A 6 year old

Our vibrant firstborn is a 6 year old! 

My mom always said 5-6 year old boys are the sweetest. She is right. He has emerged (mostly) from the tantrums and battles we used to deal with and is agreeable, helpful, wants to please others, and is kind to everyone (siblings not included, ha!). He has blossomed since starting kindergarten! I am amazed at him all of the time! 

Funny tidbits about Josiah:

• Doesn't like to shower or wash his hair. 
• Daily I have to tell him to change his underwear and go wipe his bottom better because of the smell. (His poor teacher)
• Still doesn't play well by himself. 
• His love language is receiving gifts and spending quality time with him. He has a friend who loves to give things away and we are constantly having to return toys to this friend because he gifts them to Josiah and Josiah loves it! 
• He's still fearful of thunder, lightening, the dark, and loud noises. If he sees lightening before bed, he will stay awake all night in fear of it. 
• He's the dessert monster. Loves candy, ice cream, chocolate, anything! 
• He's the drink monster too. When we are at a church event or someone's house, if someone leaves a drink out, like a coke, Josiah will just go grab it and start drinking it. He has no control over himself when it comes to soda! This is why we don't have it in our house!! 
• Loves to dress-up.
• Loves to dance. 
• Loves to help in the kitchen. 
• Is the messiest eater we know. 
• Is the clumsiest child we know. He falls down all of the time or runs into things. It's as if he has no control over his arms and legs. 
• Refuses to go to the nurse if he hurts himself at school. He's come back to class after recess 3 times with goose-eggs on his head and will not go to the nurse! Once he did go, and she called me and said he wouldn't allow her to put any ice on it or even get close to his head. 
• Doesn't like to wear shirts with collars. Loves to wear sweat pants and the same shirts over and over. 
• Covers his ears when Leah or Paul are screaming and will give them whatever they want to make the screaming stop. 

My favorite things about Josiah right now: 

• He is social butterfly. 
• We went to a school bingo night and he was talking and hugging all of his friends, he was so excited to introduce me to all of the kids in his class. 
• When he walks up to his line in the mornings before school about 10 kids always say, "HI JOSIAH!!!" His teacher has told me several times that he has come alive and is friends with everyone! 
• He always wants to play with any kids in the neighborhood who are outside. He's learned to say, "Hi, my name is Josiah, what's your name?" 
• His kindness and concern for others. He is very sensitive to his friends, especially if someone is upset, he will go over to them and put his arm around them and ask if they are ok. Recently in the car on the way home from school, I asked if there were any kids that were mean to him at school and he replied, "Yes, some kids are mean to everyone, but that's ok. I am supposed to be nice and love everyone because that's what God says is the right thing to do. So even if some kids are not nice, I am nice to them, I am nice to everyone!" ~ I was completely blown away when he said this!
• That he's a rule follower at school. He follows all of the rules at school and lets other kids know if they are not following the rules. He is Mr. Policeman. (Sound familiar... PETER?!) Now if only this obedience would transfer to when he's at home, all would be swell! 
• His intense concentration and love for building with Legos and putting puzzles together. We see a budding engineer in him. 
• His dancing. Oh his dancing is a sight to behold. He has no ability whatsoever to move with grace or beauty, but he loves to dance anyway. We were walking into a store once and the music was playing loud and all of a sudden he stops and does a little jig... wiggling his bottom and moving his arms like the chicken dance and turning his head in silly ways. There are no words to describe it. 
• His math brain. On his own, he has figured out adding and subtracting. They are not learning this at school yet, but he can do it. Recently, out of the blue, he asked me, 
• "Mom, if you have a 10 and add two zero's to the number, it makes a thousand, right?"  
• Me: "Yes, you are right! Where did you learn that?" 
• Josiah: "I just figured it out in my head." 
• My mind is blown yet again! 
• His love for school. After a rough start, he loves it now. He says it's way better than preschool! 
• His energy. 
• His persistence...he is so persistent, and can be so manipulative with his words. Wow, that brain of his is always thinking, always working. But I love his persistence anyway, because I know that one day God will use it for something great! 
• That he still needs me and wants me to be around. He still likes to sit in my lap and for me to rub his back or scratch his head. He likes to sit by me and hold my hand and wants me to give him a hug and kiss before school each morning, even if other kids are around. He still needs me to hold him when he's hurt (he's still incapable of dealing with pain of any kind). 
• That I can cut his fingernails and toenails without having to sit on him. (this is a big deal)
• That he will sit and let me cut his hair without crying or whining. 
• His crazy love for his best friends, Emily, Devin, and Owen. 

At a park recently, we caught a sweet moment between Josiah and Emily. They were just giggling and laughing together. The deep belly laughs that kids have, that make you want to be a kid again. It was precious. I just love their innocence and their laughter and zest for everyday! 

Josiah wanted a spiderman party for his birthday so I made it happen!! He invited 3 friends over (and their siblings). The party was FUN!

 First off we gave them silly string (spiderman web!) and there were pictures of spiderman hanging around the yard that they were supposed to go shoot. They decided to mostly shoot each other!

Then we had a scavenger hunt for the captured superhero's. They had to figure out the clues as they went along.

 (I ran out of superhero action figures so Buzz was a superhero for a day)

The treasure was found under the bed.

 In sticking with the spiderman theme, I made a "web" obstacle in the basement using yarn. They enjoyed it! The simplest things truly are the best.

This right here is the epitome of a 6 year old boy. They are SO SILLY ALL OF THE TIME! Their laughter revolves around silly faces, burps, toots, and bottoms.

 He looks like he's 10 in this picture!

 

Spideman piñata! 

 We love his friends. They are a treasure! 

It was a splendid evening celebrating Josiah's birthday, tons of laughter, sweaty kids, mud tracked through the house, goofy games, dress-up clothes, and waaaaaay too much sugar. 

Happy Birthday sweet boy!