Fish

I am always concerned when Jacob does anything that Emily has previously done. He has a very different personality, and I worry that his teachers will expect him to be like her, and not appreciate him for his own strengths. So far, my fears have been unfounded. He LOVES swimming and responds well to the teachers and the children's librarian thinks he is a delight (story-time was also an Emy activity.)

Last week he earned his "fish" badge. He already got his starfish, which is for safety (being able to jump in, then get yourself back to the edge & out, floating, etc.) The fish badge is a biggie - you have to be able to swim across the pool unassisted. For me, this is the marker for when my kids go from being "non-swimmers" to "swimmers". He won't even be 3 1/2 until April, so I'm really proud of him for earning it. Of course, I'll still keep an eagle eye on him in the water, but it's great to see him swim and enjoy it and do well. It's a great outlet for all that energy!

He is excited to have it sewn on his towel (like I do with all Emy's badges) and we all made a huge fuss of him congratulating him that evening. He pretended not to like all the attention (he was less than co-operative in taking pictures with the badge), but I know he really liked it.
What a super kid.