Happy 5th Birthday Mekonen!

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY MEKONEN JACK!

We celebrated this little guy on December 28th!
(I'm a little behind in the blog world!)

He made me a Mom. The first day I saw his face is markedly one of the best days of my life. For the first couples of years, it was just me and him, hanging out during the day, playing and learning together. I get choked up looking back through those early days and months and seeing that darling baby boy who stole my heart forever. I loved spending those beginning Mom days with just him. I look at him now and am amazed that God has given me the opportunity to be his Mom. It honestly blows me away to be entrusted with such a precious little soul. I can't believe he is already 5 years old. 

A snapshot look at how Mekonen's grown in the last 5 years. 

Today, he is 43.4 pounds (66%)
45.25 inches (87%)

3 months

The first picture we saw of him on March 26, 2009

1 year old!

 2 years old!

 3 years old!

 4 years old!

5 years old!

We hit 5 years old and it seems like all of a sudden, so many little things have already changed in our boy. It warms my heart, but also makes me anxious that the rest of his childhood is going to go by just as fast. Not sure I can handle that. All of a sudden, he seems older, more articulate, putting skills together left and right that used to take hard work. The conversations we can have spiritually and simply maturing as a person (sibling relationships, friends, choices, etc) are so different. It's heart warming and definitely new. I love seeing the miniature person he is becoming. So this year, to highlight our favorite guy, I did the classic acrostic poem with his name. 

Merry- our little guy is one of the happiest I know! There's just a joy that oozes from his being. He has been like this from the beginning and we just love it! Whenever I pray for him, I thank God for his joyful heart. He has one of the most contagious laughs and catching smiles I've ever seen.
Everyone- both Jon and I laughed when we said the word "everyone" for the letter E. Mekonen is all about people. There is a never-ending need and desire to be with people. The worst punishment for this child is separating him from others. He thrives on being around people. When he knows we are going to see someone on a certain day he is bouncing off the walls with excitement.
Kind- we are blessed with a son who has a tender and kind heart (unless he's arguing with his sister)! But overall, we would describe Mekonen as kind and tenderhearted. He is genuinely concerned about others and does not like to see others sad or hurting. He is naturally quick to help when someone is in need. This doesn't always pair well with a very independent 2 year old sister who wants to do everything by herself!
On- I imagine this is probably a characteristic of most 5 year olds, but Mekonen is either ON or OFF, and off is only when he's sleeping. He wakes up every morning and comes right up to the side of our bed and whispers, "hey Mom." And then, it's go-time. There's no in-between! Then he falls into bed at night and is asleep within minutes.
Never stops talking- no joke, this child asks hundreds of more questions than the average 5 year old. Most often the questions are the same questions, asked five different ways. And if there aren't questions coming at you, it's simply anything and everything to get conversation moving. He really cannot be in the same room with someone and not talk to them. One of his friends Luke even said to me once this past summer, "Why does he ask so many questions?"
Extremely persistent- whatever this child has his mind set on, he goes after. This can be anything- something he's trying to build or something he's set out to do, but it's also seen in his persistence with others. It's an amazing quality that we are trying to steer in the right direction as this quality out of whack produces a very persistent child when he wants what he wants (and will find 15 different ways to ask you for it). We have a phrase for this in our house called "badgering." Evie has even been known to say, "Mekonen, stop badgering me!!!!!"
Needs physical touch- Mekonen cannot function without affectionate interactions during the day. He thrives on being cuddled, tickled, wrestled, and anything else that gets you in contact with him! This is the perfect combo for this physically affectionate Mama that's for sure! It doesn't bode so well with his independent, not as touchy, little sister. ;)

So many things have just clicked once his 5th birthday came around. Maybe it was the anticipation he had of "turning 5." He could not wait! As soon as he turned 5 he said ,"Okay, I'm 5! Now I can go to kindergarten!" Little did he know, he has to wait until the Fall to start kindergarten. Then with great concern he said, "Well, can I still do soccer AND kindergarten?!?!"

Things Learned/Accomplished This Past Year:
1. Reading blends and simple three letter words
2. Writing his name with all capital letters, then a capital and lowercase
3. Holding his pencil the right way, even though it's not easy!
4. Made great strides swimming this summer and was able to "swim" without a floaty with Mommy nearby!
5. Working on riding/pedaling his bike (with training wheels)
6. First year playing soccer
7. This wasn't really learned this year, but definitely more evident....this kid can run!!! He is so fast and just simply glides! Funniest part about it though is that he is not competitive at all. So when he races and gets ahead, he looks back and slows down and waits for the other person to catch up so they can "run together." It's all about togetherness for Mekonen!!!

Things He Enjoys at 5 Years Old
1. Superheroes- you've really gotten into Superheroes this year and had a Spiderman party. This is definitely new territory for us as we did not grow up with Superheroes much at all (Jon didn't play with them and my brother wasn't interested).
2. Cars- Mekonen's love of the "cars with eyes" has still not wained. He has LOVED playing with the matchbox cars from the movie Cars since he was two years old. He's added the planes to the mix this year, but still just loves imagining and creating scenarios with them.
3. Lego building sets- I am amazed at how quickly he has caught on to them and can pretty much complete the little brick sets all by himself. He is so good with spatial/architectural things. Waaaay better than his mom!
4. Puzzles, especially the really big ones
5. Hide and seek and board games
6. Playing chase/tag
7. Nate the Great audio books. Nate the Great is like his best imaginative friend. When he has quiet time in his room or playing in his room, he cannot function without the sound of friends playing over his CD player...his favorite one? Nate the Great. So for Mekonen, if he can't hang out with a friend that day, he has to listen to something that makes it seems like friends are around. :)
8. Friends- Mekonen often wakes up and asks, "So who are we seeing today, Mom?" He just LOVES being with people! Some of his favorite little friends he can often be found talking about are Luke, Josiah, Jacob, Jack, and Zachary.
9. TV shows- Wild Kratts and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood
10. Movies- still Cars, Toy Story, Planes, What's in the Bible series
11. Preschool with Mommy! Yes, he actually does enjoy this! Mostly because he gets special Mommy time with things Evie isn't allowed to mess with. This kid has a memory ability that blows me away. He can hear things once or twice and be able to repeat and process them back. I can't wait to see what he does with school next year in Classical Conversations.

We let the kids go buck wild with their favorite character or themed birthdays. After all these are the things childhood memories are made of right? :) This year, it was Spiderman! 

The Birthday boy's place setting!

 Spiderman cake. He loved the candle! 

 Cousins make the world a better place! 

 Don't forget Tessa! She was stuck in the highchair. 

 Blowing out his candles

 Yearly Mom, Dad, and the birthday boy pic. 

 He couldn't wait to eat the cake and drink out of his special Spiderman cup. 

 Evie Rae enjoying her big bro's birthday party. 

 5 years. Wow.

 A certain little pixie named Evie got into the icing after everyone went into the other room for presents. Sneaky girl. 

 A very loved little boy on his birthday. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEKONEN JACK!

WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!