Zeke is Eight!

It seems so appropriate that Zeke was born in March.   The month when winter ends and warmth comes in the spring.   Zeke is our spring, he is always bringing such warmth and joy to our family.   He genuinely enjoys....joy.   This year has had difficulties as his desire seems to be to avoid negativity, with the pandemic and lifestyle changes that I referred to in Vi's birthday blog.  He has had less stress but more clinginess.   He has wanted to stay close to mom and dad which has been a bit of a new thing for this adventurous boy, but he seems to be getting back to his adventurous self as warm weather approaches. 

Ezekiel is full of surprises.   He consistently catches us off guard making us laugh hysterically with his faces, phrases, exuberance, or his daring and silly ways.   He's not even trying to be a clown, he's usually just enjoying his own life and if you are lucky enough to catch him in action you are in for a treat.   

He is a really content kid.   Very rarely does this kid need something to do, he is generally off in his own world.   There were a couple of times in winter when he got restless, but usually he will spend hours using his story telling skills creating worlds with his Legos, or animals, or Pokemon, or really...anything.  He will also look at books for hours, he is still learning to read but that has not hindered his love for books.  He will usually give me a list of ideas for books he wants me to pick up at the library.  We are just a book loving household I guess.  

In the rarer instances that he is discouraged, he is the most easily encouraged child I have ever seen.   A simple "hey, you're smart and kind" gets him up and going.

He is brave and adventurous.  He always has been, it's something I know I touch on almost every year.  He loves new thrills, challenges, and incorporating that with his imagination.    Just now I asked him to let the dogs outside, somewhere between the back door and coming back in, he got distracted by his imagination as I can now see him out front with a tube he must have found in the garage.   He has looked through it, wielded it as a weapon, and has yelled through it to some imaginary character.  He was supposed to come back in to do some reading, he isn't sneaking around to get out of things,  he just gets caught up.   Don't get me wrong, there are definitely times he just doesn't listen, but you can distinguish his motives pretty easily.  

He has a strong ornery side.   I mean, he is a little brother.   He has ornery parents though, so we are working on the balance between something funny or just being a pest.   He not only has a big sister to bother, but neighbor girls and cousins, and hearing their voices yelling "ZEKE!" reminds me of dealing with my own little brother growing up, with a similar naughty smile on the face as he runs away.  

He is still the most snuggly one in our family, I don't know why but I keep expecting him to outgrow it, but am exceedingly grateful he hasn't.   I will never complain about all the snuggles he gives.   Every night at bedtime he asks for an extra minute of snuggles, and I more often than not will give in to this request.  

He likes to live big.   Big laughs, big adventures and big snuggles.   What's not to love about that?  
Alright, I gotta go get that boy to come in to read.