Johnny #8!

Our little "old man" is officially 8! He's grown so much over the past year that it's hard to fathom. I cannot wait to see what this year brings for him! 

Here's a little bit about Johnny:

• First grade was so good to Johnny. He had the most amazing teacher, his best friend Simon was in his class, many of the normal things about school were back (after being cut because of COVID) and thankfully masks were optional in our school as of February! 
• Johnny is reading so well and probably improved the most in this area. He exceeded all our expectations for reading and actually enjoys reading a good book. Math is definitely a strength for him, and I would say writing is one of his weaknesses-mostly because he just doesn't want to take the time.
• Anytime Johnny had homework to do after school, he was happy and willing which made things so much easier. 
• He is still a "protector"...if anybody messes with his brother, they better watch out.....if someone is messing with his sister, he's gonna let them know.....if someone is giving his best buddy Simon a hard time, Johnny is all over it! 
• He has a long "fuse"....but when his fuse reaches the end, you are definitely going to know it. He can get pretty angry. 
• He says he's not getting married when he's grown up. His plan is to have a dog and be a police officer. 
• He has an "old man soul" ....his elaborate, monotone stories are the best and he just fits right in with the retired crowd. He can tell a story like the best of them. 
• His belly laugh will make anyone laugh and is one of the very best sounds EVER
• He can take just about anything apart and will! He loves figuring out how things work...which usually results in taking things apart.
• He is the absolute happiest when he is riding a tractor or lawn mower and loves them even more if he can drive. He has gotten to practice driving the lawn mower by himself and does a really great job. 
• He can hear a sound from any vehicle and 9 times out of 10 can identify what it is (motorcycle, truck, train, firetruck, bus, etc.)
• He does not like to disappoint adults and it crushes him if he thinks someone is upset with him. 
• Johnny and Winston have a special bond. If Johnny is happy, Winston is there. When Johnny is sad, Winston is there and Johnny immediately feels better when Winston comes around. They also get each other super excited and rowdy! Johnny has been a huge help with Winston....helping feed him, take him outside, gather toys, etc. etc. 
• If he's not really good at something, he easily gets discouraged. If he gets mad about something, he shuts down and needs some time to regroup. 
• He will play with pretty much anyone and has become very social, but playing with his best buddy Simon is his favorite.
• Give him a truck/tractor/airplane/transformer or some Lego's and he will be busy for hours
• His favorite shows are: Transformers, Bluey, The Floor is Lava and You Vs. The Wild
• His favorite movies: Transformers, Bumblebee, Transformers: The Last Night
• Clothing sizes range from 6-8 and his feet are continuing to grow at record speed....
• Johnny loves to help out....it doesn't matter what it is, he will happily help you with it! He has continued helping me in the kitchen as often as possible (dishes are his favorite but he loves to help cook too) and really has enjoyed helping John in the barn with the garden, lawn mower, etc. 
• Johnny absolutely LOVES breakfast! He will eat a large breakfast then not eat much for lunch or dinner. We've kind of started forcing him to eat through the day though because he's not real good at recognizing that he is hungry until he is "hangry". 
• His favorite food for breakfast is frozen blueberry waffles (or the twice a year donut-blueberry or apple fritter), for lunch he likes peanut butter and jelly or chic fil a nuggets and for dinner he will usually eat a variety of things wether its pasta, hot dogs, spaghetti, rice, tacos, or pancakes...For snacks he really likes cheez-it and one of his favorite meals at any time is Scrambled Egg Sandwich. He's also really starting to enjoy a few drinks of Pepsi here and there. He will almost always choose a fruity dessert/sugar cookie over chocolate. 
• He sleeps really well...he is usually in bed around 8:00 and will sleep all night. If he doesn't sleep through the night, he comes into our room and snuggles--he is the best snuggler! His stuffed lovie "Douglas" is still a favorite and he loves to line up his transformers on his nightstand just before getting into bed. He's also added a stuffed snake to his collection. He got the snake on his field trip to the zoo just to make me cringe because I really dislike snakes. Of course, he thinks this is hilarious. 
• He is our early riser....he is usually the first one up. He likes to have two ZBars while he sits in the recliner and watches a show until its time to eat his actual breakfast and get ready for the day. 
• His favorite books are: Dog Man, Elephant & Piggie and Pigeon Books
• When he wants to (as with all kids)....Johnny follows a set of instructions very well and is usually very compliant with what he's been asked to do
• One of his favorite times is when mama comes home from the grocery store with bags of food....he is really good at helping me get the bags out of the car and carry them inside 
• He still loves to wear a hat and he pretty much lives in Under Armour clothes...muscle shirts are his favorite in the summertime. Sundays going to church is the only time I am able to get him into jeans or khaki pants/shorts and even then he really doesn't want to.
• He truly loves Mellany and Charlie and plays with them very well. He wants to do anything Mellany is doing and loves showing Charlie the "ropes"
• He has really great manners and is very helpful to others-holding doors open, letting others go first, bringing things to people, etc.
• Johnny is a people pleaser and just wants everyone to be happy and have a good time. 
• When Johnny does mess up and it requires punishment we typically only have to take a transformer away or send him to bed 10 minutes early and the behavior is corrected. He really dislikes being in trouble and disappointing adults. 
• His favorite song right now is "Wine, Beer, Whiskey" by Little Big Town (Parents of the year right here hahahaha!
• He says he wants to be a police officer when he grows up
• One thing we've been working on with Johnny lately is whining. He's gotten pretty whiney over the past few months....when he talks to us, when he's mad, when he's sad....he just gets so whiney. So we've tried talking through it often to see if we can get that to stop. 
• He really wants some chickens to take care of. 
• Playing the nintendo switch and playstation are two things he really loves!! But, we do have to limit the amount of time he plays on them because when he plays, he is "all in" and it is hard to come back to "reality".
• Johnny really tries to be an extrovert but I think I've learned that he is truly an introvert. More often than not, when neighbors are at our house to play, I will find him on the swings by himself, or riding his bike or playing with a single friend out of the group. I think he is truly content just playing in his room by himself in the quiet. 

8 Year Wellness Exam

Weight: 52.7 lbs

Height: 4ft 2.2 in

Johnny's wellness exam was another smooth one and I'm always so thankful and relieved that they are! We discussed his new love for friends, eating habits, sleep, playing outside in the summer time, transformers (Johnny brought a transformer with him to his appointment and when Dr. Fahler asked to try, Johnny responded "no thank you"-so that got a good laugh.) and school among several other topics. Johnny answered all of Dr. Fahler's questions like a little man and was so patient while Dr. Fahler and I had a lengthy discussion about general behavior. There were no shots at this appointment but my sweet boy still got a cake pop when it was over. 

Dr. Fahler was very pleased with Johnny's growth and development and we are so blessed that he is healthy, active and happy!

He was so happy to be put in the transformer room again this year....it totally made his day and has now requested to have the same transformer stickers on his walls! 

Birthday Celebration

For Johnny's celebration this year he wanted to rent the bounce house again and have Simon and Gabe over to spend the night. Unfortunately, Simon got sick so he wasn't able to come.

Johnny wanted a Fortnite birthday cake and balloons and while I resisted a bit (mostly because I feel so clueless about it), that's exactly what he got. He requested Casey's pizza for dinner and overall had just a great night!  

We decided to get Johnny a chair for his room....by the look on his face opening it up, he was pretty excited. 

Opening Gabe's gift...a minecraft lego set which he promptly started putting together. 

His yearly book from Nana....this book is always a hit!

Sending Uncle Andy and Aunt Amy a thank you picture for the gifts they sent! This was the transformer that went to the dr appointment with Johnny. :)

Gammy, Papa & Teresa all sent gifts through the week too but I have failed miserably on getting a picture of Johnny with those gifts! #momfail

Three tired boys from all afternoon in the bounce house (i'm not sure how I didn't get a single picture of them in the bounce house..)

Here's to another year of our Johnny boy!!! We are so thankful God made him ours!!