Jacob is SIX!!!

Today Jacob turns six. SIX! We have had such a great time celebrating his birthday. Over the weekend we had his birthday party at the Baxter YMCA. The kids were so good and had such a good time. Miss Donna took all the kids to the workout room and did a 30 minute class with them. They pretended to be lions, seals, and dinosaurs. They bounced on the exercise balls. Then they played with the big parachute. They all left the party exhausted!

Today Jacob had his party in his classroom. Jacob had to bring in 6 pictures from birth to 5 years old. Tod and I had to write the Story of Jacob's Life to read in front of his class. We followed a rough outline provided by his teacher. Jacob's teacher has a Celebration of Life when each child turns six. It was such a special ceremony!! She lit a big orange candle to represent the sun in the middle of the room. Then she laid out 12 pieces of paper with the months written on them. She also had five candles that she lit for each year of Jacob's life. I couldn't read Jacob's story because I was so choked up. Tod read the story just as choked up as I was. After he read each year of his life, Jacob would walk around the "sun" on the months and his classmates sang "The Earth Goes Around the Sun..." Jacob would stop on November then we would read the next year on his story...etc. After he walked around the circle 6 times he blew out the five candles then he blew out the sun candle. Jacob's teacher, the teacher's assistant, and myself were all wiping away tears. Tod held it together better than we did!!

After the ceremony, Jacob served all of his friends cupcakes that he made last night. It has been such a fun morning. We are going to pick up Brady from school and then go eat lunch with Jacob.

Here is the story that we wrote...

Celebration of Life
Jacob O’Donnell

Jacob Thomas O’Donnell was born on November 19, 2002 in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, North America, on the planet Earth. He weighed 9 pounds 6 ounces and was 22 inches long. When Jacob was a baby he needed to be taken care of all of the time. He couldn’t talk and cried if he wanted anything. He had to wear diapers, drank lots of milk, and slept most of the day and was awake most of the night.

When Jacob was one year old he could already walk and was able to say “Mama” and “Dada”. He loved bath time. Jacob would splash so much that everyone was soaked when he was finished..

When Jacob was two years old he learned to catch and throw. He loved all kinds of sports and could hit a baseball with a bat and a golf ball with a club.

When Jacob was three he asked Santa to bring him a pair of scissors. Santa left a pair of red scissors in his stocking. Jacob loved to cut, and cut, and cut. He even cut up his pajamas while he was still wearing them!

When Jacob was four he went to Disney World . He rode every roller coaster, met Mickey Mouse, and watched the fireworks over Cinderella’s castle.

When Jacob turned five he decided his favorite color was black, and he loved to draw. He also started Kindergarten at Springfield Elementary School in Fort Mill, SC in Mrs. Carroll’s class. Jacob also decided that he wants to be a Rock Star and a Pet Store owner when he grows up. Today, Jacob turns six. Jacob is funny, loving, creative, sincere, and full of curiosity. We can’t wait to see what adventures our six year old will bring!!