Jacob - A Little Brother in the Truest Form

I've been updating many of my blogs over the last several weeks, and it's given me an opportunity to walk down memory lane.  Some of those memories were filled with laughter.  Others with sadness and tears.  But the strongest vein of thought I felt throughout the months and years with Jacob thus far has been gratitude that Jacob is in our lives.

Yes,  my 4 1/2 year old is stubborn, devious, likes to dump things on the floors...or beds...or behind couches...you get the idea.  But he's also a lover, a giggler, a hugger, curious, sweet, devoted, and constantly trying to show love toward me.  He's wise beyond his years, and yet impulsive as a one-year-old.  And...Jacob is a little brother in the truest form of the term.

Jake is only 18 months younger than Courtney, but only half her size.  So, why is it, that every time she walks in the room, he either A) follows her around like a puppy dog   B) Tries (and usually succeeds)  to tackle her.  That little boy LOVES to hear his sister scream and/or squeal.  It's like his very existence depends on how loud Courtney yelps.

At times it's frustrating, and other times, I can't help but chuckle.  It's one of hundreds of little reminders for me that, although Jake has Down syndrome, he is more like the rest of us than he is different.

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It's that time of year again - SCHOOL!! (Along with several random photos collected over the last several months!)

Jacob is ready to go back to school. 

How do I know?  Well, it didn't take a rocket scientist this morning.  We were taking his big sister, Courtney to her 2nd day of kindergarten.  Parking is pretty bad at Court's school, so we had to park a ways away and then walk.  As we waited at the crosswalk, several large, yellow school buses passed us and Jacob began jumping up and down and grunting like a monkey.

A couple of times, he tried to run to the bus's doors so that he could climb on.  After my heart stopped once too many times, I grabbed him and put him on my hip to carry the rest of the way to the school.  

Once inside the school, I put him down to walk next to me. He yanked his hand out of mine, and began running down the hall, grinning from ear to ear.  Finally, half way down the hall, I caught up with him - After he'd made 3 new friends, of course.  

We discovered that his big sister was supposed to start the day at the playground to wait until the bell rang, so we took her outside to the toys.  Again, Jacob began jumping up and down excitedly (his 'happy dance'). However, much to his dismay, rather than letting him play with the other kids and climb all over the toys, I was cruel enough to walk him away from the playground!

Thus ensued a world-class tantrum including throwing himself onto the ground, wailing like he was being tortured, and laying limp on the wet grass as I tried to pull him to a standing position.  Needless to say, he was not happy.  (By the way, the pull-up on his head in the picture above is CLEAN - just in case you were wondering.)

Eventually, I wound up putting Jake back on my hip and carrying him back to the car, listening to him whimper each time a bus drove by us again.  (The picture above is Jacob, drawn by his big sister)

By the time he got home, Jacob was furious at me.  Apparently, he doesn't like to be teased with the hope of going back to school only to have his hopes snatched from him.  Who wants to spend the day with your mother anyway??

Lucky for us, Jake's school starts next Tuesday.  Woot! Woot!

I don't know whose happier.  Jacob or me?

I'll give you three guesses.