SECOND SURPRISE

I have to preface the following by saying that I am plagiarizing the idea for this blog from my friend, Tammi, who is a naturally talented and witty writer. She is as witty in person as she is in her writing; she's wise, she's beautiful and she inspires me everyday. She also is a talented photographer; she took this photo of Zac in about 30 seconds. It captures his whole personality. Thank you, Tammi, let me know what I owe you ")


My fifth, my baby, will be having his fourth birthday tomorrow. This year he has become a child; he is no longer a toddler. The following is a list of some of his milestones that have made him such:



1) He now sleeps in his OWN bed, not Dad and Mom's, Anna's, or Drew's. This was a BIGGIE!



2) He is completely potty trained: No diapers, no pull-ups at night, he cleans himself.



3) He dresses and undresses himself and does this at the appropriate times; although, he occasionally still plays nude football.



4) He talks in a language that has morphed into English and we can now understand.



5) He eats mostly w/utensils and wipes on a napkin if he has one; otherwise, it's his shirt or whoever sits next to him ")



6) He learned somewhat that the world does NOT revolve around him and he doesn't get everything he wants, WHEN he wants it. He's learned about change and moving to another state. He's somewhat learned what COLD really means ")



7) He learned to share and negotiate but that, in the end, tattle-telling works the best



8) He got his first real two-wheel training bike



9) He's learned how to be sneaky, blame the "invisible person" and perfect ornery



10) He can make his bed and a pb&j. He can pour his own drink even if he trashes the kitchen in the process; he can clean up his mess in the kitchen or come tell mom; he usually does the latter



Zachary Eli. He's an amazing little man. He looks like Gerald, is the only one with my wavy hair, is athletic like Jake, contemplates life like Drew, giggles and hugs like Molly and bosses all his siblings around just like Anna. He's everything I never knew he would be and everything the Lord intended when he decided four years and nine months ago that we needed another surprise in our life. I'm still wondering and waiting to see the Lord's plans for the world that he put Zac here.



He grew up faster than my others because he is #5. He didn't call me "mommy" very long; he learns everything the older kids do and therefore, I'm "Mom," and Gerald is, "Dad". He calls carrots, "rabbits" b/c of the picture on the bag, he calls his elbow his "knee" and his boo-boos he calls by whatever activity he was doing when he got the boo-boo; for instance, he got a BIG bruise on his chin when he slipped doing pushups and he asked me the other day if his "push-up" was gone.



His phrases almost all start with, "Can I have..." and he always wants to tell us "sumpting", especially at bedtime. He's a good sleeper but his eating habits could be described as grazing. He still doesn't understand that grandpa and grandma live 11 hours away when he asks to "go to Papa and Memaw's house today for just a minute!"



His favorite "real" food is macaroni-n-cheese w/chicken fingers, but if he could choose, he'd have popcorn, sweet tea...with a lemon, a cookie and a banana for every meal. He loves Thomas trains and big trucks and he got a letter from Santa yesterday and keeps asking when he can open the presents under the tree. He always tells everybody that Santa brings his birthday.



I love that he grew into a child this year, but still lays on the couch with me, thumb in mouth and watches QVC. I wish I could keep him this age-- full of wonder and love and squeezable cheeks, the closest he'll ever be to an angel. Soon, he'll be fighting me tooth-and-nail to become a man and a leader and I'll then have to balance being his mom and being his teacher--allowing him a little room to practice his male, future-leader, dominant-gene skills so as to hopefully, carefully, help him to become a loving, wise leader for his future family and career.



I have the most important role in his life for now. He has the most important role in mine. The Lord put this little man into our family; he definitely completes it. Happy Birthday, Zac-Zac.