From Our Life to Yours...: Super Seven!

Isaac turned seven years old in May. I cannot believe my firstborn is already seven years old, yet at the same time I cannot imagine his not being seven since he is so grown up in the way he talks and acts.

He is a hero to his little brother who loves to do whatever Isaac does. Isaac can pester the snot out of Caleb like it is nobody's business, but then he will turn around and stand up for him in such thoughtful ways. (At a party a couple week's ago, Caleb spilled all his bubbles, and Isaac immediately ran over to their friend's mom to ask for a replacement bottle. He came to me and said, "Well, Mom, he was so sad. I think he was going to cry.")

A bit intense about their Pop Rocks

He is very competitive and loves to win games. He is learning how to graciously lose games but usually wants a rematch immediately. When he talks about P.E., he always talks about who was the fastest and who won the game and who was able to sneak away from others. At the same time, though, he usually is happy for those who win even when it is not he. There are days when I can see his struggle with wanting to win but also being happy for others. (A good example was the day he found out the mini-olympics results. His team did not win, and he was quick to say which kids in his class won and was so excited for them. But then in the next sentence he made a comment about their team cheating on something--at least that is what he heard via the elementary rumor mill. When I asked him if he was sad that he did not win, he immediately said, "No...," but then added, "Well, maybe a little bit. I wanted to win.")

Trying to figure out how to blow out the relightable candles on his cake

It has been such a joy watching him grow up this year and learn so much in kindergarten. He absolutely enjoys everything about school and rarely complains about anything that happens during the day. Of all subjects, he LOVES math the most. He took all his artwork, papers, and books home from school this week. He started working on filling in the empty pages in his math workbook before we even left school. When I mentioned possibly buying him a math workbook to do on our trip across country, his eyes lit up with glee!

He is very sensitive and attentive to doing things just right especially when it comes to schoolwork. When he gets something marked wrong on his paper, it really bothers him. (He has actually cried when I marked a word wrong on his spelling practice test. And he has had melt-downs while working on homework when he could not get his letters to look a particular way.) He has learned to read this year and continues to improve daily. He loves to read, but he does not want to take the time to sound out words most of the time. It cracks me up (and drives me nuts) watching him read because he is constantly looking at the pictures trying to use them to guess at what the words say rather than think through it. (I guess it is good that he is using context clues already...but it still drives me nuts.)

It has been such a gift having him at a Christian school and having a teacher who shares Jesus so freely and in such a meaningful way with him. He is not quick to summarize what he learned in school by giving us the play-by-play that we might get if he was a girl, but he will say things that lets us know that he is learning so much and is really thinking about how much Jesus loves him and what it means that Christ is his Savior. We have enjoyed learning his memory verses with him each week. (The little pistol would practice with one of us pretending he just could not get it and then proceed to rattle it off with no problems or hesitations for the other person. He was proud to have "no helps" all year long.) He is compassionate and kind to almost everyone, and we are constantly amazed at the patience he shows to those around him. He did a nice job this year befriending and helping those who were having tough days which is great to hear as a parent. (We know he does not do that all the time, but we do treasure those times when he gets it right.)