Adam and Adam's birthday

This post is long overdue. I find that I am able to read blogs and email, but having two hands available at the same time, in which to type with, still eludes me most of the time. I have a rare moment now, so here's to playing catch up!

Adam, our oldest, turned 9 this year. February 22nd was the big day, but since it was the Blue and Gold Banquet for Cub Scouts we waited until the next day. We can hardly believe we have a child this old. It seems pretty much unreal, actually. We are not a "young family" anymore. Adam seems to have gotten so much older in this past year. He is definitely not a little boy anymore. In fact, it has been quite surprising that he seems to be growing up over night. Maybe we could even call him a tween right now. Why you ask?

Well, for one thing, his friends have become way important to him this year. Since most of them don't live in our neighborhood, and since our van is filled to capacity, limiting my "picking up other kids" abilities, he doesn't get to see them all that often, except at school. There are no boys in his primary class at church, but there is an older boy from church who is also in his school class. I have been so glad to have them become better friends this year. I constantly hear about Andrew (who is from church and school), Thomas and Austin (both from school). Friends know a lot, mom doesn't.

Secondly, he went through this hair stage. It was so unexpected, since he doesn't normally care if he wears his clothes inside out, backward, or dirty. He could care less if his socks don't match, his teeth aren't brushed, and he hasn't showered for days. Surprise! One day, he just asked me to buy some hair gel at the store for him and he was faithfully spiking his hair for weeks. He would never let me help him with this. He had an idea of what was cool, and made it happen. I think I was expecting to skip this, since he is not a girl, or for it to wait until he was trying to impress girls. Here he is with Ben, who Adam also encouraged to spike his hair. Aren't they cute.

He also has had more attitude than usual. Things that he is expected to do, and we have had a routine of doing have suddenly become a big problem. Piano, chores, pretty much anything I ask him to do that he doesn't want to do. He is so smart and comes up with these great arguments, I find myself strugggling to defend my position. Again, I wasn't expecting this so soon. Isn't elementary school supposed to be the golden age of child rearing?

Lastly, toys of just about any sort are out, video games (I finally scavenged a Wii after weeks of searching) and sports and sports talk are in. This is something I would expect of a 9 year old boy to some extent. Adam has never really been that into toys, not Legos, or anything else, so it is not that surprising. I am learning that if I am to have a conversation with him I had better brush up on my basketball stats, and remember all the ins and outs of Super Mario Galaxy, and be prepared to repeat those things over and over and over and over, as their importance have quickly risen to the top of his priority list.

For all of these changes, sometimes difficult, Adam is a wonderful and amazing kid. At his parent teacher conferences, his teacher couldn't say enough good things about him, not only academically, but also how kind and helpful he was with the other students, and how he helped everyone think outside the box. He is ponderous and deep thinking and always wanting to know "HOW" all the time. He has also become more helpful with the baby. As Jacob has grown, it has been more difficult for the girls to pick him up and hold him comfortably, but Adam doesn't have any problem, so I have been relying on him more for help in a pinch. He has been very gracious about it. He is also growing up in other ways. I think he is learning that his behavior and words really can affect others, and he is learning to give heartfelt, sincere apologies. He is also a lot of fun! It seems like he likes to talk to Greg and I more while the other kids play. We love it! All in all we think we have a wonderful boy growing up under our roof.

We celebrated his birthday at home, and then our family and his friend Andrew went to Michael's Funworld for an afternoon. It was great fun.

Here he is excited about his new Wii game. He was ready for something besides Wii sports.

Now his frustrations lies in the fact that we restrict his playing time so he isn't as far along as his friends.
Here he is eating his favorite meal, lasagne, with a side of strawberry milk. He likes it...
I know the cake looks pretty pitiful, but Adam LOVES peanut butter. He claims it is his favorite food, so he asked me for a peanut butter cake. I found a recipe online for one, but as you can see, peanut butter frosting is a bit difficult to work with. It was quite delicious though. Since he doesn't care how things look (except for his hair sometimes), it turned out just fine.

Adam is a fantastic kid. There have been a few growing pains for us all lately, but they are well worth the growth. We find great joy in Adam. Happy 9th birthday son!