I look at this picture and find it so hard to believe that my tiny baby boy is this big. I mean look at him! He looks half-grown! He has had a growth spurt recently and is so much taller all the sudden!

First grade has never looked so good. Shepherd loves school and learning. He excels at everything that is taught to him. He is very much our "in-the-box" kid. He LOVES the box: the rules, the logic, the numbers. He thrives inside the box.

Reading has finally started to click in his little mind and it is so fun to see! He loves it when I check out new books from the library. Although, I think his very favorite thing is his Daddy reading books to him like Captain Underpants.

Speaking of Captain Underpants, he's been on a kick of it lately. He loves the books and the movie and loves to quote and talk about it all the time. Yall.... the potty humor.... it slays me. We have had to talk about the appropriate places to talk about that stuff and the inappropriate places (like the dinner table and church).

Shepherd still loves bugs and insects. He is fascinated with them and can identify a lot of different
kinds because of a book he studies in his bed at night. And here in Alabama we have plenty of bugs for him to find and identify.

He is loving sports right now. And what he loves most is sharing them with his favorite person: Daddy. He takes all of his cues from Kyle. Every game that's on the TV he asks Kyle which team we root for (Texas Tech) or not (Oklahoma).... and root for them he does. Passionately. Part of me thinks this must have been how Kyle was when he was a little boy and it makes me so happy to see.

Shepherd and Archer are tied for the pickiest eaters in our house. His favorite meal continues to be "Carrie's Chicken" (or white chicken pasta as he calls it). But he still refuses veggies. I hide them when I can but honestly just don't push it more than offering and refusing other options (and sometimes rewards for eating all his food).

He loves trinkets and collecting all of the little things. When he doesn't have little things, he will draw some and cut them out of paper. I find Shepherd's treasures all over my house. They are everywhere. I did an overhaul of the bros room last week and I can't tell you how many "treasures" I found. Hundreds. We actually had a problem at the beginning of the school year with him talking his friends into giving him their treasures. When he came home with a hot pink feather poofy key chain one day, I realized we had a problem. He just wants to have all the things.

Kyle has been practicing Rugby some with Shepherd and it's looking like Shep is going to join a local team here. He's pretty excited about it. I continue to be amazing at how good of an arm he has. I'm far from an expert, but from my eyes, he can throw so far!

Shepherd is sweet and silly and funny and senstive. Of everyone in the house, he tends to have a special relationship with each person. He just loves people. I love his caring heart so much and am so thankful for the privilege of mothering him.