Milestones

This has been a momentous week for the Jacobs boys. Yup, lots of moments, usually happy.

Sammy is 5! (He had a great birthday on Tuesday, except he's been stretching out the royal treatment so it's more like a birthday month.) I can hardly believe he's that old, or that I've been a mom for that long. And while it's been a challenge to raise a little boy, I hear tell that it's harder as they get older. Still, most of it has been full of joy. Sammy has had an unusual interest in scriptures since before he could talk, and he still loves our nightly scripture story (current favorite is Moses). A few years ago he had several Articles of Faith memorized, and recently has relearned them (up through number eight). He is a fabulous big brother to Zeke, who grins and giggles when Sammy is around. He and Riley are great pals too, as long as there aren't any squabbles over toy possession going on. Most momentously of late, he has become an amazing reader. I'm not sure at what point we knew "He can read!" He's been sounding out words for months, and for the past month or two has sometimes been stringing sentences together. In the past three weeks, though, he has taken to reading (out loud) picture books, sentences from "Harry Potter," cereal boxes, billboards. And to his credit, he's not just reciting lists of words. He comprehends the sentences and the story they're in, too. It's a sweet scene to walk in on him reading a story to Zeke or Riley. This has to be one of the most rewarding feelings I've had in my life.

Riley has survived his first broken arm and the cast came off on Monday. He never hit any of his nursery mates with it, but he whacked Sammy's head a time or two. (I almost think Sammy deserved it, though.) We're adjusting to his new haircut, and no longer do a double-take every morning.

Zeke hit a big baby milestone on Tuesday night when he rolled over from his tummy to back. Bruce and I both missed seeing it, so we rolled him over and let him do it again. Bruce looked away at the critical moment and missed it a second time, but Zeke refused to do it any more. Still, soon he'll be rolling, then crawling, then driving us crazy. I can't say I'm excited about babyproofing again.

I don't know if it's a milestone for me or just that I've finally resigned myself to Bruce's travels. After we got through last week's four-day trip so well, his one-night trip this week was hardly noticeable. We missed him, but somehow it wasn't so bad. That's saying a lot for me, because I used to really dread his business trips. Maybe I'm growing up too!

Finally, Bruce has become an official season-ticket holder for the Cougars. Woohoo! No more grumbling about missing the games! As long as they have another great season, he'll be the happiest fan around next fall.