My Jonah is a six year old. Six. It feels like an awfully big number. He is thinking very highly of his new age as well. His new favorite way to start a conversation is “Mommy, remember when I was a little kid…” and then will finish up by mentioning something that happened a week ago. To be fair though, he has been six years old for six whole days now. He is basically a grown up.
We asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday and he wasn’t sure but he knew he wanted it to involve dinosaurs. So I gave him two options; have a small party at home with family, or go to the T-Rex restaurant in Disney Springs. He excitedly chose T-Rex so we had dinner there with family on Friday night and then stayed overnight and continued on to Deltona to celebrate with his birthday buddy, Gigi, on Saturday.
I think it’s fitting to celebrate Jonah’s with dinosaurs, both because he is obsessively in love with them and because it was his birthday that spurred the obsession. When he was getting ready for his fourth birthday, this mom made a rookie mistake and asked him what sort of decoration he wanted for his party. Yes, I usually let them pick their theme…but I should have offered a list of suggestions from what was available at the party store instead of just asking blindly. He decided on a shark theme and I agreed. Then we went shopping but apparently sharks are for summer parties and no one had anything shark related. Cue the party store meltdown. Joy.
So we reviewed the boy birthday aisle again and I offered anything that was *in* the store, which is what I should have done to begin with. I anticipated him choosing Spiderman or something familiar that he already enjoyed but to my surprise, he chose the dinosaur theme. Until that day, he had never shown any real interest in dinosaurs but it was floating his boat so I went with it. The rest is history.
Since then, the boy hasn’t been able to get enough dinosaur in his life. We assumed that it was a phase like his former loves for football or shapes but this one has stuck for two full years and counting. At this point, he can name and educated you on countless species of dinosaurs. Truly, the kid is basically a junior paleontologist.
Jonah, you make mommy and daddy proud every day. I love your love of learning and I love your sense of humor. You have made big strides this year in your school work, your social skills, and your compassion towards others. You are going to do great things, don’t ever doubt that. You can succeed in anything you decide to apply yourself to. Don’t ever stop learning, even when you are a hundred and two. Be brave, be kind, be helpful to those around you, be YOU no matter what. We love you, Jonahbug, Happy Birthday!
