7

Mr. A.J., big ol' 7.  How the heck do we have a 7 year old?  

A.J. is such a cool individual and is most definitely growing into his own.  He has girls that invite him to parties because they like him.  He is no longer scared to order his food by himself.  He never lets Ryker play on the ipad when it's Ryk's day, because he has used his older brother charm to convince Ryk that he should watch him play.  He is sneaky, and just recently convinced Demps to play hide-and-seek, and then took one of her animals and hid it from her instead.  He can be so helpful with Demps and Ryk when he wants to be.  He will do ANYTHING for ipad time.  Anything.  He asked questions night and day about the way the world is, why things are the way they are...sometimes it's exhausting.  He recently went for his first scooter and motorcycle ride with Russell and I, and he had a blast.  He loves the water, and is gaining independence daily by practicing his strokes.  He became super brave and started playing flag football.  The kid has an arm, and we are working on his catching skills.

A.J. and I have a great relationship.  He drives me crazy and I drive him crazy.  I truly feel like we are at the middle school level of relationships most of the time.  He is slower than molasses if he doesn't care about the thing he is doing.  He is easily distracted by legos and thoughts.  But he has a heart of gold, and I can trust him because the kid cannot lie to me, yet.  

I'm excited for A.J. to have Ryker at school with him next year.  I can't wait to hear about the first time they see each other in the hallways or passing through electives.  It makes me so happy to know that A.J. will be there for Ryker as the older brother checking on things.  

A.J. got to have a long drawn out birthday celebration.  He celebrated with Russell's side in Nebraska, he celebrated with my side up the mountain, he celebrated with his friends a week ago.  He decided to have a video game party, similar to the one Russell had some 25+ years ago.  We had 4 game systems setup, and each pair of kids rotated.  They played games 90% of the time, and A.J. said it was his best birthday yet! 

Love this dude.
Momma