Nine Lives

Another year gone in the blink of an eye.

You had a great year in third grade; your teacher was a he! Your love for reading was as obvious as ever as we often heard from your teacher in conferences or notes home that you were 'sneaking' reading instead of doing your classwork. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree as that was a constant battle for me as a child. We could not be happier that you are happy to stick your nose in a book. And you've started reading more non-fiction, usually about the civil war. Daddy loves that as he has always been very interested in history. That love for history translated into you dressing up as Abe Lincoln for Halloween.

Best. Costume. Ever.

We had our first bout of lice this year, starting with you. (I think you had half the kids in your class lice-ing at one point.) Smart boy: you opted for a head shave instead of incessant lice combing.

You sat the season of fall ball out. Between some behavior issues and our 'new normal' with Ruby, it was not something we could justify doing. That left great 'holes' in our schedule for after school play and family time at night. It was REALLY nice. This also allowed for us to not be burned out in November, which meant you could try basketball for the first time. You were a quick learner and you seemed to really enjoy the season.

After the holidays you also picked up skateboarding. We bought you a board for Christmas and you've gone to the skate park several times. It's not your strength to take chances with a 'risky' sport like that, but you've done well and seem to really enjoy it.

Back on the field in the spring; baseball for the last time in the Pinto league. You had a great season, catching several line drives and stepping up your fielding ability. More games than not, you were found at first, helping to anchor the team. You even showed some leadership on the field during some of the games, reminding the younger players where the play was as each batter came up to the plate.

As always, summer found you swimming, this time at the height of your age group. Your favorite event at the meet (the IM) is the dreaded for most other swimmers. We took you to county again, and even though you didn't finish in the top 10, you improved your times so much over the summer.

Your eighth year ended with you attending two really cool camps. One was a history camp in town; very opposite of the usual sports and active type camp you normally gravitated towards. You loved it though, and you learned a ton. The other was overnight camp. You (and Drew) went away for almost an entire week. You were definitely nervous when we dropped you off (even more so because you and Drew were staying on completely opposite sides of the camp), but it was obvious through the pictures we saw online that you warmed up quickly and had an absolute blast.

Nine whole years under your belt...where does the time go. I love that you're still so innocent, so naive, so willing and interested in just being a kid. I love that you ask, or beg, to go on one-on-one dates with your dad or I. I love that you still want me to read to you before bed. I love everything about you, Eli.