August turned 6 while we were staying at the Farm, and I think it was a good day for him.

We didn't go anywhere or do anything remarkable, but it still was a day that revolved around him.

He played and played and constructed things and I taught him how to drive a 4-wheeler (with a grown-up on board, of course), and it was a great day.

I love this picture of August because it so perfectly captures the essence of who he is.

Unless you're one of our immediate family, August is very selective about revealing himself.

He's very internal. Very introverted. He watches and takes in the world and processes it in his own time and way.  He's thoughtful and considered and gentle and what people will probably refer to as an old soul.

He has this thing he does that Kyle and I just melt over - when you ask him a question - he answers with either a single swift nod, or a single swift movement to the left or right. No bobbing or anything. Simple, to the point. It's so August.

He is very smart. Takes great pride in doing a job very thoroughly and accurately.  He needs to see the whole picture and how to go about something before he dives in. But once he dives in, he'll get it right.

He has a dry sense of humor. (For example, I was laughing at some Pinterest pins the other day titled "You just had one job..." The kids and I laughed together at these hilarious pictures of people who so royally botched things. Like balconies attached to the walls of buildings 3 feet away from the doors. Or handicapped walkways with obvious impediments. Vanilla Wafers stocked in an Oreo display. Anyway, a few days later, August brings me a Lego creation of his. It was a cart with a door on it and two huge back wheels. He looks at me very calmly and says, "You just had one job..." and showed me how the door couldn't open because it bonked into the huge back wheel. I laughed out loud. The kid delights me.)

He takes his job as big brother very seriously. He loves Wyeth and Dorien and is so good to them.

He is restrained and meets far more strangers than friends, unlike his sister Brooklyn. He withholds kisses and hugs from Aunts and Uncles and Grandmothers, not to be unkind, but because he doesn't immediately warm up to you. He needs his own timetable. He is great company. He reads exceptionally well and often is willing to do so at length for Dorien who has an endless thirst for books.

His best friend is Brooklyn. One of the best things about homeschooling them is that their friendship just deepens.  August also has his own mind (although at times, I have to remind him of that when he absolves himself of responsibility by saying that he only did something because Brooklyn or Dorien did it...), and isn't afraid to disagree with someone.  Brooklyn says she doesn't want to get married or have kids, and she wanted August to say the same. He said, "No, I want to be a Daddy. But you can live with me and my family, Brooklyn." She said that would work out well for her.

Brooklyn, for whom giving and receiving gifts is one of her love languages, had several special gifts for August on his birthday. One was a maze she'd drawn, which August worked through in the picture above.

He was very touched that she'd gone to such trouble. Although he didn't say it in so many words.

Brooklyn also made her own puzzle for him.

Completed: Happy Birthday August!

Gifts from Nan and Grandad. For the adventurer in him.

And DD and Randad - gifts for his creative side.

And from me and Kyle - a Lego Camping van. As you can see, he really loves Legos.

This much enthusiasm from him is always a good sign. 

We also got him a set of binoculars he'd been asking for. 

Within about 5 minutes of opening the gifts, he was busy putting his Camper Van set together. 

I'm so proud of my son. He seems so much older than just 6 to me. He'll be starting 2nd grade this year, so he's ahead of his peers grade-wise, but there's more to it than that. There's just something about him.

He's worth getting to know.