Signs and Portents

I was cleaning up the living room today - don't snigger people, I do DO that (about twice a year or so) - trying to organize all the boys' papers from this past school year, when I came upon some wonderful drawings of Jacob's and a note sent home by his teachers that I want to share.

Here they are:

I asked Jake what this was. His answer: "I have veggie chips in my brain, Mom." They seem to be making him very happy in a serenely content sort of way. Works for me. Who needs brain cells when you can have yummy veggie chips filling up your head instead?

Jake wasn't able to tell me exactly who (or what) the figure in the middle of this somewhat disturbing image was. Though he did make it clear that he/it is a "bad guy" being tied up in a bathtub.  The significance of the numbers 56 & 48 in the circle on the lower left edge? Unknown. 

Ethan thinks it might be Jake's interpretation of a character from the Dragonball Z Kai TV show. I think it looks like an evil sunflower creature with a black hole in the middle of his head. The "X" marks on his face *might* be indicating that he is dead.

We will probably never know. Some of life's mysteries should remain just that, I suppose.

I have mentioned before my son's love of movies in general and Rango in specific. That his teachers "get" this and know exactly how to encourage & reward his hard work and good behavior (praise and a pic of a favorite character)? Thrills me to no end.

It was a wonderful school year for Jake, and so far three days into Summer Academy ("School Camp") he is happy as a clam - and they haven't even started swimming yet!

I feel that his fairy godparents must have been looking out for Jacob (FINALLY!) when we tumbled into this school, late last year at the very wee end of the placement process. It hadn't even been on my radar for the past few years (though I had toured it when Jake was a turning-5 tot and I was looking at SN Kindergartens).

And now, blink, blink, and it's been a whole year passed. And the school is a perfect fit for Jake. And I love each and every teacher, therapist, aide and administrator there, significantly more than words can tell.

Jacob's imaginative play and storytelling abilities are really growing by leaps and bounds right now. And while it seems to have just sprung out of the ether, I know it had to have been growing slowly, underground, like taproots for a long time before the wonderful comes bursting through into the sunshine.

Looking at these pictures from the late winter, I shouldn't be surprised at what's going on this summer. There is so much "story" in them. They really are signs of an active and engaged imagination. Portents of good things to come.

Now when Jacob takes my hand and asks "Can I tell you a story, Mom?" and then begins "Once upon a time..." I know it has grown from a happy Jakey with his head full of veggie chips.

Can't wait to see what pops out of his wonderful (and deliciously crunchy) brain next.



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