Happy Birthday Daniel!

My sweet boy is six years old! Everyone told me how fast the years would go by, but really, do they have to fly by this quickly? I have been so very blessed to by his mommy!! I was at Publix the night before his birthday to find a balloon for him. I love getting special balloons on birthdays! Daniel loved the first one I got him on his first birthday and played with it for weeks! So now I always pick out a special balloon and have it ready to greet the birthday person in the kitchen for breakfast time. I normally try to get a balloon that has the age on it. However, they did not have a balloon for age 6. I am not sure why, but this made me almost cry right there in the isle! Six sounds so old to me! (I know it is really not!) There are so many things I love and appreciate about Daniel!! I don't know how to list them all, and I know that there is no way I could even think of them, but I will try to give you a glimpse of just how wonderful he is!!

• His sweet spirit and tender heart.
  
• His love to cuddle
• He loves to have his back scratched. I love cuddling with him and scratching his back. I know it calms him and makes him feel loved.
• He likes come into the bathroom while I am getting ready and sit on the tub and talk with me. He will tell me about his dream from the night before and ask me what I dreamed about. Then he will ask me what I want to talk about, or ask a hundred questions. Some mornings I would wish for just a few minutes alone to get ready for the day but kept reminding myself that this would end quickly. Which it did. Now that he has started Kindergarten, we no longer have our sweet talks in the mornings. Ha! As I sit here crying thinking about it now! Sometimes on Saturday or Sunday mornings he will, but not always.
• Each morning before he started Kindergarten he would ask the same three questions: "Are we going anywhere today? Is someone coming over today? Are we doing something special today?" On the days that I had to say no to all of the questions, which was quite often, I felt like the least fun mother!!
• Daniel has so many questions about God, creation and Heaven. So many of the questions I have never thought of before, which also makes it difficult to answer some of his questions!!
  
• Daniel loves to learn about things. He likes to ask lots of questions and try to understand everything he can about whatever topic he is interested in. This past year his two main interests have been space and dinosaurs. He knows all the planets, different kinds of space objects, space craft, Neil Armstrong and much more that I don't even think about on a given day, but he does! He is currently very into dinosaurs. He can tell you many of the names and if they are a plant eater, meat eater, or both! I love watching him learn and process things!!
  
• When he finds out someone is sick or is not having a good day, he asks if we can pray for them.
• He loves imaginative play. He will use so many toys outside of their intended purpose in some creative way.
• He is learning to read and has come so far from when we began last year! I am so excited for his reading to take off so that he can read lots of books to find the information he is craving on topics that he is interested in.
• He is so helpful! He willingly buckles Alayna into her car seat and when we arrive at our destination, he helps her out!
  
• Daniel is enjoying kindergarten. He adjusted so well!! I really was amazed especially since this is his first school experience. It is taking me a little longer to adjust however!! There are so many days I wish I was still homeschooling him, yet many other days that I feel like sending him to school for kindergarten was the right decision.
  
• Daniel really loves to be around people and to spend special time together!
  
• He loves to listen and take everything in. He is like a sponge, especially when it is something he is interested in. In church, or in school, he really thinks about what is being taught and waits to comment on something until he feels he has a good understanding of whatever it is.
  

God for sure knew what He was doing when he blessed me with Daniel! I absolutely love having him around me and listening to him talk and share what he is excited about! I love his sweet and kind spirit! I love that he has taught me so much about motherhood, and that the mistakes I made with him hopefully haven't affected him too much!! I could not have asked for a more wonderful little boy!! I have been so very blessed these six years!!!

Happy Birthday Daniel!! I love you so very much!!!!