Mr. J

Mr. J. Where do I begin?

We had many hopes for J this past year. After much thought and prayer, we made decisions we felt were necessary to help J truly grow and progress. I am so grateful for the experience we had. When making this decision, I felt distinct and specific direction from the Lord for my son. I will never forget it. It helped me learn to always rely on the Lord in my parenting, and also to trust my instincts as a parent. Although some of the decisions were not easy to make, they turned out to be exactly the right ones for J. Everything we hoped for (for him) came to pass.

He had a very successful year at school this year. J was a leader in his class, and a great help to the teacher. He made new friends quickly. He matured socially and emotionally. He was the top in his class at reading and math. He was often paired with other students who didn't know the material as well so that he could help them. He was even sad when school ended. He loves to learn new things. He loves his teachers and classmates. I know I can send him to school and he will obey the rules, follow direction, and behave as he should.

J loves music. He's been playing the piano for almost one year and is doing so well! I have been surprised at how quickly he's progressed. He loves to sing and has a sweet voice. He is also very creative. He loves art and there is no limit to what he makes. His art was even featured in a district-wide art show. He often asks me to draw something for him, and promptly laughs at my attempt.

J is smart. I love going to the zoo with him because he knows so much more than I do about the animals. I often ask him questions. He beams when he realizes he's a little smarter than mom. He loves to read picture encyclopedias about animals. Any and all kinds of animals. He soaks up the information. Here are some examples of his sponge-brain:

Yesterday,

J: "Mom, I saw a great blue heron!"

Me: "Really! How do you know it was a great blue heron?"

J: "Duh, mom. Because of the way it's neck was arched."

Another conversation,

J: (sigh) "I don't know enough about sea animals yet. Can we get an encyclopedia about those?"

Just today,

J: "Did you know that Dolphins don't chew their food? They only have one set of teeth their whole life so they just swallow it."

Wow. I had no idea.

J is a loving brother. He is so sweet and loving with Little E. He takes care of her, sings with her, teaches and nurtures her. It does my heart good to see this. He is also a great playmate for the other siblings. And he's very good at keeping track of who does what to whom, when, why, how, etc.

J is a great conversationalist. If you drive in the car with him, don't expect any quiet moments of reflection. He just has so many thoughts and he loves to share them. No, he needs to share them. There's so much going on in that head of his.

He also has an excellent memory. Not only does he seem to remember everything he reads but he remembers things we've done that I don't even remember. (Uh, that can be good and bad. Heh heh.) He also loves to save everything he's ever created or received. Sometimes we clash cause I'm a purger. He's a mild hoarder. But I know I can teach him the value of a good purge!

J has a wonderful sense of humor. He appreciates a good joke and laughs at the appropriate time. It's really enjoyable to be around him cause he "gets it." He loves to make up lame jokes, too.

J is a bit of a fine food fanatic. His dad loves to cook and enjoy really good food. J has proudly adopted that same passion. It makes me laugh cause he's only seven. When he was little, he had a hard time gaining weight. I was so worried about him and tried to feed him fattening foods so he could get some extra calories. But now, he eats and eats. I love it! He has two servings of his dinner at least. He often tells me that no one makes brownies like I do. And that my Mac & Cheese and Shepherd's Pie is "Much better than the school cafeteria's." And he always requests that I make Super Moist Fudge Bundt Cake for Sunday dessert.

Finally, J has a testimony. He is not afraid to pray when he needs help. He receives answers to his prayers and I have loved seeing his faith grow. He understands and remembers so many gospel principles as we teach them to him. We are preparing him for his baptism this summer, and it has been a joy to see how much he seems to understand already.

And there you have it:

Mr. J, age seven.

My oldest.

I love him so much.