Happy 6th Birthday, Micah!

Halloween surprise!

bein' sweet

"Nobody messes with my pirate tattoo"

opening gifts

little bro wants to help

"Awesome!"

"Cool!"

Daddy doles out the cake!

"And now for my birthday happy dance..."

Our little "bean" has turned 6! Micah's birthday was this Saturday. We celebrated by taking him to lunch at McDonald's (his favorite place) and then a movie--Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2. We had fun and enjoyed having that special time with our oldest. When we got home Jacob helped Micah open his gifts (thanks, gramma/y and pop pop/papa!) and then we had cake together. Micah spent the rest of the weekend playing with his new things--a Lego set which he has almost completed put together, a bed tent that he's been sleeping in every night and a CD player for his room and some relaxing music to listen to before bed. We discovered two Halloween cards earlier in the week, that Gramma had sent, but we had forgotten to give the boys on the 31st. They always love surprises, and this was no exception. That first picture is Micah and Jacob opening their cards and discovering the money inside!

Micah has grown up so much this year. Since it is his birthday, I will take this chance to share some of the things he is doing now. He is starting to read things around the house. The other night at dinner, he read the label on his favorite BBQ sauce--"it is the Boss!" and he has been asking us to spell things out for him. Usually we do math on the way to school. "Mom, 2+2+3 is 7!" We have graduated to reading chapter books from the library with him, since he enjoys a more developed story now. In his latest progress report from the teacher, he was right on target for all of the areas they track progress and was even "advanced" in art and music--that's our boy! He has made some new friends at school this year and it has been fun to see him grow socially. Last night, he earned his first wings and red jewel at AWANA. He is fiercely protective of his little brother, and I love hearing their giggling voices when they run into Micah's room to play in the closet, make a tent or chase each other around the house. He does get frustrated when Jacob tried to steal his snacks or mess around with something he's working on, but if Jacob gets upset, Micah's right there comforting him.

I still remember the day that Dan left the hospital room to get lunch for himself and left me alone with this new baby for the first time. He started to cry and I worried that I would not know what to do to help him. Well, we've navigated those waters time and again now. But it always seems like we are facing new kinds of challenges with him each day. He's been so many "firsts" for us. I'm so thankful for his quick laughter and resiliency that forgives our clumsiness at times and shows us the kind of admiration we don't deserve. We are proud of him and hope we can always appreciate him for who he is, expectations aside.