I remember when Jared was born, I rushed to the hospital to see him.  I went to the nursery and scanned all of the newborns.  I couldn’t see the names, so I couldn’t tell which one was Jared, but there was one huge baby in the middle that I was really hoping was NOT Jared.  Of course it was.  I watched the video of the birth, and the camera pans over to the nurse who is weighing Jared and you can hear her announcing his weight in amazement.  “10-4!”  Once we got him out of the nursery and away from the normal sized babies, he didn’t look so monstrous anymore, and I actually came to think of him as adorable. 

Jared is a lot like me in that he can be pretty spacey at times.  He's very smart and extremely compassionate.  He has a very close relationship with his grandparents and is always polite and sweet.  It has been very entertaining watching his progress in sports related activities.  He has gone from being a slow, clumsy child to being a talented soccer player.

We really enjoy traveling with Jared.  He is a very good sport and he makes us laugh.  On our first trip with Jared, we took him to Rome, Italy.  We stayed in a convent where none of the nuns spoke any English.  The first thing Jared did was accidentally lock himself in the bathroom.  It took several of us to get the door unlocked using the skeleton key.  He fell down at the Coliseum, stepped out into traffic, overdosed on coffee, snuck tastes of our cocktails and got a nosebleed on the plane.  On the way home from the airport, Jared said, "Aunt BJ, I sure would like to have me some of that Ammoretty for Christmas."  Jared likes "plain" food.  He doesn't eat ketchup or mustard on his hot dogs.  In Italy, he only wanted "plain" noodles.  We finally got him to try calamari, and since then he has branched out a little. 

Three years later when we took Jared to London, he was like a different person from the Jared we took to Rome.  He was very responsible and didn't fall down once!  He was ready on time and didn't have to be told to do thing twice.  He has become quite a handsome young man and my sister tells me that he has lots of little girlfriends.  He just got his driver's license and has already gotten his first ticket - for driving after dark without his lights.  He got off with just a warning though!

March 2009 Update - Jared is in college now at BJ's alma mater, North Georgia.  He was just elected Vice President of the Student Government Association.