Our Family: Serving in South Africa: W turns 6! September 2010

September was a pretty big month for W. He started school for the first time and turned 6! This year has seen W grow into a true boy - rough and tumble, yet sensitive and kind. Collector and trader, reader and builder. Swimmer and boogie boarder. Complimenter and investigator. A tooth loser - he wished! "Oh when will MY tooth fall out?" he asked all year. Usually when you turn 6, I say. Boy was I in trouble when 6 came and there was no action.

It was a year of falling in love with Star Wars, anything his big brother liked, all things dolphin, and unending lego creations. It was the year he learned to sit still (for a while at least) and follow instructions, although his newfound love of reading does now distract him from the task at hand. His world became bigger as he ventured into school. And so did his list of girl friends- as he would tell me every day. "They're bossy!" he'd say. "I don't want to play catch and kiss with them!" Whew- good thing.

The 5th year for W was the year of the Kitty. Everywhere he went he was a kitty - scratching, meowing when he talked to you, licking (yes that was fun), and crawling. In almost every photo this year are the kitty paws and the kitty face.

Most of the time this is the face you see on Wyatt. Happy about life, trying to make you laugh and seeing humor everywhere. Humor is a way to make friends, divert the wrath of your parents, and a way to deal with getting your feelings hurt.

Sometimes this is the face you see on Wyatt- when he's trying to hold back the tears because he's had his feelings hurt or he's angry - or when he doesn't understand why he has to sit alone after he's mauled you for the 20th time.

We celebrated W's birthday in Durban with dinner at his favorite restaurant - Spur.

W's actual birthday was the week of spring break while we were at Bible school in the Drakensberg Mountains at Dragon Peaks. We invited some friends over to decorate cookies and celebrate.