Jacob is SIX!

Oh, how I love this boy! He has an unwavering enthusiasm for life, has more energy than the energizer bunny, feels everything (love, joy, sadness, injustice, and everything inbetween) very deeply, and has an uncanny knack for getting hurt. Thus, I am even more confident in God's great plans for his life, because he's still alive today! He gives the most ferocious hugs, and needs lots of physical contact to feel loved. If he's having a hard day (and is thereby creating a hard day for me), the best response is to pick him up and give him an unending bear hug! He has provided the greatest number of parenting challenges, which provides an equally great number of moments filled with love and joy.


















And so we celebrated his 6th birtday with gusto! He was SO excited to be "real 6," as opposed to the "pretend 6" for his party. Chocolate-chip pancakes in the shape of dinosaurs and relief from dishwasher duty started his day off right!
























On his birthday, we had Mel and her family and Nana and Papa over for dessert. Jacob opened a few more presents, including from Grandma and Grandpa M. the ever-popular blue jeans (he pretty much refuses to wear any other kind of pants) with cowboy and indian toys, which used to be Mark's, stuffed in the pockets! He was pretty excited!


















With a pan of gluten, dairy, and egg-laden brownies for the adults, we were able to stretch the party cake another day!


















Happy Birthday, dear Jacob! I love you to infinity, and beyond!