He can't wait until he's 8!

And he doesn't have to wait anymore! My first born, my baby, turns 8 today at 12:23PM. Seriously, where does the time go? I can't believe I have a bike riding, scar wearing, Lego playing, Star Wars loving, video game playing, little brother (and sister) annoying eight year old!

I bet you didn't know that Jaxen was my second smallest (Owen is a shoe in) baby but he was the biggest. Kaysen started out big, Jaxen didn't. However, as I look at his baby records, he is only one pound off of where Kaysen has been. Hard to believe when you look at how thin he is now.  He started walking at nine months. After the initial freak out, I thought it was pretty cool. He started thinning out then (or rather stopped plumping up) and burned his energy on moving and groovin. He hasn't stopped since.

Jaxen at 4 weeks. This is when Shaunton and I were gullible enough to pay over $200 for portraits. Ahh, those were the good old days. Live and learn. Learn we did. We learned that Jaxen required rocking in the middle of the night. Dad would put him in his car seat and just swing it until he fell asleep. He slept in that car seat for the first few months. I didn't know what his problem was, but 3 kids later I have a better idea.

One of the advantages of having an early walker is watching him have fun egg hunting and walking around the mall. We did that a lot (the mall that is). He would hold onto mom's hand and dad's hand and we would walk with him in between. We really didn't have much use for a stroller with this kid. After him though, we didn't have the patience to let the others kids walk. They were so S.L.O.W and the novelty of watching them walk wore off on the first. The stroller got used much more often.

Jaxen is one of our only children that looks the same way now as he did when he was three. (He is five in this pic, but trust me, he looks the same at three.) It also seems like he "grows the slowest". He seems to stay the same height and weight until you throw him up against the growth chart and see that in fact he is an inch taller than he was 6 months ago. He is my slow and steady kid. Everything in moderation, right?

Jaxen loves soccer and even though he may be the smallest kid on the team...by a landslide, don't let that fool you. He is quick and has no fear. He will get up into the mix and go after the ball, even if you are two heads taller than he is. He may not be the fastest, but he can outlast them all. He has endurance and stamina. He is my little energizer bunny.

That doesn't mean that he doesn't need to take a break every now and then. I mean, how are you supposed to be at your best if you don't take breaks in between levels?

I am still in disbelief that my little boy turns eight. He is going to be baptized on Friday. I am excited. I am sad (only because he is growing up too fast). I am proud (he knows his stuff!)

I love you sonny boy. Surely you are my favorite-st biggest boy in the whole wide world.

Happy Birthday Jaxen!