Happy 12th Birthday Jonah Boy!

 My oldest son turned 12 years old on July 19th. I don't know how that can even be possible, but it's true. Oh, Jonah, we love to celebrate you! 

We had a ton going on the week of Jonah's birthday, so we did his family party the Sunday before his actual birthday. We had his dinner of choice which was chicken tacos with tons of toppings, re-fried beans with cheese and chips, corn on the cob, and fresh berries. Yum, yum!

 His grandparents all came over and also one of his favorite aunt and uncle's because they were still in town from Taiwan. It was fun to watch him open his gifts. It was a fun, little party.

 New soccer ball! The U13 age group (his competitive soccer age group) move up to a size 5 soccer ball (he's been using a size 4 since he was nine years old) so of course, that was the top of his birthday list. 

 The kid loves sports. Any sport. Loves them. He says they are his life, haha. 

 Money is always great!

 Grandma and Grandpa Collette gave him some money and this super big and fuzzy blanket.

 Grandma Marge gave him some money

 Grandma Claudia and Papa Bry gave him his soccer ball and his basketball.

 Greg and Morelia gave him money.

 Birthday kisses from mom. Oh gosh, I sure love him!

We had a few... issues... with his cake, hahaha. It was supposed to be a 2-layer chocolate cake, but the cakes completely fell apart when I took them out of the pans. I don't know why, usually they are perfectly fine. But we mashed them all up into a 9X13 pan and smothered the cake in frosting and then I let Jonah decorate it like a soccer field. Lovely, right? It still tasted delish.

 Happy birthday to you!

 Make a wish!

A couple days later it was Jonah's actual birthday. I succumbed to his request of homemade cinnamon rolls (I only make these a couple times a year... very time consuming and labor intensive), eggs, bacon, fresh mangoes and blueberries, chocolate milk AND grape juice. Spoiled.

We let him open his gifts that morning since we had already celebrated his family party. 

 He got some great stuff! He really wanted this Renaldo jersey (he's a famous soccer player for Real Madrid) but it had yet to come. I wrapped a picture of it, haha. He also got an iTunes gift card, a Real Salt Lake hat, a U of U football shirt, some Adidas sandals, Gatorade water bottles, and a movie. Spoiled. And very loved. :)

 Happy birthday to this 12 year old stud!

I took him to lunch at Yi Sushi. He invited his little brothers to come... so sweet.

We headed to see The Angry Birds Movie. It was super silly. I even fell asleep for  a bit of it (by the way.... when I was younger, I used to think it was so weird that people would fall asleep in movies... and now I do it all the time, haha.) The boys loved it.

Jonah at 12:

Our Jonah Boy continues to make me one of the happiest mamas ever. He is so hilarious and so much fun. He gives me the BEST hugs and is always willing to give me a squeeze when I need one. He has entered into the stage of semi-annoying teenagers, because he likes to talk back a lot. However, when I give him the "look", he quickly shuts up. He can be a huge smart alek, but he is also very aware of when he needs to be respectful. 

Jonah continues to excel at soccer. He has games where he completely shines, and then games where I can tell he still has a lot to learn. However, he is dedicated and determined to be the best. He works at it daily, even when it is blazing hot outside, or freezing cold. He loves to constantly have a ball with him and juggles it inside, outside, and everywhere he is. He has broken several things in my house, yet he still continues to juggle even after I yell at him to knock it off. He is currently training at cross-fit to help improve his strength and core for the spring soccer season. He loves it. 

Jonah is a great student. While he doesn't love school, he has really enjoyed 7th grade and has made so many new friends. He has a great group of boys that he spends mot of his time with. He gets terrific grades-- a 4.0 his first semester! He is surprisingly really enjoying theater and his science and health classes. His teachers raved about him at parent teacher conferences. He's such a great kid. 

One of my favorite things about Jonah is his inquisitive nature. He loves to ask me all about science and biology and health. Luckily I have taken quite a few of those classes in college, so I can answer his questions ;)  He is so fascinated by the body and how it works. We often talk about glycogen and how our bodies use energy and why we need to eat healthy food to help keep us going strong. He has a dream to play professional soccer, but his back-up plan is possibly a pediatrician, or so he has told me. He is such a smarty pants that I have no doubt he could achieve that dream.

He still loves to be outside for the most part-- riding his bike, jumping on the tramp, playing football, basketball, and of course, soccer. His best buddy is Bentley Heath who just happens to be 2 years younger but they are still the best of friends. There is a group of boys in our neighborhood from age 13 down to 8 and they all run around in a big pack playing together. I love it. They also love to play video games and watch videos together. 

Jonah is my pickiest eater, and also my smallest child. He often tells me he is not hungry and I am often reminding him that he has to eat to be healthy (hence our conversations mentioned above.) He does not like food at this time in his life, that is for sure. He went through a period last year where he was passing out at school because he wasn't eating enough and he was zinc deficient which made him have an upset stomach. When he would eat it just made his stomach hurt more, so he has an interesting relationship with food that we are trying to improve with help from his doctor. Sometimes he does great and other times I have to really encourage him. I think he has been doing better overall.

Jonah is a great kid. He can be lazy, especially with chores, but is easily motivated 9ahem.... taking away his Nintendo DS or iPad). He has random talents like snow-skiing and drawing and enjoys swimming and playing chess. He is such a great and talented kid and I am so dang lucky he is mine. I love him so much and am so excited to see how he continues to grow and thrive.   

Happy 12th birthday, Jojo! We sure love you!