I'm 6!

Jacob turned 6 years old yesterday. He woke up about 3-4 times in the night asking if it was time to get up yet so he could open his presents.  That's a little unusual for him, but it shows how much he is growing up and understanding everything around him.

He was so excited to be "the boss" for a day. He wanted to be able to tell everyone what to do.  We had to let him know that just meant he got to choose what we had for breakfast and dinner and that he didn't really have to do many chores around the house.

For birthday celebrations at school, his teacher does a neat thing in lieu of treats.  The birthday child brings a new book and his/her parent gets to read it to the class and then it is donated to a special class book collection.  It was neat to see Jake be in the school environment. He is so very mellow--i.e. his teacher is not saying to him every few minutes, "Jake, please don't swing on the door handle," or, "Jake, please sit on the chair the right way," or, "Jake, we wrestle outside," or, "Jake, stop jumping up and down and just talk to me normally," etc.  All of his church teachers and his preschool teachers have told me how well behaved he is, but I got to see it personally yesterday.  We love our active boy and wouldn't trade his activeness for anything!  I used to be a little worried about it when it came time to start school, but obviously it isn't a problem for him!

Besides his activeness we also love that Jake Jake is very loyal.  He looks out for his family and friends and is always thinking of them, especially his big brother.  For example, Caleb's pencil sharpener broke.  While Caleb was at school, we were at the store trying to find a replacement.  I just grabbed the same green one that had broken, but Jacob took the time to look through the stack and found a blue one, Caleb's favorite color.  He came running after me, "Mommy, look, I found a blue one!  Caleb would rather have this one!"

Along with his loyalty, he is a rule follower and a steady influence in his siblings' lives.  Emily naturally goes to him because he doesn't "throw" himself on her, trying to persuade her to play with him.  When he sees she needs something he gets it for her. And when she is unhappy, he can easily make her smile in his quiet way.  Therefore, we find her gravitating towards him when we are together as a family because she trusts him.

And because he is a rule follower, he keeps his siblings in check.  He is their conscience.  Whenever he sees Emily put something in her mouth he quickly gets her to spit it out.  If Michaela forgets to wash her hands, he reminds her to do so.

As I write and remember all the wonderful things about him, it naturally reminds me of the day he was born.  He took a while getting here.  He was a week late and I was in labor for 24 hours.  (They weren't excruciating hours, they just went REALLY SLOW).  And when he was born he didn't cry.  He just nestled in to me and started breathing.  We were all worried something was wrong with him, but no, he is just so easily contented.

Jake, when you read this someday, I want you to know how much you were wanted and how much you are loved.  Thank you for choosing to come to our family!  We love you!

Oh, and Daddy made the awesome Lego brick cake.  In case you did not know this about Jake Jake, he loves to play with Legos.