My Baby Is 6 Years Old!

It was yet another Happy Birthday for Jared! Yes, it's so cliche, but I really mean it when I say I can't believe how fast time flies! We started out the day with Jared's request for a pancake breakfast and then he was off to school. He thought it was really cool when his name was called over the intercom to go to Mr. Tucker's office (the principal) and pick up a balloon, a crown and a treat. I peeked out the window when he got off the bus to see him running down the sidewalk as fast as his little legs could go to show off his new things. It was sweet. Michael took off from work early and Jared was excited that his day was special enough to bring Dad home early. I asked Jared what he wanted to do and he said he'd like to go golfing, so we took the family to Trafalga. His final request was McDonald's for dinner. He had a great day - after all what more is there to life than a good round of miniature golf and McDonalds......right? You know you felt the same when you were 6 too - who knows maybe you still do...??? We went home and opened presents and ate cake & ice cream and they were in bed by 9:00.

So I thought it would be nice to write down 6 things I love about Jared in honor if his 6th birthday, so here they are in no particular order:

I love that he peeks in my room every morning to see if I'm awake yet and that when he sees that I am, he gets really excited and comes and jumps on us to get us out of bed and we all snuggle.

I love that his imagination is constantly going. The child is rarely seen around the house without some sort of medium or crayon in hand. I have ream after ream of love letters from this little boy. "I love Mom." or "Mommy is a Princess."

I love Jared's gentle heart. I feel bad that sometimes he gets run over by other kids because of this quality, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Jared's always thinking of others. Sometimes he tells me when other kids are mean to him he doesn't want to do something mean back because "It might make them feel bad, Mom." If there's a kid that's left out, Jared is their friend. If someone else gets picked on, Jared helps them out. He is "good " just like his Dad.

I love Jared's high pitched baby talk when he tries to talk to his baby brother. Its so sweet and it drives Michael nuts. He gets down on all fours so he's eye level with Scott and says silly little gooing words and Scott sometimes laughs at him like he totally gets what he's saying. Other times Scott's just mystified by whatever Jared's mumbling (sometimes I don't know if Scott even understands....) It's cute.

I love that Jared is enamored with the scriptures. It inspires me to want to make them more a part of our lives and makes me feel more accountable to better understand them myself so I can teach him more. He keeps his scriptures hidden under his pillow and thinks I have no clue they're there. He'll pull them out with a flashlight when he goes to bed. Today even, I asked him to pick out a book to read, and what do you think he chose....???

I love that Jared is happy. He's always giggling and trying to make his brothers giggle too. Its hard to get mad at a kid who can't keep a straight face when you're disciplining him! Sometimes I just give up! This ties into some of the other things I've explained, but he's always trying to do things for his brothers (make their bed), speak baby-speak, read them books to make them happy. Its fun to watch Jared and Gavin wrestle and giggle.

Happy Birthday my son! I love you!