Seven

You have seven days of the week, the Seven Wonders of the World and the Seven Seas. The Seven Hills of Rome and Seven Samurai. And then there is a seven-year-old boy.

Elijah turned seven in February. Yes, he's seven now. Since I began this blog, I've posted an annual updates to Elijah's growth as a little person. Because who better to blog about. I'm a little late this year. I think my last addition explains a lot about it. And I've had a little lapse in concentration where it concerns with my writing. With moving and settling in, I've been lazy and out of sorts.

This being said, everyone knows that big changes occur in the seventh year. For instance...

Changes in what happens in school. He's in first grade. I've mentioned a lot of problems he's had but he's had a lot of accomplishments as well. He can read like a champ. Third and fourth grade level. His imagination is soaring. He's learning to tell time. That's a LOT.

Changes in his interests. Building. A different, more grown up version of entertainment. He still loves the Ninja Turtles but has developed a love for the Avengers, Hulk and the rest of the crew. All things Star Wars. And he loves MineCraft. Definitely growing up.

His Star Wars Mellenium Falcon
and host of characters

Changes in his body. The boy is tall and lean. Almost five foot. OK, so it's only 4'6" but that's close. He's going to be taller than his momma soon. Not that that's saying much since she's vertically challenged but he's getting up there.

Changes in his mouth. He's lost four teeth and has three of them growing back in already. I'd forgotten how gruesome it is when kids lose their teeth. He came home this week with the last of the four pointing straight out of his mouth. Ugh! After yanking and twisting (grossing out his teacher enough to have her email me), he finally asked me to pull it out for him so he could eat his dinner. Yech! I did the only thing I knew how to do, closing my eyes to keep from vomiting...I grabbed a line of floss, wrapped it around the little thing and gave it a pull. It was out in a flash. C'mon, Gladys! Gladys is the tooth fairy for those of you who don't know the Imagination Movers (which is one thing that hasn't changed...his love for the Boys in Blue).

The one on the top before I
yanked it out

Changes in his friends. Since we moved, his friends list has changed anyway but now he has more boys than girl friends. Different interests involved. More boy stuff to be played. Rougher. Tougher.

Changes in how he shows affection. I'm no longer allowed to kiss and hug him when I drop him off at school. Because someone might see. No more loving on him in front of friends. That's not manly. At home, it's still pretty much the same. We snuggle a lot. But in public, leave off, Yaya.

Then there are the gross changes. Peeing on the toilet seat (he's too tired...). Shoving dirty clothes under his bed (because the hamper is soooo far away). Picking his nose (I think I've gotten him out of this habit).

Yup, he's growing up. In some ways I'm very happy about this. But mostly, I remember the little boy he was not so long ago.