Jacob's Birthday

September 17th

Today was Jacob's 8th Birthday. Before he went to school I thought it would be fun to get out my old journal and read about the day he was born and other entries from shortly after his birth. One of them totally took me back and I remembered the moment so clearly. I can't believe how much time has gone by since that moment. It is so hard to believe my sweet little baby boy is now 8 years old. Here is the entry that nearly brought me to tears...

September 24th 2001:
"It was one week ago today that Jacob was born. Jacob woke up this morning around 4:45am and I was nursing him and changing him. All the while I was watching the clock waiting for it to reach 5:26am (the exact time at which he was born) and remembering what I was doing exactly one week before. I'm so happy that he is finally here but there's a part of me that gets sad the farther and farther away from that special day that we get. I just have this feeling when I look at my perfect little baby boy that time is already passing and these moments with him being so small are fleeting away with each day. I will never be able to go back and hold him as a newborn- only a day old. Or remember so well how warm and slippery his little body felt when he was laid on my chest for the first time. He is so precious, I just don't want these moments to ever end."

After reading some journal entries (all about him of course) we walked down the driveway to catch the bus for school. All the while I was keeping an eye on the clock waiting for it to be 8:26am (5:26am Hawaii time -which is where he was born) At that precise moment when I saw the numbers changed I paused for a magical moment realizing that is was exactly 8 years ago to the minute that he was born. *Sigh*



The picture on the far right is of him walking down the driveway holding his box of birthday treats for his class. I made him an ice-cream cake (as requested) for his birthday that evening and tried to make it look like a soccer ball with the oreo cookies. I also learned how hard it is to draw a soccer ball when the night before I was decorating and tried to turn white balloons into soccer balls with a black permanent marker. I was up until 2am decorating and trying to get all of those silly balloons to look like soccer balls. His reaction was well worth the effort though. Even if I was a zombie the next day. I really love seeing his excited eyes when he comes downstairs in the morning and everything is decorated for his birthday. He calls it "birthday magic". Sometimes I get so sleepy and tired when I'm up the night before the kids birthdays but the thought of how happy it makes them is what keeps me going to do my best and try to make it special for them no matter how tired I am.
For his birthday dinner he chose his favorite food- BBQ steak. We had a family party with the highlight of his birthday gifts being a scavenger hunt that led him outside to two soccer goals that Aaron had made. The picture on the bottom right is of him putting together the Star Wars model he got.



For his Saturday party with his friends all he wanted to do was have a big soccer game in the front yard. After going to the boys 3 soccer games that morning we had to rush home so I could frost his cake before the kids arrived. That stinking cake was so hard to frost I was inside for half the party trying to finish it! I will never do a soccer ball cake again. The kids had fun and Jacob enjoyed doing what he loves (playing soccer) with his friends. It was a great party.

All About Jacob
at 8 years old

-Jacob has a great deal of personal integrity. You can always count on him to do the right thing even when it's not easy. He is definitely a Rule Follower. His honesty and trustworthiness have led to his parents and teachers to depend on him many times to help sort through unknown situations involving other kids at home and at school. I have never known him to intentionally lie or deceive. It has never been in his nature to do so and as he's grown older maintaining that honesty has become not only important to him, but something he prides himself on.

- Jacob has come out of his shell a lot more this year among his peers. He used to be very quiet and shy but this year I've noticed him being more outgoing and friendly. In recent months I've also heard several reports from teachers and other adults that he's a great leader to others. Here are some examples that I thought I'd share:

1. A friend of mine who works as a teacher aid in his class told me that when Jacob finishes his work he frequently helps the other kids at his table who might need help or who are struggling with the assignment.

2. His cub scout leader told me that they were playing football in the gym and one of the boys (who was not very athletic) became frustrated and sat down on the sidelines while the other boys continued to play. The next time Jacob had the ball he called to this boy to "catch" and threw a pass to him drawing him back into the game.

3. His 2nd grade teacher told me that when other kids in class are not doing what they're supposed to he will often be found encouraging them to stay on task or follow the rules.

- Jacob is a very confident boy. He is very competitive and driven to do his best and feels secure in who he is. He often brings home reports of how he plays soccer at recess and scores goals against the 5th graders or of how he's always the first one to finish the mile run in P.E. I am grateful that he is assured in who he is and is aware of his strengths and talents but I am even more grateful that he is kind and gracious toward his peers and although he is confident in what he does he never puts others down or compares himself to others in a way that would undermine their confidence.

-Jacob tries his best to establish himself as the big brother in our home but as the other boys get older he is meeting increased resistance. He is learning that he has to compromise and be more fair in the "rules" that he makes otherwise conflict is sure to follow and as his brothers grow bigger and stronger that means that sometimes he is on the receiving end of a fist . He also enjoys being a big brother to Lauren as well. He continues to adore her and relishes in her affection.

-Things he likes to do: During the school year Jacob has very little spare time. Between homework, sports, piano lessons and cub scouts his spare time is limited. But on weekends and during summer and school breaks Jacob seems to enjoy building things the most. Whether its making race cars or star ships out of legos, building racetracks or launching pads with the magnet blocks or digging tunnels and making sand forts out at the sand pit. I find him most content quietly building and creating. He does not draw as much anymore as he used to but I'll still find occasional pictures that he's made usually they're STAR WARS battle scenes complete with facial expression, sound effects, weapons and more. He does still enjoy doing art projects at home and school and continues to show artistic interest and talent.

-Jacob loves sports. His favorite sport is soccer but he loves playing anything that has a ball. Since he turned 8 we told him he's going to have to pick 1 sport a year to focus on. He's been playing seasonal sports since he was 4 but now that we have 3 boys that have done the same we're realizing that persisting on this course would throw our life off balance. We know that doing sports is a good thing but we want to encourage the boys to have a healthy balance of activities and talents. So when they turn 8 and start doing cub scouts they have to choose one sport season a year. Jacob also enjoys watching sports with Aaron. Whether live or on T.V. Aaron now has a little buddy that also enjoys watching the game. We don't watch a ton of sports in our house (especially since we canceled our satellite-No more ESPN). But when the playoffs, finals are some other big game is on he enjoys following the action and totally gets into it-sometimes even more than Aaron does!

-Jacob does not play video games or watch a lot of T.V. But his favorite show is the animated STAR WARS clone wars. He will occasionally catch an episode of Arthur on PBS which he also enjoys but since we canceled our satellite he really doesn't have a lot of viewing options and so he just ends up doing other things. We have however introduced the boys to SMURFS and HE-Man. We discovered a website (hulu.com) with hundreds of shows (old and new) that you can watch online. Aaron hooked up a special cable from our computer to the TV in the living room so that they can watch these shows on the weekends. Jacob also enjoys movie nights that we try to have at least once a month. He loves any of the STAR WARS movies but recently enjoyed watching one of my favorites, The Never Ending Story. This weekend he's pretty excited about watching the old version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory since we've almost finished reading the book.

-Jacob is an excellent student. Recently I was volunteering at the school and his teacher was sharing with me how much she appreciates having him in class. "He's so wonderful, I wish I could just clone him!" she said. His favorite subject in school is math. But he's a very strong reader and a great writer. I love how this school has the kids do their daily writing assignments in a bound notebook. Every time I come in to volunteer my favorite part of the day is pulling out his notebook and reading all of his past entries. His writing is very entertaining and includes many details. I love reading about what's important to him and hearing him describe his experiences and express himself.

-Jacob continues to amaze me with his eating. Especially at dinner time. He is easily eating as much as Aaron and eats everything put in front of him without complaint. It is so nice! I try to put a fruit and vegetable in his lunch everyday and recently he asked me if I could cut up a bell pepper to put in there because "they're so good." His favorite dessert is fudgey brownies but aside from that he doesn't really eat any sweets aside from the other baked desserts I make. I have noticed with Jacob that the way to his heart is definitely through his stomach. I receive the most unprompted affection from him when he sees me making cookies, brownies or anything else yummy. He'll throw his arms around me and squeeze me so tight saying, "Thank you Mom, Thank you. I LOVE you!" So funny.

- Jacob is a very hard worker and usually does his chores without complaint. His chores at this age include the following: Bringing the goats out to pasture before school (Joseph brings them in at night), gathering eggs and keeping the chickens fed and watered, unloading the dishwasher, cleaning organizing the shoe closet, folding and putting away his laundry, sweeping the kitchen floor, cleaning out the kitty litter, sweeping and cleaning off the front porch, and taking out the garbage. He also helps with cleaning up the playroom and cleaning his bedroom. On weekends (when we're in an off season for sports) he helps Aaron with outdoor chores of helping stack the wood in the shed that Aaron chops from fallen trees on the property. Jacob only does his animal chores daily. The other chores listed are ones he does when requested by me. Usually every day after school I'll give each of the boys one or two household chores based upon the needs of that day. On weekends I wash up their laundry from the week and they are in charge of folding and putting it away.

Jacob, you are truly a joy in my life. I'm so pleased to be your mother and to watch you grow and develop into the fine young man you are becoming. I love you with all of my heart. Happy Birthday sweetheart!