My first baby is 8! :-)

Another year has come and gone in the life of ES. Last year I gave you a little background on his birthday and I sit here perplexed about what to write this year. :-)

In all honesty, we are very blessed with ES. 99.9% of the time he is a very good boy. Does what you ask; plays with his brother nicely; is calm and in control. Which of course makes those 0.1% outbreaks that much harder. But this post is not about ES being a bad kid, because he is not (but of course he has his moments).

ES is SMART. SMART and SMARTer! He devours knowledge and loves to talk about what he has read/learned about. According to him, his teacher says he is reading at a 5th or 6th grade level.

He thinks of the little details... A few Sundays ago in Sunday School his teacher was having the class act out a skit involving a chariot when ES pointed out to her that they did not have a horse for the chariot...so he graciously offered to play the part of the horse. Obviously the chariot did not have an engine. :-)

He has an imagination. He and YB are always making up games with their stuffed animals, army men, playmobile and/or legos.

He is kind, gracious and helpful to others. Just yesterday he set aside a spacial chair for our friend who recently had knee surgery and he made sure she had a foot rest. One of his favorite Sunday activitis is to help set up/clean up church.

He is coming out of his shell in little bits. This year he even tried out for a speaking part in the musical at school. I was disappointed for him for not receiving a speaking part because if you know ES; that was a huge deal for him to even want to do something like that, but maybe next year when he comes out even a little more and can be a bit dynamic.

ES is a blessing and we thank God for him everyday. He was born into a hard life of a Navy Brat, making his first of 5 cross country moves at a mere three weeks of age, but he adapts well and rolls with the punches.

Thanks for being you ES, even if sometimes you make me crazy. :-) Happy 8th Birthday!!!