Happy 8th Birthday Jacob!

Happy Birthday to my amazing, sweet, creative, silly and curious boy. Today you are 8! (How is this possible??)

I'm still in a bit of shock. You recently had your last day of 1st Grade. So of course, we took your traditional "Last Day of School" picture. Then I put that picture next to your picture from the very first day of 1st grade! 

Oh boy. 

I always expect you to seem more grown up after a year of school. But your picture this year? You just look so much more grown up, so much more matured in the face, so much older! 

And so of course, today you turn 8. You are growing much too quickly for my liking. But I also can't deny the pure joy I feel from watching you continue to grow. (Trust me, both things can be true.) 

You, Jacob, are truly, one of a kind. 

You are smart. You are witty. You are curious. You can remember the most random facts of things that interest you. You ask a lot of questions. When we're reading and you don't understand a word, you'll always ask what the word means. Your reading skills have continue to skyrocket and you can understand and comprehend what you are reading. Some of your favorite books right now are the Dog Man series, the Bad Guy series, the Dragon Masters series and the Chocolate Touch. You also enjoy reading the Sunday comics and reading my text messages on my phone over my shoulder. :) 

You still love to cuddle. Always wanting to sit right next to me or someone else when we watch TV or are reading books. You are such a lovable cuddle-bug! You like to give "Ultimate Hugs" (a big hug that lasts at least five second!). You still enjoy making us do group hugs in the morning before we all leave for the day or when we're done visiting family. 

You like playing games - UNO with the the Zaruba family on Houseparty, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Trouble, Sorry, Life (you like making up your own rules), Memory. You also like watching me play Sims and sometimes even playing yourself. You love to play Roblox and other games on the tablet. You still enjoy Skylanders on the Wii and DC Lego Super Villains and Lego Harry Potter on the Switch. You also like playing Among Us with Nana and her confirmation kids. You even like to play pretend Among Us (and now Pirate Battles) where you basically narrate how the game plays out. 

Your current obsession is Outer Space. You love all things space and galaxy and stars and planets. You know all the planets, you know their order. You know what each planet is like. You know about other universes and giant stars and I don't even know what else! But you do! You visited the planetarium with Nana and Meg earlier this year and kept answering the guide's questions, while adding in your own facts. We borrowed an inflatable set of the planets from the library and you spread them out across the kitchen, dining room and living room to show us how far apart the planets were from the sun. You have an app on the tablet where you can zoom into the smallest thing in our universe, all the way to the largest known universe. You talk about being a scientist when you're older and discovering new planets. You don't want to visit outer space, but want to do all your exploring behind a large telescope - a great big one you'll build that will see far far away. 

You are a practical joker - like your dad. You love playing jokes on people, like hiding somewhere to jump out and scare me. You even fooled Nana and Papa TWICE this past year on losing some loose teeth! You love to tell jokes. You are so funny, especially when you crack yourself up and can't stop laughing. And your laugh and giggle are the absolute best. They always make me smile and laugh along with you! Sometimes I can't get over just how witty you are! 

You also have some great acting talents. At Christmas, you played Ceasar in the church program and absolutely nailed the part! Best performance ever! You have amazing facial expressions and have great inflections in your voice. I can definitely see you as a theater kid once you get to high school and beyond - much like both your parents.  

You still tend to favor the bad guys over anything else, but your favorite current superhero is Aquaman. 

You enjoy numbers and math. You love numbers like infinity or google. You really do have some strong math skills for your age, even learning some basic multiplication. Your favorite subject in school this past year was STEM, which is not surprising to me at all. 

Your imagination still amazes me. It's so incredible to hear you use your imagination and many times you'll bring us along in your imagination. The stories that you come up with and tell are so good we should be writing them down! Sometimes when you're walking around, you're playing a movie through your imagination. You are such a joy to watch and so fun to listen to. Although you generally don't like it when we sit and watch and listen as you're walking around. :) 

I think one of my favorite things from the past year was watching you grow more social and making new friends at school. You really are growing up. 

I'm looking forward to the next year as we discover what the world looks like post-COVID and going on some big adventures with you. I can't wait to see how much you grow and learn over the next 365 days. 

You are my shining light, my little heat warmer, my giggling cuddle bug, my goofy kidder, my smart boy, my absolute favorite. I love you ultimate. Happy Birthday, Jacob!