All about Jay

This picture was taken on Friday. Jay was headed off to be in a parade. He was representing Cub Scouts.
Just the other night I was putting Jay to bed (and Yes, even at age 8 I still read him a bedtime story) and noticed his long, lean legs were practically the length of his bed. When I think of how fast the last 8 years have gone by and think that in another 8 years, he'll be 16, I have to stop and catch my breath. Jay is a lot like Mike. He can go from dawn until dusk, like a power horse. He also has Mike's dry sense of humor. Some of Jay's 8 year old quirks include:
*He is still very impulsive. Some days are better than others but the impulsivity is still something that is a huge factor in his daily life.
*His unsolicited displays of affectionate still get ya everytime. Just this week my sister caught Jay giving Craig (his uncle) a hug. Both Kim and Craig were touched. You just never know when Jay is going to dish out the hugs and asking for them is the kiss of death. He has to give them out on his terms.
*He is PHYSICAL, PHYSICAL, PHYSICAL!!! The rougher he can play, the happier he is. Needless to say he's playing tackle football this fall.
*Jay can be sooooo good to his brother or soooooo bad to his brother. There is no in between. He is either torturing him or being so nice to him. I try to focus on the times he's nice to him.
*I really enjoy my one on one time with Jay. I don't get it very often but he's much more open and more willing to chat one on one. That's another thing about Jay, he'll talk to you, eventually. You just have to be patient.
When I mentioned Jay's dry sense of humor, just this week me, Jay and Nick were taking a walk. I was GROUCHY! It had been a bad day. Sometimes I just do a lousy job of hiding my grouchiness. I'm human, what can I say? Anyway, my tell it like it is son (once again his father's son) says to me, "Mom, a friend of mine takes anger medication. Clearly, you are so grouchy tonight that maybe you should try getting some!" Ha! He had a point and he called me out on it.
When I see Jay out riding his bike, playing with a friend, being kind to his brother, playing with his legos, working in the shop with his dad and still seeing him excited to spend the night with his nana, mimi or grandparents (at age 8) I reflect on what a sweet boy he is and how all the simple things in life truly make him happy!