Ricky

Ricky started his first year of Kindergarten in the fall of 2008. He loves his teacher, Ms. Whitley, and does so well in the classroom. It is so amazing to see how much he has progressed in the last year. I know they grow at exponential rates, but to see it captured in his school work and art work makes me feel so proud, amazed, and nervous for him to get even older all in one big pile of emotion. Lately, Rick and I have been remembering all the things we did with Ricky when he was just a tiny baby, and it has made us realize that those years everyone tells you fly by are already here for us. Ricky just turned 6, in another 6 years he is going to be 12. I am not ready for my little boy to be that old. And I can't imagine that I ever will be ready.

Some of the things that Ricky has learned this year is how to count to 100, how to write, sound out, and sign the alphabet. He can spell words by sounding them out, and is learning how to write short sentences. In the beginning of the school year he drew a picture of himself as a stick figure with spiky hair, now when he draws himself it is a full bodied boy with a big toothy grin, detailed clothing usually colored to match what he was wearing that day, he likes to draw a watch on his wrist, even though he doesn't actually wear one, and he has big blue eyes, a nose, big ears and shoes. I am trying to portray how much he has grown, developed and learned since the beginning of the school year.

Ricky does have his first girlfriend! They became serious just before Valentine's Day. He asked to buy her chocolates and flowers, we only let him get her a small thing of chocolates. I don't know how I would feel as the mother of that girl if she came home with all sorts of goodies from a boy at school! Her name is Madison, and she is adorable! She has glasses, which we noticed he really likes girls with glasses. He always points out little girls with glasses and says, "doesn't that girl look so cute with her glasses?" One day in March Ricky could not wait until I got home from work to tell me about his day, so our friend Jesse let him call me from her phone. He says, "Mom, guess what? Madison and I held hands today after school!" It was the cutest thing! I asked him if he gave her a hug good-bye and he said, "I don't think we are ready for that, yet." Oh how sweet he is! Sometimes I find it so hard to believe that he is Rick's son:)