But, seriously, he's the cutest thing ever. This morning while getting ready to head out for a slew of doctor's appointments, Mom and I got into a debate about the color of my coffee mug.
Jake sat at the breakfast table, so we asked him to be a tiebreaker.
Me: It's pink, right buddy?
Jake: Right!
Mom: Nope. It's magenta. Jake, what color is it?
Jake: Magenta! *laughs*
Me: You little traitor!
A few minutes later, he ran through the living room and yelled at me: "You're a traitor!"
"You don't even know what traitor means!"
"Yes I do! It's a person who trades cards and--."
*insert vocabulary lesson here*
That's Jake. He wants desperately to join in with whatever fun is going on. He plays tricks like diving into your chair if you get up from it and sitting there with an adorable smirk while he waits for your reaction.
He's not always on level with things, but he tries his hardest. And he's a natural swimmer.
Which is why whenever Mom told me the teacher of his swim class said two sentences to him last Friday and ignored him the rest of the time while she videotaped the other boys' technique and taught them how to improve. She said Jacob would need much more one-on-one instruction to improve, which she couldn't give him with the other boys around.
The most incredible thing Jacob has done in his eleven years is learned how to improve. The other day I watched him go backward down the stairs, and I couldn't chastise him because I remember watching him learn to walk at twenty-one months old. My heart twists every time he says "Look!" because for years he would point out the car window and say, "Took at that!"
And whenever he gets in the pool and splashes his way safely across the deep end I remember pushing him around in a baby-seated swim ring for hours.
So don't tell me it's too hard to teach him, or that he can't learn the way other kids do. Yes, he needs patience. Yes, he's more easily distracted than a goldfish on Starbucks. And no, he won't speak up and tell you to pay attention to him.
But I will. And my mom will.
And anyone who has met him and doesn't want to move the world to help him succeed.
Well. They're traders.
