The Reader

I haven't been posting much about Jude lately.  I have a lot to say, but it all seems vaguely braggy, rather than funny or cute.  Jude is amazing.  He learned to read this spring, all of a sudden.  One day he was hesitating though his weekly reading homework, and the next, he was reading complete chapter books.  He is so proud of himself.  We still read together at bedtime, but now he reads to himself for another 20-30 minutes after we've said goodnight.  He has a light attached to his bed, and he's in charge of deciding when to turn it off and go to sleep.  Sometimes he stays up way too late because he wants to finish whatever he's reading.  That sounds familiar...

Jude LOVES school.  He loves his teacher, the routine, the projects, everything.  He is actually kind of sad that summer is coming and he doesn't get to go to school for a few months.  He has really blossomed this year into an enthusiastic artist.  He spends most of his choice time at the Art station, and comes home with some incredible creations.  He's also really interested in building with Legos, writing in his journal, and anything related to math.  It can be hard to keep him challenged with age-appropriate math problems, so I think I'm going to need to find something we can work on together so he stays engaged.

Jude struggled initially with figuring out where he fit into the Kindergarten social scene, but lately he has found a niche with the recess-soccer players and a few other friends.  He reports that he plays soccer during second AND third recess every day, and managed to talk us into signing him up for a soccer camp this summer.  Any time he sees a soccer ball in a yard, he works on dribbling, passing, and scoring.

Here's a cute photo of Jude and Lucia from last weekend.  They are almost exactly the same height!

This reminds me of the back-to-back photos that I have of me and my cousin Oliver.  We were just a month apart in age, so our parents have a series of photos of the two of us at all different ages.  I was taller for a few years, but at this point Oliver (at well over six feet) has surpassed me for good.  I predict the same will happen with these two...