Jordan's 1st Preschool Picture

I wanted to post this picture and write some of my thoughts down about this cute little boy. Since this blog is sort of my journal, I want to make a record of some of my memories of Jordan right now, at this stage of his life. Jordan is a very outgoing kid. He loves to see friends, and tells me almost every day who all of his "best-buddies" are; he's very happy to play with other kids and for the most part, he's very good about sharing and taking turns. He has a sparkly smile and a very curious, almost mischievous look in his eyes, and I love it. You can always tell he's up to something and I love to watch his eyes wonder. Whenever he hears an airplane, a truck, a train.. or anything that interests him, he'll cup his ear and say, Mom! You hear that??" and I just think it's so funny to watch his excitement for even the smallest things.
Jordan loves his Daddy. He wants to be like his dad in every way; they are truly best buds. Jordan tells me, "mommy, when I'm so big I'm going to play golf with my daddy", or "when I'm so bigger I'm going to go on daddy's chopper". He was watching basketball the other night, cuddled up next to Jared and he told me that when he's so bigger, he's going to play basketball, and football, and baseball. Whenever he sees a group of big kids he jumps right in and tries to be a part of the group. It broke my heart one time when we were all swimming and he befriended a group of boys, maybe 7-8 year olds. He shouted out, "mommy, look, my friends!" and then proceeded to tell these kids all about his mom, his dad, and his baby brother. One of the boys didn't seem to care about being a part of Jordan's conversation and told Jordan that he wasn't his friend. That just made me so sad... and I remember thinking how I wish he could stay this sweet and innocent forever, and not be tainted or hurt by other kids as he gets a little older.
Jordan absolutely loves his little blue puppy that his Grandma Burton gave to him a few years ago. He carries that ragged little puppy everywhere (to church, to school, really -everywhere). His favorite two things are his blue puppy and his white blanky. Heaven help me if I ever lose either of those!
I love how sweet he is and how quick he is to forgive us when we've scolded him for acting up or doing something that we don't approve of; yes, we've had to scold him... once, or twice.. ok, so maybe it's ongoing :-) Usually he'll hide his face in his blanky for a minute and then quickly bounce back and talk about something else. And he'll usually say, "Mom,I'm happy now". How quick these little kids are to love and forgive.
Jordan loves to read books. He can't really "read" but the books I've read to him over and over again, he's memorized so he's a pretty convincing reader; he knows every story on the page and really loves to get in those books and "read".
One thing I really love about Jordan is how easy he is. We've never had to argue with him about going to bed; he willingly gets those jammies out, asks for his blue puppy and a story, and hops up into bed. One night he fell asleep while I was reading to him (or so I thought) and I was just having a moment with him. I started tickling his face, running my fingers through his soft hair, and I just remember thinking I wish the moment could last forever. He looked like a little angel, so peaceful and sweet. Just then he opened his eyes and said, "Mommy, you need to go to your bed now". AHHH!! I got busted by my 3-year old and he told me to go to bed! It made me laugh because I know he's always had an independent spirit about him, and it comes out in little ways.
Jordan loves going to school and seeing his friends. The preschool teacher told me the rules on the first day: parents, you have to drop your child off and drive away, you can't hug and kiss because even though the first day is hard, you can't encourage the child to overreact and become upset. Jordan hopped out of the car and didn't look back. I was at Cafe Rio with Tiffany and Corbin last week and Jordan decided to join another family for lunch. He sat with them for most of the lunch and I felt bad because they all made room for him, but he really just became part of their family and sat with them for lunch. Silly kid!!
Jordan loves to call Dad on the phone and he's practiced so many times he can dial his number on his own. He always talks about Aunt Wee and Uncle T (Todd and Wendy), and his G&G Burton, and G&G Larson. Whenever I say we're going to Aunt Wee's house, he gets really excited, and sometimes he'll ask to call her and talk to her. Same with his grandparents. He'll ask me, "Mom, where Grandma is?" and ask to call her.
He loves his little brother and even though he's a little rough on him, they're always laughing when they're together. Austin seems to like it when Jordan lays on top of him, smothering him (not good, I know!) or when Jordan grabs his leg and drags him around the room (again, not good), but Austin just cackles. And even though I'm telling Jordan, "NO", I'm really laughing inside because I know they're having so much fun together. For Jordan's 2nd birthday I bought him a little fish and he really loved that fish. One day, I was bathing Austin and it got quiet in the laundry room - never a good sign. I asked Jordan what he was doing in there since the door was shut, and I guess he tried petting the fish and accidently poured the fish onto the floor, and it died. We had our first lesson on life and death right there. He knows his little fishy is with Heavenly Father, and we had the same life lesson when our neighbor's dog got ran over in the street. Jordan, so calmly told me that Jody's dog was with Heavenly Father, with his fishy.
Now he tells me that baby Jackson is with Heavenly Father, with his fishy and they're all in Heaven. Sometimes I wonder how much they really know and understand. But I know they understand a lot more than we give them credit for.
Those are my thoughts for the day. I just wanted to write down all of my most recent memories of my little boy so I don't forget how much I love him today.