Sweet Major Gray

On Major's Fourth Birthday...

Four years ago today we met our sweet little guy. He has given us so much joy over these past few years. It is hard to imagine what our life was like before the Maje came around. Today we started the day by celebrating with (his request)...funny face pancakes. Here he is making a funny face of his own.... I thought this picture was very.....Major.




The rest of the day wasn't super fun, as we had schoolwork to do and other errands to run. Major picked out what he wanted for dinner tonight. He chose steak with A-1, macaroni and cheese, and peas. :)

Mary Alice made a birthday cake for him. That was pretty cute. Major opened his present from Mary Alice. I have to tell this story about Mary Alice. We went to visit Josh's extended family in New Mexico a couple of weeks ago. Josh's grandparents gave the kids $40 each as a late Christmas present. Of course, the idea was for the kids to get to spend the money buying their own Christmas presents. Major didn't really understand the whole concept, but Mary Alice definitely understood. I was tucking Mary Alice into bed one night (once we were back home). She said, "Mom, I know that you won't really want me to do this, but I really really want to spend my $40 buying Major's birthday present. I know something that he would REALLY love and I would like to spend my Christmas money on him."

I reminded her that she wouldn't have any money if she used it all on Major's birthday present. She said, "I know, Mom. But I just really want to give this one thing to him. It is something that I know that he will REALLY like." Anyway.... I got online and was able to find the present that she picked out for him for only $20! So...This is what Mary Alice bought Major for his birthday. I was SO proud of her. She was so sincere and so excited about giving. I hope that she continues to have such a giving heart. By the way.... Major LOVED the costume that she picked out for him. I don't know how she knew that the costume cost $40. The last time that we even looked at costumes was around Halloween. Isn't he a goofball?



Here are a few things that I want to remember about Major right now:

-He is a jokester. How fitting that he was born on April Fools' Day because he LOVES to play tricks on people. One of his favorite phrases right now is "Just kidding!"

-Until this past week his greatest ambition was to be a garbage man. One of his jobs around the house is taking out the garbage and emptying the trashes. He thinks that it would be the greatest thing ever to ride around on the back of one of those garbage trucks. :) A few days ago, though, he whispered to me that he would like to be a doctor who gives people shots. A garbage man or a doctor? Hmmmm....

-We can't keep the boy in good looking pants. He is constantly wearing holes in all of his pants. He is a boy through and through. Tonight after his tee-ball practice I caught a glimpse of something sweet... muddy knees. I love it!

-I have always thought that Major was musically inclined. He always hears and imitates the sounds around us. It reminds me a little bit of the movie August Rush. I'm not saying that Major is a musical genius, just that he seems to hear music in just about everything. It isn't uncommon to have him make a sound (like the sound of a piece of construction equipment backing up, for instance) and make it into a song. He'll say, "Listen, Mom! That sounds like "whee wheet chicka chicka...t'ssss." Then he'll say the sounds again over and over, like a song, sometimes adding his own parts. And Major LOVES to sing! (And I LOVE to hear him sing!)

-A few of his phrases that I love right now are: "Check this out!" "Hey guys!" And, often times, if you are talking to him about something and he agrees with you, he'll say "Right."

-He really likes scaring people right now. Nearly every night for the past month when it is bedtime, he will run upstairs and hide in either his closet, under his covers, or under his bed. When we come upstairs to tuck him in, he will jump out and scream "BOO!" and then explode into fits of laughter.

-He is getting so big, but is still very much a little guy. He still loves his Nima blanket (a blanket made for him by his great grandmother.) He rubs on one part each night and calls it his "fuzzy part". When we moved into our new house, he made a new "fuzzy part" on his blanket. So, he has the "old fuzzy part" and the "new fuzzy part". He sleeps with a stuffed elephant named...Elizabeth.

-He is really into the idea of being a protector. Mary Alice told me this morning something that happened the other day when they were sleeping together. Major leaned over and said, "Sissy, are you scared? Come over here and I'll protect you." Mary Alice told me, "Don't tell him this, but I wasn't really scared. I just pretended that I was so that I could have some of his loves."

-Major got into trouble the other day for saying an ugly word. The word wasn't really that bad, it was just a word that we don't allow to be used in our house. Anyway.. since then he has been overly conscious about saying words that are "ugly". One of the things that he knows is that we never say God's name in vain. The other day, he came up to me with a guilty look on his face and said, "I said an ugly word, Mom. I'm sorry." I sat down with him and asked him what word he said. He said, "I said vain." I wanted to bust out laughing. I explained to him that vain was not an ugly word. He has done that at least three times in the last week, apologizing for some word that to him just sounded like it might be a bad word.

-He still has a bit of trouble pronouncing his R's and L's. He can say his L's and can hear the L being said, but continues to pronounce it like a W. He'll say "I wuv you." We say, "You wuv us?" To which he'll respond, "No! I love you." He calls his sister Mawy Awice and himself Majuw. I will keep an eye on this. Hopefully he won't need speech help. We'll just wait and see...

-He loves me to read to him, but most of all, begs me nearly every day to please play with him. "Mom, will you please play with me?" is something that I hear every day. I need to be less busy. I know that he won't want me to play with him for too much longer.

I love our Major boy. He is a gift from God that we continue to be thankful for every day. We continue to pray for the same things, that he would be a leader and that God would allow him to use his talents and abilities for His glory. Happy birthday sweet Major Gray. We love you!