly ever cry.  I’ve seen you take a bruising and you’re typical reaction is to quietly shrug it off and move on.  You have a high tolerance for pain, it’s amazing.

Fact #5 –  you love your Grammy – a lot

When I think of you one of the first things that comes to mind is how much you love your Grammy.   When you see her, you run to her with a big grin and always give her a big hug.  It’s so adorable.  Of course your Mom is # 1 but Grammy is a close #2.

Happy birthday Master Jack!  While I wrote about five (actually seven) “Jack Facts” I could write 10 other blogs with five more apiece.  Your’e a special young man and I love you a lot.

Hooray, we finally did it!

Grammy and I moved out of “the big house” on Waterloo Circle in June 2014, then lived at the beach for 14 months which included one of the worst winters in New England history.  Our new house is great… a lot smaller and more manageable; nice & comfy.  It’s only two steps from the garage inside the house vs. 13 at Waterloo (so easy) with everything we need on one floor.  It’s a handy location, on the south side of Dover, close to Portsmouth and Route 95.  Lots of new memories of you, our super-dooper-trooper grandchildren, will happen at 30 Shore Lane!

Ah, summertime, sweet summertime.

It’s easily my favorite season (with Fall being a close second).

Warm enough every day to wear shorts and a t-shirt. To jump in the pool (or ocean).  Grill.   Go for a walk (or run).  Play outside until 8 o’clock at night.  No school.  No socks. No shoes. No worries.

And of course, ice cream.  Cold, sweet, tasty ice cream.

Hot fun in the summertime.

You can’t beat it.

I always enjoy spending one-on-one time with you.  Here’s a little bit of what you said to me on a recent drive to Congdon’s Donuts:

Papa, who grows this? (the plants around the beach house) – to which I reply, ‘we have someone come to take care of the plants,’ to which you replied “Cause you don’t know how to do it?”

 

why do people call it July Fourth?

 

some people’s driveways have rocks in them… it’s weird

 

“People!  That’s not a sidewalk! (you see people walking in the road) “My Mommy says that”

 

Once it’s cloudy back there, you can’t see the islands (looking out your window toward the ocean)

 

Papa, do you know the nail on your thumb? (to which I replied, “yes”) to which you replied “It Grows!”

 

Why do you love Congdon’s donuts…  cause they’re great?

 

If you cut in line, you’ll get run over by the police (we’re waiting in a VERY long line to place our order at the drive through)

 

Don’t do it anymore, because I don’t like it (you realize I’m writing down what you’re saying)

 

that was long! ( we finally get our donuts)

 

I love spending time with you.  You’re a busy bee, a happy soul, great companion and I’m constantly amazed at the depth and range of what’s on your mind.

At Ben’s last soccer game, you and Molly rode in the Youk with Grammy and me and later we hung out on the field and adjacent playground.

I often do a double-take when you say something because while the voice I hear is a little kid’s voice, what’s on your mind often catches me by surprise.

Here are a few “classic Jack-ism’s” from that day, all told in your low-key style

When are we going to Hampton Beach?  What number do you have to be to go there?

 

(I told you I’d take you to see the sand castles)

When you push me, my belly tickles

(I was pushing you on the swings)

Your hat fits me really good

(you had forgotten the Red Sox baseball cap Grammy and I bought you, so I gave you mine)

Do hornets sting you for no reason?

 

Slides give me shocks

 

I didn’t put these holes in my shoe

 

(you were wearing Crocs)

Why is Mom selling freeze pops?

(at the end of Ben’s game, your Mom handed out freeze pops to the team)

did you know the top of the earth is the Arctic (pronounced AAAHHH-tic)

 

Why do freeze pops make your tongue colors?

 

Why did you stop pushing me?  You are texting.

(to which I replied “I’m not texting Jack, I’m writing down what you are saying” … to which you replied “Because I’m smart? (pronounced SMAAAHHH-t)

If you went to the top of the tallest building in the United States you would see the whole earth.

What does empathy mean?

 

When we to to Hampton Beach we will eat candy for lunch.

(I had told you there was a big candy shop across the street and I’d take you there)

 

Mom, my shoes are orange.  “How did that happen?” she asked, to which you replied “I put Gatorade in them.”

 

and perhaps my favorite of the day:

I’m like a turkey coming out of the oven.

At a recent spring soccer game for Ben, across state in Milford, NH, you made a new pal with a kid you didn’t even know, playing trucks in the infield behind where we sat.  Nothing better than sitting in the dirt on a warm late Spring day!  After the game you posed with your sister… I love this photo of the two of you. You were pretty happy because I bought you slushies.  Yum, yum.

You had all searched for eggs, top to bottom, at the beach house.

Nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

No eggs to be found anywhere.

Grammy said “the Easter bunny told me he definitely left eggs behind.”

Jack said:  “The Easter bunny didn’t come because you don’t have any kids.”

There was no place left to look, nowhere else to go… except for outside, which is exactly what did.  There before you was a vast beach, sand and white sea shells all around. And  no eggs in sight.

All of you – except for Ben – started making your way toward the water.  Ben kept studying the scene, trying to figure it out.  He kicked over one of the white shells, and there was a red Easter egg buried in the sand, hidden by the shell.

 “Hey guys,” he shouted, “they’re up here.”

You ran up toward the sea wall and soon a full scale frantic Easter egg hunt was in process.  Under nearly 100 white sea shells – we counted them later – were brightly colored eggs, each one containing money and candy.  You took your blue and white bags and began filling them up with the holiday treats.

Soon the hunt was over and everyone was back in the beach house, munching on chocolate, counting money and dreaming of what to buy with your gift cards from Grammy and I.

It was a memorable Easter, the first one we’ve ever had at the beach house, and the first time we’ve ever had an egg hunt outside.  Cool, fun, different!  Goodbye giant Waterloo house in Dover…   hello vast beach sand along the Atlantic ocean!