Keeping up with Cooper

Aside from Cooper's foot growing two sizes in recent months, there are a few other indications that our little guy is not so little anymore. Sad for Mommy...but exciting, too.

After dropping Cooper off at school yesterday morning, I headed to his future elementary school to get the ball rolling on his kindergarten registration. Can you believe it? Where has the time gone?! Is he really about to start public school? Well, evidently he is...whether his Mommy is ready or not.

The four-year-olds at the ELC started reading groups this past week. Cooper is in the beginning stages of learning to read! And he is doing a great job, too. Jay and I are very proud of him. I am especially encouraged by how excited he is about this new skill...and by how much he wants to be able to read. I love seeing those wheels turn when he is trying to sound out a new word. Although I knew it beforehand, it was nice to hear from his teacher at the preschool just how ready he is for kindergarten. It might be a little bittersweet for me, but I know he is going to just love big kid school when he starts in the fall!

In another preschool update, here is what Cooper brought home today at the end of Space week:

I did this with my own students this week, but I am particularly impressed with Cooper's artwork. He was able to identify and talk about each of the planets he drew. And look how well he wrote "Solar System!" The A! The S! The Y (a letter we have yet to introduce this year)! I'm pretty sure his handwriting is better than mine. Oh, and in case you were wondering, his favorite planet is Jupiter (the big one in the middle...next to Saturn, obviously) because it is "SO large."

The Houstons got me Cooper this awesome journal for Christmas this year:

I LOVE this journal. It is amazing. Such a wonderful idea. After these three years run out, I will probably be searching for another one for the following three years. I am thrilled that we will have Cooper's answers to all of these questions forever. As much as I love it, there is a (small) chance that Cooper likes it more. He reminds me every day to ask him a question. And, as you might assume, the Q&A usually leads to a wonderful conversation that we probably would not have ordinarily had. I just don't have enough good things to say about this book. Thank you thank you thank you, Diana, for thinking of us with this unique gift!

I will occasionally post about specific questions and answers as we fill his journal out. For now, here are some things I have learned about Cooper in the past month:

*When friends play with his toys, he feels bad. And sad. But not mad.
*His hero is Daddy, because he's really strong.
*It makes him feel special when Mommy and Daddy take him to the movie theater.
*One of the things that most worries him are that the people on the tight rope at the circus are going to fall (this was obviously from the day we went to the circus).
*Paleontology is a job that looks interesting to him. (Seriously...he said paleontologist).
*And when asked yesterday what he hopes for: "I hope to read."

Could you just die?! How adorable are those answers? I can't wait to see how his answers evolve over the days, months and years!