Ryan: Seven

Happy 7th Birthday Ryan James Nullmeyer!!

How are you already 7? Looking at the above picture I can see a glimpse of the older boy in you. I still think you are an absolutely adorable little boy, but I can see your features starting to mature and it's exciting to get a glimpse of the future in your face.

A few words I would use to describe you right now are: Sweet, Sensitive, Moody, Serious, Innocent, Creative, Fast, Smart, Competitive and Loyal.

You love drawing and building things and your favorite thing to draw/build is any sort of car. The other day I overheard you talking to your friend about the front end of a truck you saw. You had a definite opinion about the way it looked, while your friend obviously couldn't care less. I'm not sure if it is nature or nurture, but you are getting more and more interested in cars. Given who your Daddy is, I'm not surprised!

You absolutely shine as a big brother to Jenna.

 You are very protective of her and I just love watching you try to take care of her.

Despite your serious nature and uncomfortableness with public displays of affection, your are very snuggly. Given the opportunity, you would sleep in Mommy and Daddy's bed every single night, curled up around me!

This year you learned to ride a bike and graduated out of your carseat to a booster seat. You also have excelled this year in 1st grade. At the beginning of the year you were a little behind in your reading skills, but you have caught up really quickly and now you are consistently getting near perfect spelling test scores. You just learned how to tell time, and you are very quick with your math homework. You love learning about sharks and you are already looking forward to Shark Week on TV this summer!

(Ryan as a soon to be big brother at 20 months!)

And Ryan now, as a big brother of 3!

You absolutely love tacos (meat, cheese, hot sauce and crispy shell, to be exact!), in addition to other super healthy foods like pizza, burgers, and chocolate.

Last night you opened a few presents from Mommy and Daddy.

You were very happy and well-behaved, Lucas was a goofball, and Jenna was super excited to watch you open presents.

In addition to a paper-airplane-making kit and some shark swim trunks, you got a pair of Heelys! You were so excited when you discovered that your new shoes had wheels on the bottom of them. You get frustrated very easily, and I could tell that was starting to happen last night when you couldn't get the hang of them right away. But I think with a little practice you will be zooming around on your shoes in no time. You are a pretty coordinated boy!

Ryan, I don't think I could love you more if I tried. You are a huge blessing from God and you are teaching me so much about being a mother. Every "first" with you is so fun to experience and I'm excited to see what "firsts" being 7 will bring!!  

Happy Birthday! We love you!