# 1 ~ Aaron Junior

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AARON JUNIOR

This is Aaron Jr. He is what I am grateful for #1.
Let me tell you a little bit about Aaron Jr.

He is sweet. He is thoughtful and kind. He is considerate and loving. He is smart and curious and excited about learning. He is aware of others' feelings and it makes him sad when someone else is sad.

Aaron Jr knows who he is. He knows he is a child of God. Aaron loves his Father in Heaven and his Savior, Jesus Christ. He believes that They can do anything (which they can). He knows They are listening when he prays. He trusts Them. He knows They love him.

Aaron Jr loves his daddy and also knows he is loved by his daddy (Aaron). He knows who his Daddy is and he believes that he can also do anything. He believes his dad is the strongest and the greatest daddy ever. He also believes that if it needs fixing, his daddy can fix anything. He talks about his daddy fighting off dinosaurs, dragons, and alligators and believes his daddy will protect him from anything and everything. He switches back and forth between knowing daddy is 'at work' or daddy is 'in heaven'. I'm not sure what he truly believes about that. He does know that he will see him again someday, though... and for now, that is all that matters.
Just yesterday, Aaron said to me, 'I wish I was Daddy'. When I asked him why, he said, 'so that I can have a real mustache.' I had to laugh. Aaron never had a mustache. So when I told him daddy didn't have a mustache, he pointed to his chin and asked what those poky things are called. So I told him that daddy had a beard or a goatee sometimes. I thought that was so sweet.
Aaron says out of the blue often, 'I miss Daddy'. Then he is done. If I try to ask him questions about why he misses him so much right then, he may or may not answer... but usually does not. He does still remember that Aaron would eat a lot of sunflower seeds and often thinks any sunflower seeds he sees are his daddy's.

Aaron Jr also knows that I love him. And he loves me as well. Several times a day, we get into a fake argument about who loves who more. It goes something like this:
Me: I love you.
Aaron Jr: I love you.
Me: I love you more.
Aaron Jr: NO! I love YOU more.
Me: No... I love YOU more.
He starts to get upset if I go on too long telling him that I love him more... because he really truly wants to be the one who loves me more. He will tell me that he loves me "this many" while holding up all fingers, all toes, and opening his mouth wide to show ALL of his teeth. It is so funny. I usually end up letting him win so that he is happy.
Aaron knows I will do anything for him... but sometimes he loves to try to be the one to do anything for ME. For some reason, because he is the 'man of the house', he tries to take on the role of doing fix it things, or getting me things when I am not feeling very well. Just a couple of days ago, I was on the phone and I looked over and he was watering all of the plants.
He tells me he loves me out of the blue loads of times a day without prompting. He loves to tell me he loves me and kiss my hand or my cheek to show that he is grateful when I make him something to eat, or when I read to him or when I play with him. I get lots of kisses and hugs. BUT, he gets just as many from me. I love to kiss his chubby cheeks and tell him how much I love him.

The photo above in this posting was taken a couple of weeks ago when he was getting ready to go to bed and all of a sudden, he got in that pose and asked if I wanted to dance with him. I had no idea he even knew how to dance. I asked him how he knew that and he said that his little cousin, Lily, who is two weeks older than him, showed him how to dance like that. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I jumped right up and Aaron Jr danced with me. It was so sweet.

There are so many more reasons why I love Aaron Jr, but it would take all week to share it all. So I will end by saying that he is my everything. He brings me the joy in my days and brings a smile to my face moment after moment after moment. I am grateful for this little boy and the treasure, gift, and blessing he is in my life.

Aaron Jr... I love YOU more.

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