Happy 8th Birthday Jared!

Dear Jared,

I'm not quite sure how 8 years have passed since you were born... I guess what they say about time flying when you're having fun is true! You make life fun and interesting, either with your sense of humor, your creativity, or your passion to learn!

One year ago, you were barely willing to put your face in the water at swim lessons, and now you are almost fully through level 8! Swim team is most definitely in your future at some point! It's been so much fun watching you learn to swim and sticking with it until it was something you could do WELL. You set a goal for yourself back on day 1 that you would get to level 8 in less than a year, and you succeeded! I anxious to see what other goals you set for yourself as you explore life?

One year ago, you were blowing my mind by FLYING through the Harry Potter books, despite the fact that you were only in first grade. This year, you've read so many books I can't even keep track! You've gotten interested in greek mythology and have read numerous books on the subject. If I didn't know better, I'd swear you had a photographic memory the way you can spout off greek mythology facts out of the blue! Last I checked, your average comprehension test score was 96%, and you'd earned over 200 pts for the school year. That's crazy amounts of reading! I love it!

You've turned into quite the little negotiator lately, and I'm secrety convinced you're going to be some kind of lawyer. We've joked about it for years, but I get more and more convinced by the day. It will be interesting to see this skill progress, and how you use you it in life. As long as you aren't using it against me, we're good!

You are strong, smart, talkative, athletic, and creative, and you have so many other amazing qualities as well. I wish you another healthy year full of books, swimming, Legos, Wii, family/friends, etc. You deserve great things Buddy!

Love you,
Mommy