How is it possible that this little boy has turned the ripe old age of 6?!?
It seems like just yesterday that we had our first
whirlwind delivery, and now he's well past the stage of infant, of baby, of toddler and full fledged into little KID. And while so much of the baby is gone, there is still some that remains...
But today, I want to remember everything about this child, where he is at 6. It seems so old and yet still so young at the same time.
How he still sleeps with his trusty blue blankie, tucking it in with him at night and carrying it around the house with him. He's worn a big hole right around the small tag on the side of it that he likes to rub his thumb over right before he falls asleep.
How he asks for...no, insists...that he get a hug AND kiss each night.
His eagerness to learn, to build, to compute, to understand.
His light blue eyes, sandy brown hair, perfectly olived skin and now his gapped, one-tooth-missing smile.
His slight stutter when he gets excited about explaining something...
His random exclamations of "I Love you Mom (or Dad) when emotion washes over him (like after he gets something he wants or he's happy).
The way his face lights up when I go to pick him up from school and how he races across the lot towards me and barrels into me, embracing my legs/waist in a HUGE bear hug - almost knocking me over.
His eagerness to please that he hides under the false pretense of 'knowing everything'
His love for his brothers and his irritation with them (mostly Sam) at the same time. Still, he would move heaven and earth for them, and he gets visibly upset when they are upset.
His stubbornness.
His bossiness.
His kind and gentle heart.
His love for God and Jesus.
His passion for outerspace, rocket ships, Star Wars and Angry Birds (he's already got some pretty good planet trivia under his belt).
His ability to go from happy to sad back to happy again, and the intensity with which he insists he is feeling.
The adoration he shows his dad (veiled of course) and how proud he is of the things his daddy does.
The fact that he insists on cleaning out his toe lint.
His love for being goofy/silly/the center of attention.
His obsession with treats and anything sweet.
His love for the iPad.
His love for playing house or school or other role-playing games.
He sleeps from 7:30-6:30 most days and if asked to, will even take up to a 2 hr nap.
The way he hums the ABCS when he brushes his teeth each night.
His infamous 3 second long hand washing.
That he stills wants to and ASKS to hold my hand.
His hesitation to try something new until he is able to mentally process it and overcome his fear/anxiety of failure.
The ease with which he makes friends - when I pick him up from school he's got kids from every grade saying hi to him and his response is to be cool and mutter "Hey". It makes me laugh.
The fact that he calls his 'best friend' at school his 'best Dude'.
This child...the same one that
tested us continuously when he was younger has been turning into the most amazing kid (not that he still doesn't test us from time to time). There has been a remarkable change in him over the past few months (maybe it was just the dreaded half birthday syndrome we seem to witness here), so much so that big Max and I have commented on it to each other repeatedly, and other people in our lives have noticed it as well.
I think big Max said it best in what he wrote in Max's birthday card "Happy 6th birthday, Buddy! You are becoming such a great kid! Can't wait to see what the next year will bring."
