Josh Turns 6

A Josh is such a complex little creature.  I've always said he pushed me to grow and learn and stretch more as a parent than any other child.  He continues to amaze me.  Josh was a calm and placid baby.  He was serious and mellow and content.  When he neared one year of age, he was fussy and whiny and hard.  He wasn't growing and he was in pain.  His belly ached all the time from a milk protein allergy which we discovered after several doctors and lots of tests.  Josh was always a trooper through it though.  He grew into a fun-loving and caring little boy, very thoughtful and intuitive.

Josh was always my "wild" one... he's adventurous and brave and energetic and he does things before weighing the pros and cons.  He is stellar at independent play, but gets riled up and ruffled when he is intermixed with his siblings.  Josh is timid and scared of more than the others.  He's sensitive and sweet.  He's also a tattle-tale and whines with the best of them!

Josh is complex... he is such a mixture.  He entered school this year and has picked up academics like it's his job.  Just today I spoke with the student teacher in his class and she said how he is such a great member of the class.  She said he listens to directions and is always diligently working.  She said he is sweet and does play with the kids, but is always on-task during the school day.  That made my heart smile.  On the contrary, he is a bit too timid in school also.  Monday was his actual birthday and I sent in pencils for his classmates.  He came home and I asked if they sang to him or if he handed out his pencils he said "No.  We were really busy today."  He wasn't upset.  He wasn't sad.  He legitimately accepted that school comes first and it was a busy day.  That makes my heart a little sad... he is a self-sacrificer.   He didn't want to interject and remind them that it was his birthday.  He won't make waves, but even to the point of sacrificing something of himself.

Josh is growing into such a great little person though.  He has his glitches like the rest of us, but I love seeing him starting to thrive at the little life he has. :)

To celebrate this year we had a family party on Sunday where he got Batman clothes and an army set and a fish tank.  Monday we went out to Applebees because he wanted to be sung to and eat ice cream.  It was a frustrating trip and service was slow and Elizabeth didn't like the food she ordered and the baby wouldn't sleep in the sling unless I was standing BUT we took Josh out to eat where he wanted to go and that's all that matters.  Today I took Josh to Target to pick out his birthday gift.  I gave him $25 dollars and he diligently stuck to that budget.  He walked away with a stuffed Hulk, a hulk action figure and helicopter and superman & wonder woman action figures.  He did well with that money!! It came to $24 and change!  It was nice to give Josh some special outings just for him.

Happy birthday sweet boy.  I am looking forward to seeing you grow and grow.  I love you, Roo.  Enjoy being 6.