And THIS is your life...so far.

Happy Birthday Buddy!!

Logan,

You came into this world 8 whole years ago. You had a milky-white complection, a perfectly round head, light-blonde fuzzy hairs and blue-blue eyes. Yeah, this was my kid. You were a perfect baby, a good eater (back then) and an even better sleeper. You brought a whirl-wind of change and surprise into our lives! I always knew I wanted to be a mom and I was ready to be the best mom EVA! Sometimes I wish I had focused more on the baby stage and not looked ahead as much. "Oh I can't wait til he sleeps thru the night! Oh I can't wait til he crawls! Oh I can't wait to be done with bottles!" You get the point. This stage is such a short period out of someones ENTIRE life! It really did go by in the blink of an eye. You loved to crawl around with a duck or little people stuck in your mouth when a paci wasn't handy. You were reserved around those you didn't know (which i was ok with...we need a little stranger wariness!) but full of life around those you did. You were the son I'd always wanted.

Then you grew a little...into a toddler! You didn't walk until 14 months but once you did you never looked back! Grass and sand were not your friends. Strange textures on your soft little skin. We took our first trip to the beach. Just you and the gals. Thankfully, on the last day, you and the sand made amends! Madelynn and Vinny were your best buddies (and probably still are). You loved cars, balls, pushing the laundry basket around and talking about yourself in third person. Yep, that's right, "Logan's hungry! Logan wants some milk. Logan wants to go outside!" I also think this is where your relationship with food went south. I probably shoulda given you more variety. Ohhhh the sanity it woulda saved me! I was so glad I got to stay home with you and watch you grow. You were my best little buddy.
Then you grew again...into a preschooler. You started MDO at St. Marks. You made friends very easily and never caused any trouble. You were a rule follower. You learned very fast. I knew then that you were gonna need more than what the traditional school system could provide. I was afraid you were not going to be challenged enough and get bored. Oh and because of a wonderful book (Mousies First Christmas) you just haaaaaaad to have a white mouse. So yeah, we got one. Thomas the Train and The Wiggles were your main source of amusement and boy did we get ALOT of them!! You began Awana at 3. You grew up with alot of the kids in there and it has been so neat to watch you all grow together. Around age 4, instead of actually NAPPING at rest time, you'd take all your books out and build these huge towns that covered your floor. You started your first organized sports team. I'm not gonna say you were an athlete from birth, but you had fun and that's what mattered. You got your first set of stitches. Jumping on the bed during nap time is not acceptable and you had to learn the hard way. 7 stitches in the nose...the day before Santa pictures for school! It made for a great story.

As you might have guessed, you grew...into a school-aged kid. This was VERY hard fro me. I remember seeing kids this age when you were a baby and thinking, "Oh I can't wait til he's that age! It will be so fun!" All of a sudden it's here. WOW that was fast. You adjusted very well to school life. I, on the other hand, cried for at least 2 week every time I dropped you off. You did well there. Learned quickly, as I had guessed. Made friends easily but still on the shy side when it came to adults. I think it took the whole first half of the year for you to warm up to your teacher. We took our first family vacation to Sea World. You played soccer and took swimming lessons. You also got your most important role yet..Big Brother! You have taken it and made it yours. Little Sista is so lucky to have you.

Seven was a big change for us. All of a sudden you would say these big words and colloquialisms in their right context and me and your dad would look at each other like, "WOW! did he really just say that!?" You were becoming a little man and all it took was one birthday. You started a new school this year. You were very hesitant about making new friends and I was very hesitant about the drive! You love it there and now say, "I don't like Cason Lane anymore." We started out a little rocky but you're a full fledge Discovery Schooler now. You have joined 2 clubs at recess. The Pacos and now The Awesome Everything club. Oh and I think there was a new one last week. It's hard to keep track. You've decided you're going to be a sculptor when your grown and practice this often. Scratch that, you just changed it to a Professional Tennis Player. You know what you do and don't like. You want brown hair so bad you can't stand it. I don't know how many times I have to tell you, "Coloring your hair is not ok at this age! Sorry buddy." You do NOT like collared shirts but you do make sure outfits match before you head out. You could watch Spongebob over and over and over if I let you. You love to make your dad and I proud and Brynn laugh.

Today you are 8. You are now cosidered a Tween which scares the you know what out of me. How did you get here so fast!? Yesterday you were just a baby. With the fair skin, blonde fuzzies and blue-blue eyes. Now your a Tween with the fair skin, blonde shaggy hair and blue-blue eyes. I can't imagine how you can top 7 but I'm sure you will. You always do. We love you Buddy!