6

James is 6 today! (I wrote this post on James' birthday, but just had the time to upload all the pictures off my phone so I could post it) We had a great day celebrating our big 6 year old. He woke up to 2 mini figures (chicken suit guy and scarecrow) and birthday balloons at his seat. He opened his present from Mac (Monster Fighters mummy set) before school and we saved everything else until Tim got home.

James was thrilled to see it had snowed overnight so he had snow on his walk to school. Winter is totally James' favorite season and he loves everything about the snow.

Mac and I surprised James at school by bringing him Noodles and Company for lunch. Photobomb coutesy of James' friend, Mac, who is completely thrilled with the fact that James has a brother with the same name as him. He kept saying at lunch, "Raise your hand if your name is Mac!"

 We were "flocked" by Kelly and her cheerleaders sometime the night before James' birthday, so we had 30 pink flamingos in our yard the whole day of his birthday. Mac might have been the biggest fan of them, but James was pretty thrilled too. (This is a fundraiser the LHS cheerleading squad does. You can pay to flock someone's house and they are picked up the next night to flock someone else)

 My 3 and 6 year olds!

 James could hardly wait to open his gifts when Tim got home. He was barely through the backdoor before James was tearing into the first gift. He got a robot building kit and another Monster Fighters Lego set from Tim and I and a tooth fairy pillow from Jenny (he has 2 loose teeth right now, but hasn't lost any yet).

 James picked Red Robin for dinner so that he could eat a cheeseburger. He did NOT want to be sung to, but gladly took the free birthday sundae.

An update on my favorite 6 year old:

James has been loving school and is doing so well in all areas. I thought the transition to full days might be tough for him, but he adjusted immediately and has been doing great. We had teacher conferences a couple of weeks ago and they left me feeling so proud of him. The first thing that James' teacher said was how much she loved him and how creative he is. He is ahead of where he needs to be in all academic areas and he has great behavior and is a good friend, I couldn't ask for anything more! I always knew he was pretty great, but it is nice having those thoughts confirmed by his teacher :)

James is still a total Lego maniac. He can easily follow the directions and put together sets for ages 7+ by himself and also loves coming up with own creations. He has been collecting the little yellow caps to applesauce pouches and calls them his applesauce army and can sit there playing with them for literal hours. One of the best things about James is that I don't think he has ever uttered the words, "I am bored." He never has a shortage of ideas to keep himself entertained. James loves listening to audio books and has been listening to long chapter books and gets so involved and wrapped up in the stories that he won't come out of his room until he listens to an entire book. His latest favorite was Indian in the Cupboard. His reading comprehension is pretty amazing, he will ask really thoughtful questions about what he is listening to and can easily tell me all about the book when he is done with it. His reading is improving, but he rarely wants to read by himself. He would much prefer to be read to or listen to an audio book. His favorite books that he can read by himself are the Fly Guy series. James loves non fiction books and magazines and can listen to me read him facts about animals or history all day long.

One area that James seems to be ahead of the curve on is being embarassed of his parents. I have been volunteering at his school on Thursdays when Mac is at preschool and the first time that I told him I was coming he told me, "I have a better idea, why don't you just stay at home instead." Mac and I brought him Noodles and Company as a special lunch treat to school today, and I definitely think all of his friends were far more excited about me being there than he was. Luckily I came armed with a giant Rice Krispie Treat the size of his face, so he tolerated me eating lunch with him. I guess I am nowhere near as cool as I thought I was. I figured I had a few more years before he wouldn't want to be seen with me.

James loves riding his bike to and from school everyday and loves playing with friends. He is pretty adament that the girls in his class are not friends with the boys, but he still enjoys playing with all of the girls that he is friends with outside of school. When he isn't fighting with Mac, he is a pretty awesome big brother and watching him play with his brother is one of my favorite things in the World.

James still loves to be snuggled (at home) and sit in our laps when we watch a movie or read together. I am going to soak up every second of that because I think those days are numbered. I am so proud of the boy that James is growing up to be. I love watching him learn and grow and have a hard time believing that he is getting so old!