Patrick turns 7!

It is really hard to believe, but my oldest child is SEVEN!  Seven years ago, Patrick was born at Crawford-Long Hospital in Atlanta, weighing in at 6 lb 11 oz.  A tiny little peanut, perfectly healthy, and very much treasured.

Now look at him.  He's gotten so big!  He's missing some teeth--but the adult ones are growing in and the window in his mouth is getting smaller.  His hair is just below his shoulders.  I'm pretty sure he's in another growth spurt (when isn't he in a growth spurt?) because he's been eating like a bear fresh out of

hibernation.  He usually eats breakfast at home, like this morning's banana bread, then eats breakfast again when he gets to school.  The other day he ate a whole quart of egg drop soup.  Tonight he requested chicken with yellow rice for his birthday dinner and ate three helpings.  His face has filled out a little and that's usually a sign that he's about to shoot up in height.

He's a voracious reader now.  I've taken to sitting in the hall outside the boys' room when they're falling asleep because otherwise, I'll come up at 9:30 and find Patrick still reading.  From the kid who didn't want to read because he didn't think he was any good at it to the kid who won't stop reading.  I'll admit, it makes me smile.  His teacher says he's reading on a second-grade level already, and he's getting better with practice.  Patrick loves to read pretty much anything, including Calvin and Hobbes books!  He's reading chapter books on his own and we're going to be starting Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone together now that he's 7. 

Patrick still loves to draw and do other art projects.  We're pretty much limited to drawing at home (because I only let them get out the acrylic paints during the summer when they can go outside), but he draws a ton and is really getting good!  The other day he showed us the origami that they'd been doing at school, and he's brought home clay-work and painting and all sorts of things.

He loves soccer and mentioned wanting to take ice hockey lessons the other day.  I'm not sure where he got that from since it's a sport that neither Jason nor I watches, but that's what he decided.  We're pretty supportive of his ideas but we did veto that one since I'm not sure he's even ever seen an ice hockey game.  Perhaps the first step would be to actually take him to a Thrashers game sometime.

We're so proud of Patrick and the way he's developing into his own person.  We are so lucky to get to be his family, and can't wait to see what the next year will bring for him!