Kinder Summer

Some pics from baseball season:

He was so cute and pretty good for being one of the youngest. I was so proud of him!

Some unique things in his report card from his teacher Ms. Kuan, who Rocky didn't especially love...

"Rocky has done well this quarter. He was a hard worker and applied himself in every assignment. He was able to use key details to comprehend literature stories and informational texts. This quarter, Rocky enjoyed interacting with his peers and has made great strides in all content areas. However, he needed occasional reminders about focusing during class time. Rocky worked very hard this year to achieve academic success in his studies. It was a pleasure having Rocky in my class this year."

Two nights ago Keith took Rocky and I to his office at Tripler late at night and got impressions for me and pulled out Rocky's front tooth. That thing was just so dead and not coming out. It was kind of painful for him, I'll just remember his little legs sticking up off the table, but he endured it well and got $2 from the tooth fairy. 

"Are they twins?"

Rocky in the Rockies

With Matthew, his best buddy from the Rampton side

Finder of all the things

The night before we left for Oregon Rocky found a gecko that he really loved. He built a lego cage for the gecko to take through the airport. I didn't think there was any way he would remember it because we had to wake him up early for the flight, but I woke him up and he jumped out of bed to check on the gecko. I finally told him he couldn't take it with his, to which he was devastated. So I told him he could bring the gecko but not the cage, and that airport security would probably take him from him anyways. But he was determined. So we took off with the gecko in the pocket. Of course he gets randomly chosen to do a hand swab in airport security. He was so nervous, thinking he had been caught. His heart was pounding so hard. But he got cleared. Gecko made it through the flight to California but then stopped moving. He is laid to rest in a trash can in SFO.
On the way home Rocky purchased an art easel from the money he earned doing chores for Gumpa. He carried it around and every time we stopped (I mean everytime) he pulled it out to doodle. Wearing my sweatshirt because he was cold. He is such a character.

Being SO brave at cochroach cove. The waves were massive but he jumped in!

Love you so much Rocky! He still loves me, loves my body and tells me how beautiful I am. Can't believe you're going to be 7 soon!!!

Rocky Lately

 Rocky, we love you so. We love your sweet little obsession with things. We love how much you love your mom. We love your creations and artwork and creativity. We love your energy and when you dance. 

You also drive us absolutely bonkers! You have a recent severe potty mouth/are constantly shaking your butt at people. You laugh and laugh loudly at the most inappropriate times, especially when getting in trouble. You don't ever eat real food and are constantly begging for/sneaking snacks.

Rocky has had a pretty  good year in Kindergarten. He is right on track in academics and never has problems with school work, but I did get a call that you made fun of a little girl and made her cry. We made him give her a gift. I feel like the teacher gets annoyed with Rocky, even though she's only mentioned his bugging habits when I spoke to her about the bullying incident. He still wants to wave when anyone ever leaves him, but has allowed me to walk down the hill as I wave, which is a big step from waiting until he got into his classroom to wave. 

Rocky loves Pokemon. It was the cards for several months, now he really wants to play Pokemon Go. He asks me if he can play about 50x/day, often it's the first thing I hear when I wake up in the morning...

I want to encourage Rocky to create more, because when he does, his creativity really shines through! Pictures and legos are two really big things, but he also builds much less conventional things such as taping papers to rocks with massive amounts of tape, paper towel rolls, other random trash he finds. I love it. 

Rocky is reading really well. We took a break from reading lessons as school was such a big change for him, and now that we're back at it, it is SO much easier. He just flys through the lessons. Thank you Ms. Kuan!

Rocky played soccer this summer and we learned he is so fast! He is a perfectionist in sports meaning he will either give it 100% or 0%. He is competitive but would complain about getting too hot. Now he's sitting out on dad's basketball team and is feeling left out. Excited to start baseball soon.

We are going to have a home date soon and watch Spiderman. I think Troy's too scared, so we are going to start with Rock! He watched a clip at the hotel and really wanted to watch more, while Troy was scared. I can't wait!

Rocky, we love you!!!

This boy loves me, and writes it everywhere!

Pokemon cards

Rocky is a huge baby whisperer! He loves giving them attention and beat boxing for them, and will make them laugh without someone asking him to.

Hates being bored

Losing teeth left and right, but still has that darn dead tooth hanging in.

This sweet angel gets in trouble much more than our other two....

Loved his longer hair, it layed starighter than the other two boys and he could wear it best.

A creation

Mary, the Mother of Jesus, by Rocky Rampton

Dec 2021

Kindergarten

 Rocky should have started Kindergarten last year, but I held him back because he was going to be the youngest in his grade. Plus COVID was not going to be a fun time to start school.

Rocky started Kindergarten earlier this month, and surprisingly it's been a hard transition. I thought he would love the system and process of school, having a backpack and a desk...but he dreads going and has a hard time letting me go in the mornings. It is sweet and Chelsea says I'm going to miss it when he is over this stage, but it is challenging to rip him off and hear his complain every school night and morning. Currently, he whines all morning, somewhat cries on the walk to school, hugs for a long time at the top of the hill, goes a couple steps, runs back to hug me, walks a little further, runs back for another hug, etc. Then we wave when it he makes it to the classroom until he teacher opens the door and he yells, "YOU CAN LEAVE NOW!" with a couple more waves. I don't think he has a hard time once he's at school, but it's hard to know for sure because I don't get any feedback from the teacher and Rocky doesn't tell me much.

Rocky looooves his mom and loves to cuddle. He would cuddle me all night if I let him. He hates to go to sleep without me laying with him. He hates when anyone leaves, but especially me. He will run with the car and wave and yell love statements all the way until I'm going fast enough to leave him. 

Rock is still my little collector and always has an armful of "treasures" with him where ever he goes. I recently gave him a fanny pack and he packs that thing to the top full of gum, his wallet, a toy phone, a journal, etc. He loves to play with string and tie it onto things. This morning we found pieces of string strung from the cul de sac's island tree to the neighbor's tree. The poor neighbors who had to drive around that this morning on their way to work....Rocky collects shells and all kinds of garbage at the beach, always finding hair ties, jewelry, broken plastic, etc. His cousins gave him a rainbow dash toy and he has loved that lately. He got a free 2021 calendar from the PCC and loves to look at what phase of the moon is coming up. 

We are working on obedience and attitude and working hard with Rocky. He still loves potty language, likes to try and be funny, often at the expense of others. He always wants to tell me one thing, or do one thing before doing the thing I asked of him so we have to constantly remind him "obey first." Rocky is often laughing during situations where I or someone else is upset, and this makes situations worse. Rocky has a lot of energy and sometimes can't sit still long enough, or can't be serious long enough to take correction. 

Rocky is a great lego builder and has a wonderful imagination. He gets along well with Izzy. He is a good artist and is always inventing or explaining to me an idea he has about a machine or maneuver. He is very physical and wrestles, hugs, bounces constantly. And still has a knack for music, beatboxing, ukulele, etc. 

Always get comments about what good hikers I have

Treasure

He's so handsome

I think we look alike in this pic

Preschool graduation

He loved his preschool, Tiny Tots Christian Preschool with Ms. Rosario. I felt like Ms Rosario truly loved Rocky and he loved her back.

Built a temple while spending time in time-out

Homemade paper mask - so creative

On a date

He is obsessed and motivated by money, but loses it constantly. 

Just one day at breakfast I noticed his scalp

Some recent creations

More than anyone else I know, this kid wants/needs snacks! 

Love you SO much Rocky Mountain