ten years

Mase! Slow down on the growing up, please. There was a big jump this year and you're quickly moving from little boy to young man. And although I love being part of it, I'd prefer that you slow it down, at least a little.

This year you asked for a dog for your birthday, specifically a beagle. : ) It made it easy to keep the fact we were planning to get you a dog a secret because we could act like it was a crazy idea and say "you're not getting a beagle for your birthday!" (you're getting a lab. hee hee).

You also decided to give select soccer a try. You're loving it so far. You haven't had your first tournament yet, but your uniforms are awesome and I think that's enough to make you love it! You are looking really great out there and dad is hoping this will be your sport. You're crazy fast, so it seems like a pretty great fit for you.

Thank you for still being a caring and thoughtful kiddo. Your teacher gave you an awesome compliment by saying you 'not only had a wonderful academic year, but also interact with his peers in a very mature amazing way as well. His leadership and understanding of right and wrong will also be very missed'. That's pretty cool.

Even though I am allowing you to continue getting older (and by 'allowing', you know I mean 'I don't have a choice') I love that you're still up for snuggling, hanging with family, and always up for an adventure. I love that you like painting rocks with me! It's perfect because it's something we can do for 10 minutes or an hour. And you and Andrew are both up for talking to me about ideas and still like to look at the rocks I paint. So thanks for that. : )

I hope you always keep your hilarious sense of humor and your thoughtful & kind spirit. And also, I love you more!

- mom

nine years

You are the coolest nine year old in town. You love to be silly, you're smart, and you have great friends. You also love your family - including extended family. I think that's pretty cool.

You've really grown up over the last year. You don't cry over things that don't need to be cried over (losing a game, not getting your way, etc). You explain yourself if you're getting in trouble for something you don't think is fair. And you really like to be with friends and family.

It's interesting to work things out with you. I sometimes forget how young you are because you really are mature and like to hang out with Andrew and his friends almost as much as you like your own friends. You'd love to be able to do everything Andrew does but I have to remind myself you're nine!! Thankfully you get it. You wish you could do it all but when I say "because you're nine" you totally get it. It probably helps that Andrew always explains that when he was nine, he did/didn't do the same thing as you. Or more commonly he tells you why you have it better than him at nine which always seems to seal the deal for you. : )

You're still kind and sweet and love to snuggle. I love it when you ask me to sit by you or when you ask if you can sit on my lap. Just so you know, the answer is always yes. I don't care how big you are. Yes, I'd love to sit by you. Thanks for asking.

Love you more,

Mom

eight years

I think this year is going to be a good one. You're really figuring out who you are and what you like. You kept telling me about different friends last year and I was worried that you were having a hard time making friends. And then I realized you kind of were, but it was your choice. You kind of just moved on if you found they weren't into what you're into or if they weren't nice. You have a couple good friends - one is our neighbor (Owen) and one is a friend from your baseball team (Josh). And then toward the end of the year you and a couple kids from class really clicked (Logan and Serena). You like people who are funny and nice. I like it!

You still like snuggle time and ask me to carry you downstairs in the morning sometimes. I'm happy to say I can still do it! I keep thinking we're coming to the end of that, but maybe I get another year before you're too heavy. 

Your medicine brand changed so we had to go in for an extra blood draw to make sure we don't need to make any changes. You chose to go on your birthday so that I could be the one to take you. I thought they didn't bother you but you told me that I help make it better (which was pretty much the sweetest thing to hear ever). I've done different little things over the years but lately you've been liking to look at pictures on my phone. This time they wanted you to sit on my lap and I didn't think to grab my phone. You looked a little worried so I pretended my hand was a puppet and joked around with that being even better than a phone. It wasn't, but it was enough to get you through with a smile. : ) 

You've grown enough to ride without a booster. You're a happy dude.

Thanks for being silly and sweet. You, my dear, are my very favorite eight year old in the whole world.

seven years

I tried to talk you into going backwards this year, or at the very least staying six, but you refused. You did offer to skip right to eight though which was nice...

You continue to have a sweet heart. You've gone to a few birthday parties recently and the cards you make are so thoughtful. You always say 'thanks for inviting me' and include a personal note that says how much you like being their friend. You also casually reference your good friends as 'one of my best buddies' and it melts my heart.

You told me you liked your birthday gifts from grandma and grandpa a lot but that you think you'll like the gifts from me even more. Because I know you third best. First is God (because he made you), second is you (because you're you), and third is me (because I grew you). I like your logic. Andrew then chimed in that he knows you forth best. I think he would've argued for a higher spot on the list except your reasons for the order were pretty convincing.

Thanks for being goofy and always up for joking around. It's still easy to make you laugh with a good ol' potty joke, but you're starting to like other jokes too. You love kids YouTube and find jokes and little magic tricks that you do for us.

You're a smart little guy. You think school is easy and you get good grades to back it up. You're still a rule follower for other people and like to push the limits at home. You still like to snuggle, you're starting to really like sports - both playing and watching - and you still like to take your time. The funny thing is you're the fastest runner I know. You keep up with Andrew even though he's older and quite a bit taller than you. You beat me (and I really try). It's amazing. You're crazy fast, but unless you're racing, you're not in a hurry with anything. ever.

This year should be pretty fun as you head into second grade. I'm excited to see what kind of stuff you come up with this year. I'm sure it'll be awesome.

My heart is full to the top.
Love, your mama.

six years

Well my sweet boy, you're six now. And you're pretty excited about it. The fact it takes two hands to show how old you are is kind of the icing on the cake.

You continue to be a sweet, silly, lover of jokes about privates or burps or farts. You also really like hanging out in the grey area - if there is any wiggle room in anything we say, you find it. Then you adorably explain yourself and we usually have to let it go, with a little clarification for the next time...

You're brave and adventurous and still do whatever Andrew does without a second thought. You guys have fun together for the most part and you're even sharing a room right now at your guys' request. And not only are you sharing a room, but your beds are right next to each other so it's basically a slumber party every night. Also at your guys' request.

Unfortunately, you have pretty much lost all of your little kid words for the most part. The two things that seem to be lingering are "gooder" and (my favorite) "darng it". The g at the end of of 'darn' has been my favorite for a while and it makes me smile every time you say it.

Dancing is one of your favorite things and you have some awesome moves. You also love working out and doing American Ninja Warrior moves. You like girls and claim to have girlfriends, and apparently you broke up with Emily and now Brooklyn is your girlfriend. How you even know those words is beyond me. We had a little talk about how we don't need to have girlfriends in elementary school, but that you're more than welcome to have girl friends and even have a girl over for a play date if you wanted to. For some reason after I said that you looked at me with a huge smile and kind of laughed and said "really?!". Not sure which part was surprising but I'm glad you're happy with the new plan. : )

You had an awesome year as a kindergartner. You liked school, you made friends, you didn't have any trouble learning all the kindergarten stuff, and you rocked at being a respectful kid (or doing things the Wildcat Way) :) Your teacher had a program where you earned stars by being a respectful, hard working, good listener and you were at the top of the chart. You were the only boy at the top - it was you and two girls all the way up to genius level.

It's hard to believe you're six, but I guess that's how it works. I'm pretty sure you're going to have another awesome year of being awesome!

I love you more.
Your mama

five years

When I found out that I was going to have you in the summer, I assumed you'd be starting kindergarten when you were six. You, however, had very different plans and are so ready to start school it's not even funny! So, at the tiny little age of five, we're getting ready to start you off on your school adventures. I can't believe it!

You're very excited to be five. Any time there are five of something you say 'just like how old I am' and if I give you 3 or 4 pieces of candy, for example, you ask to please have 5 since that's how old you are. It's cute and it works every time.

You are figuring out who you are and it has been fun to watch your personality grow. You love playing with your friends, you definitely know who you like to play with, and like always you just kind of go with the flow. You have ideas of what to play but also jump into games that others are playing without missing a beat.

Thanks to the preschool you go to, you have learned a ton of stuff. You can count to 100 by 1's, 5's, and 10's. You can do simple math. You know letters and the sounds they make. And you even know about different authors, about the earth and sun, and you have a very clear understanding of right and wrong. You're not as interested in making sure you're only doing the right thing as some other people I know, but you definitely know the difference.

I think something that comes with your laid back attitude is the amazing ability to not comprehend what it means to need to hurry. You just don't do it. You have no interest in being rushed - you'd rather lose out on things (most of the time) than to have to go fast. The only time you'll speed up is if you'll miss out on something important to you. You won't hurry to get your pj's on because you don't care if you miss the night time show. If it's movie night, you might go a little faster. You get going in the morning now because I found out that if I tell you you'll have to have breakfast at school instead of at home if you're not ready in time, you don't mess around because you love having Mini Wheats with Andrew. Although you do ask about every other day if you could please have breakfast first and then you promise to go fast to get dressed. The problem with that is, I'm on to you. You don't have it in you to hurry, so even though I'm sure you have great intentions (I'm pretty sure you don't do it to drive us crazy, I truly think you just don't understand why we're so wound up about this whole time thing) you just don't have it in you.

I'm working on letting you take your time when it's not important to be moving. I would love it if you'd buckle up right when we got in the car, but if we're not in a hurry, it's not worth the argument. You'll get to it after you get situated, decide what toy you want to have once you are buckled, ask me a question about what we'll be doing at whatever place we're going, and have a drink of water. It's fine - and to be honest, when we're not in a hurry, it's actually pretty cute. It's 100% who you. And since this basically started while you were still in my belly, I'm pretty sure this laid back, why-is-everyone-always-in-a-hurry personality you're showing is here to stay. Also, I'm pretty sure that's how I was when I was little, so there's that... :)

You're still the sweetest little guy and you love to be with me when you're tired or feel like snuggling. I love it. And I love you around the stars, around the planets, to the moon and back and then a little bit more. And if you think you love me more than that, just know I love you all of that plus one!

Love mom.

four years

You're so handsome! And completely hilarious.

Please don't ever learn how to say 'your' or 'yogurt' (okay, maybe eventually you should figure it out...) I love it when I hear you say 'I like yours shirt' or when you ask for more yougurt. : ) Other than that you're pretty much grown up. Your personality is starting to shine, you know what's funny, you know how to be a good friend and you are definitely starting to appreciate what it means to have a brother!

You refuse to smile - only silly faces. I recently took a family picture and had to bribe you to take a nice picture by telling you we'd do a silly picture when we were done. I can't remember who started you on silly faces but I do remember the day you knew what it meant to make a silly face and you haven't stopped since.

You don't really have any favorites. Anytime I ask you your favorite color you change your answer or answer with "all of them". You still like tattoos, music & dancing, and picking your own clothes. You like superheroes and movies although you don't have any real favorites there either. You always just have fun with whatever is going on. It makes it hard to buy you gifts, but it makes life pretty easygoing for you, so it's pretty cool.

You are silly and brave and kind and ready to rock age four. I think you're really going to like it.

xoxo,
mom