Joshua Is 8 Already?!

My Joshua boy...  where do I begin.  First of all, am I old enough to have a 3rd grader?  That, of course, is a rhetorical question not meant to be answered by those who know my true age.  :o)  Since I'm actually old enough to have a teenager, I'm thankful that 3rd grade is the oldest in our house right now.  June 25th marks a big day for our family - when our oldest turns another year older.  And Joshua is a great 8 year old.  He's very proud of being 8 already, and I've seen him mature so much in the past year.  When he puts his mind to something, there's not much that can deter him.  He's a completer (like me) and loves to finish things, hates to stop reading before the end of a section, paragraph, sentence, etc.  He's also an organizer and enjoys helping me put things in order.  Reading big books is kind of a hobby with him.  He's currently reading The Illustrated World Atlas, The Lego Ideas Book, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids, Time for Kids - Presidents of the United States, and Children's Encyclopedia of American History.  There's always a stack of big books that he rotates through.  Of course, he also enjoys reading Geronimo Stilton chapter books as well as pretty much any other book that he comes across.  Add to his love for reading - his incredible gift of remembering everything, and you have a future Trivial Pursuit winner for sure.  I wish I could remember some specific instances (alas, my memory is not even close to his), but I do remember telling him something happened in a certain year and he was like, "Oh, that's the year that so-and-so was born and the year that such-and-such state became an official state."  Daddy reminded me of another time at dinner when he and I were talking about whether or not a certain event in history would have been on television, but we couldn't remember exactly when TV was invented. Joshua piped in with, "Well Franklin Roosevelt was the first president to appear on television..." helping us solve our mystery.  So his random facts memory is actually often very useful.  :o)  I thought math was going to be his favorite subject because he shows an amazing ability to understand mathematical concepts, but he actually seems to prefer and enjoy history better than anything else.  Teaching him this past year has been a joy as he studied U.S. history and absolutely loved it!  He and I are both looking forward to 3rd grade.  In fact, just yesterday he was jumping up and down because he was so excited about all the things he's going to learn in the next year.  :o)  I just hope that enthusiasm remains when I start giving him assignments all day long.  Joshua is not just a bookworm though, he loves playing with Lego Hero Factory or Lego Master Builder Academy, acting out super hero or Ninjago scenarios, and computer games.  He likes to make stuff whether it's building Legos or Trios or helping me bake or drawing elaborate super hero pictures.  When I asked him what is one word he would use to describe himself he said "creative" since he likes to make so many different things. Joshua is definitely "creative" in his own ways.  :o)  Where I see his creativity come out the most is when he and his brothers act out scenes when they're playing.  In the past he would only copy what he had seen or heard.  Now the stuff he and his brothers come up with whether it's ninjas or super heroes or whatever it is, it is incredibly imaginative and sometimes very fun to watch.  He is a natural leader both with his siblings and with other kids.  He seems to have the strong desire to convince others that his ideas are the best ideas, and he is often successful at it. 

Lately it's been really neat to see him step up and assume responsibilities that he takes on just because he is the oldest. He's learning more and more to notice others around him and think of ways to help them.  It makes me so proud when Joshua sees things that just need to be done and does them without having to be asked or reminded.  His sense of humor is developing also in that he has learned how to make clever jokes that are actually funny (which is not always the case when our children try to make up jokes).  :o)  One of the things that I love to see Joshua do is "teach" his younger siblings.  He'll sit and read to all of them, but he also likes to ask them questions to see if they're learning.  For a long time he would teach Micah new words from one of his picture dictionaries.  It's no wonder Micah's vocabulary is already amazing.  He has a great teacher already!  Joshua still has quite a few aspirations for his future.  Recently Luke was naming all the events he wanted to compete in in the Olympics when he grows up.  So he asked Joshua which event Joshua wanted to compete in and Joshua replied that he had too many other things to do already.  :o)  Running his own dessert factory is still near the top of his list, but he also says he wants to be an artist, an inventor, a scientist, and maybe a firefighter.  Whatever the Lord has in store for him, I'm sure it's great! 

This year we had Joshua's birthday party the day before June 25th because that was a Sunday and we already had everyone over to our house that morning for our weekly worship/church time.  Joshua's chosen theme was his favorite color - blue - as is evidenced by all the decorations and his cake, which I tried to make in the shape of a Lego.  We played some fun party games like blue, blue, pink instead of duck, duck, goose - you get the idea.  On his birthday day we had apple cinnamon pancakes for breakfast, hot dogs out for lunch, and my fried rice for his supper.  We took the kids back to the mall fun place and Joshua and Luke go to do the ropes course again.  It's such a cool activity for them!  Joshua also got to do the bungee trampoline again, too, which is always fun. 

 

Yay for more Geronimo Stilton books!  He's already read them all.  :o)

Joshua has recently stated that Thor is is favorite Avenger, but he likes Captain America too.  Notice who is on the computer screen?  We wanted him to open the gift from his grandparents while we were talking to them. 

His new cool Avenger pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa.  He was pretty excited.

I'm proud of the way Joshua is growing up and learning more about himself and other people as he learns about God.  My prayer for Joshua is that whatever he does with his life, he will live it for God's glory!