A 7 Year Old in the House!

Josiah turned 7 in October! I have to pinch myself that we have a 7 year old, it does not seem possible! He has transformed in the last year and a half and I am so proud of him. It's hard to believe not that long ago he ran me ragged and I wasn't sure we'd make it until he was 7. But he has matured and his intensity has simmered down. He's still intense and needy and very spirited but not as he was when he was 4, and I am thankful!

A few fun tidbits about Josiah:

• He loves math and science. He does math in his head quicker than I can sometimes! 
• He's always hungry. If he doesn't eat enough for lunch at school (usually because he's talking too much), then by the time he gets home, he is starving and moaning about his stomach hurting!
• He loves desserts. 
• He's kind and respectful to others. His teacher says he desires to please, to do the right thing, and follows instructions well.
• He loves to laugh.  
• His love language is receiving gifts and quality time. 
• Everyday after school he asks the same questions: "Are we going anywhere today? Who's coming over tonight? Where did you guys go today? Did someone come over when I was at school?" (He becomes heartbroken and sad whenever people come over to play while he is at school, he hates being left out of any interaction with other people! Just like his momma.)
• Writing sentences for homework is torture. For the both of us. His mind goes blank and he cannot think of anything to write and then his handwriting is so messy from writing too fast, I make him re-write half of the words because I cannot read them. Homework time is a battle around here some days. 
• He still loves legos. He can put together intricate designs in no time. 
• He still doesn't play well (or at all) by himself. 
• He has thrived in Awana at church. That boy can memorize verses so well. Through memorizing these verses and talking about them together, it has spurred wonderful conversations about God and what it means to be a Christian. It is thrilling to see God working in his heart. It had always been a struggle for me to get him to memorize verses, but at Awana, he thrives because there are other people helping him and it's not his MOTHER telling him to learn bible verses. He just does much better when I am not his teacher. 
• He has an exceptional sense of direction and I can always count on him to point me the right way when I get lost. 
• He loves to wear long socks and pull them clear up above his calves. 
• When getting dressed, he must do it in this order... sit on floor butt naked--put on socks--put on underwear--put on pants--put on shirt. Always in that order, he cannot deviate. I have had to clean a lot of poo smear off of our rental houses' WHITE CARPET.
• I can finally cut his toenails without having to sit on him as he screams. 
• He loves to lay his head in my lap as I scratch his back. 
• He still wants to hold my hand in public, gives me hugs and kisses, and sometimes even sits in my lap and I rock him. 
• He is a 70 pound 7 year old and almost as tall as I am, so it seems. 
• He's still scared when there's thunder and lightening, and wants to sit next to me or Dad during a storm. 
• We can now go through a car wash without terrifying screams from him or his siblings. Just the other day we took the 'ole van for a wash and nobody was frightened and I wanted to mark that day on the calendar, as the first time in 7 years no child screamed during a car wash. 
• He loves living close to family. He adores whenever his uncle Brad shows up to play tennis with Justin. 
• He still thinks I have eyes in the back of my head and dug through my hair the other day looking for them. haha! 
• He is a happy happy kid and he brings us so much joy! 

For his birthday we invited all of our family over for a Lego Party and we played Minute to Win-It Games. We had such a fun time. Josiah loved being the center of attention! He received several lego sets for his birthday and spent the next 4 days putting them all together. Our house was very quiet those days as he was intense on getting them completed. The last time we celebrated his birthday with family was the year he turned 1. 

The two headed lego cake.