Who's Who in My Life-Kimball Clark Pew

After reading Amy's blog about her grandmothers and her relationship with them, I felt impressed to begin a weekly blog of my own. I'm titling it "Who's Who in My Life". Each Friday (alhtough today is Saturday) I'm going to write about one of the many people in my life. In doing this I hope to achieve a few things: 1) I hope to be able to get to know each of these people a little bit better than I do now. 2) I hope to have a record of each of these people as well as a record of some of my experiences with them. 3) I'd like everyone else to know how special these people are in my life.

Last night I said to Kimball, "I don't want you to grow up," and he said, "Too late." Because it's his birthday, I'd like to start with my little man Kimball, and that's exactly what he is, a little man. We've always called him that, because he's always seemed a lot older than he is. The people who have known Clark his whole life tell me that Kimball is exactly like Clark. I guess it was appropriate that his middle name is Clark.

There's a lot I can say about my first born. He came into this world perfectly, on January 26, 2004 at 1:51pm. He weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. and was 20 inches long. Our delivery was great and one of the most spiritual experiences I've had. His little spirit was so strong for his first few weeks of life that we couldn't help but feel touched while in his presence. To this day he remains very spiritually aware of the things that go on around him. He says very sincere and thoughtful prayers, almost always saying "Thank thee for Mom and Dad, I love them."

Kimball was a really good baby, although I didn't know any different at the time and still thought being a mom was hard. But we loved him. He had the cutest smile and grew to be really chubby really fast. When he was five and a half months old we put him in the Provo Freedom Festival baby contest and he won the overall cutest smile. You couldn't help but want to squeeze his darling cheeks.
When Kimball was two months old his hair made him look like an old man. He had no hair on top of his head, and longer hair on the sides. Often times the hair on the sides of his head would stick out. When this happened, we called him our mad scientist, as seen below.

As he continued to grow, he got fatter and fatter. He was so chubby and cute. I remember sending a picture of him to my Grandma Shill and she said, "Goodness, where is his neck?" I think all that chub made him a happy baby.

The next picture is of Kimball's first birthday. It's hard for me to believe that it was three years ago. The time has gone by fast.

I did a little interview with Kimball for this post and here's how it went:

favorite color: blue

favorite food: mac & cheese

favorite show: little einsteins

best friend: everybody (which is so true, he is Mr. Social. He will talk to anybody and everybody. He truly believes that everybody is his best friend.)

favorite thing to do at school: play in the sand

what do you want to be when you grow up: a power ranger (he's not sure what a power ranger is though)

favorite book: I Spy

who are you going to marry: Brooklyn

who are you most excited to see when we get back to Utah: Brooklyn

what is your favorite part of England: the water park (we went there today for his birthday)

The next picture is of Kimball on his 3rd birthday. In this past year I've seen great changes in Kimball. He has become more independent. He likes to brush his own teeth, comb his own hair, do up his own buttons on his school uniform (this accomplishment is recent), pick out his own clothes, and wash his own body in the tub. I've been amazed at the change in his intellectual development. Last year he knew his letters and sounds, but now he is sounding out words. He can write his own name (last year he couldn't even write one letter), and he loves to do anything with numbers. He retains so much of what he learns in school. He loves school. His teachers, Mrs. Reading and Mrs. Walker are great. They call him "sausage". That might just be a British thing for all young boys, but it sure is fun to hear them call him that. "Come here sausage." How cute is that? Kimball's emotional development has improved over the past year. Although he doesn't like to share, he knows what it is and how to do it. His imagination is out of this world. I think this has come from watching one of his favorite shows, Backyardigans. He loves to do imaginary games, like play Sharks & Fish (which is really like playing pirates). For some reason he always likes to be the bad guy whenever he can.

Since we've been here in England, I've enjoyed watching Kimball and Sammy's relationship grow closer together. Before, Kimball would play with a friend and Sammy would tag along. But now, there aren't as many people to play with, so him and Sammy have become best friends. It will be interesting to see if that will change when we get home. Kimball is a great big brother. Although he's not always nice to Sammy, he loves him, and he adores his little sister. The other day he laid down on the bed next to Addilyn and had a nice little conversation with her. Then he got her arms and started doing exercises with her. He smothers her with kisses and tells her how she is his sweetie. I look forward to seeing how that relationship will develop.

I am so blessed to have Kimball in my life. Because of him, I became a mother. I pray that I can do what's best for him. I want him to grow up confident and kind. I pray for him to learn humility and self-control. I hope he can develop a love of books and a love for learning. But most of all I hope he knows how much I love him and more importantly how much God loves him. I pray that his faith will always keep him on the right path, and that his life will be happy because he chooses to live righteously.

Happy Birthday Kimball!