Taylor Leon Oswald

I thought it would be a fun thing to start doing a little spotlight on each of the kids when it's their birthday each year. Already I'm a bit late for Taylor's since his actual birthday was on June 26th, but oh well. The following is a list that the Primary did for his birthday spotlight on his very last day in Primary.

Full Name: Taylor Leon Oswald (we have a tradition of giving our kids middle names after a family member. Taylor is named after his Grandpa Leon Oswald)

Age: 12 Birthdate/Place: June 26, 1996 in Tucson, Arizona

School: Washington Gardner Middle School

Grade: Going in to 7th grade this fall.

Favorite Things:

Color: Yellow

Food: Cheese, donuts, chocolate moose tracks ice cream, milk.

TV Show: mostly anything on Discovery Channel and Animal Planet.

Movie: Indiana Jones (all of them but he likes Raiders of the Lost Ark the best)

Activities: reading, drawing, camping, soccer, playing the cornet, web surfing,

watching movies, playing with friends.

I just can't believe that my first baby is already 12 years old. I was looking at this picture of Taylor and Kaya, my oldest and youngest and thinking how unbelievably fast time is going. I just wish I could stop it somehow for even just a little while. I remember Taylor as a newborn like it just happened! As I mentioned earlier, Taylor had his last day in Primary last week and then yesterday went to priesthood for the first time. (He'll be getting ordained a couple of Sunday's from now when some of the Oswald side of the family will be here visiting). Taylor is a great kid. Sometimes life tends to be hard for him with some of the sensory processing issues he's had, so when I see him hitting some of these big milestones, I really appreciate what it is taking for him to make these transitions. For example, when I'd drop him off at middle school last year and watch him make his way through the crowd of alarmingly large and intimidating 8th graders, I'd just want to cheer for him. When he got up in front of everyone and gave a talk in Sacrament meeting a couple of weeks ago, I also wanted to give him a standing ovation because I knew how terrified he was to do it. Anyway, we just really love him and all that he teaches us. He is incredibly brilliant. He especially loves scientific subjects but he's also something of a history nut as well. When he grows up he wants to be either a volcanologist or a paleontologist. He had a good season in soccer this past year. He absolutely hated playing when he was little but he always asked to sign up again every year, and it seems that he is finally getting enjoyment out of it. He has become really quite good at his position and is nearly always the fastest one on the field. Taylor is a good big brother, especially to the littlest ones and he is an enormous help to us. I was just feeling guilty yesterday after church because Kaya was needing to eat RIGHT NOW but it was lunch time for everyone else too and Kalen wasn't back yet, so I fed the baby and Taylor made lunch for the rest of the kids without complaining a bit. I keep thinking I just need to let him be a kid and not depend on him so much, but the truth is, I am just so grateful for all that he does to help us. He's just an amazing kid. We think we'll keep him--at least for a few more years when he thinks he's going to go to college or some crazy notion like that!