Our Baby...

It's been a big day at our house - our baby, little CJ, turned 8 and what a terrific eight years it's been with him! Always a happy kid, full of exuberance, Colton takes life head-on and looks forward to each experience with precious enthusiasm. Our family is tremendously blessed to have him as our youngest member and we love him to pieces. (I'm plucking a few grey hairs trying to keep up with him, but I'm not complaining.)

Today, as is our tradition, I went in to his school to have a special birthday lunch with him. His Nana met us there, as a special surprise, and we had a lovely visit while sitting in the school cafeteria. Normally, most of the second graders power through their lunches with extraordinary speed to ensure themselves the most recess time at the end of their meal. On this day, Colton was in no hurry to run and join his classmates outside. Instead, he happily sat next to his Nana, eating his Chick-fil-a, soaking in the specialness of the day. Finally finishing, he asked if we wanted to accompany him outside to the playground. Happily, we followed him out into the breezy sunshine.  

Immediately, a large group of second grade boys, in the middle of a big four square game, called out to him. "Colton, come play four square with us. We've been waiting for you."  Without hesitation, he ran off with a large ear-to-ear grin consuming his handsome little face. My mom and I stood nearby and watched the sweet kids as they played.  The first thing we noticed was that they immediately handed the ball over to Colton and made him king, which is the coveted fourth square position, the one everyone is trying to beat everyone else for. The next thing we noticed was how in charge he was of the game, the group and the playtime.  Immediately, I thought about something his preschool teacher told me when he was 4.......He's like the pied piper and all the other kids just follow behind as he tells them what to do. It's amazing what a leader he is and how much everyone loves him. That's exactly what was going on here on the second grade playground. The other thing that I noticed was that all the other boys took turns getting out and rotated to the end of the line. Not Colton. He stayed in the "king" position and kept the game moving.

On one play, he obviously missed the boy's square next to his and hit the ball out of bounds (he should have been out). Instead, the other boys called a do-over. I spoke up this time and with a long, pointed index finger, told Mr. Colton that he needed to go to the end of the line and play fair. He shot me a toothy grin with eyes that said, you got me...I'm going. Just as Colton handed the ball to another boy so he could take his place at the end of the line, the other boys said, "No, Colton, you're still King. We'll call that interference."  

I picked up my lower jaw, which was resting on top of my shoes, while my mom said, "Look at that, the other boys won't make him move even if he is supposed to be out."  Sure enough, there he was, the baby of our family out in the world all by himself and taking it by storm.  

I shook my head and smiled. How interesting it is that our "baby" is actually quite a big boy and such a leader, at eight. 

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Have you met his Mother?
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