Seven Whole Years

My baby boy…

is not such a baby anymore.

He’s spent his 7th year as one busy, busy boy. He played flag football and basketball and baseball. He had his very first sleepover and he learned to ride his bike – an accomplishment that had him zooming up & down our sidewalks many, many times. He even joined me on some nice long rides on the bike trail and was my escort on more than a few runs.

He stood at the top of Niagara Falls in wonder and then got soaking wet at the very bottom. He went on his first white water rafting trip and even ‘surfed’ a few rapids. He traveled to two Civil War Battlefields, joined the Army of Virginia and then was slightly disappointed to see how badly they were beaten at Gettysburg. But ask him about the importance of holding the high ground and you’ll hear a future social studies buff in action.

He went to his very first Cubs game with his father, Uncle and Papa and on the same day he hit a White Sox game for a true Chicago doubleheader. He went to Notre Dame hockey games and his first ever Butler basketball game. He drew nearly all the Indiana college teams in this year’s NCAA tournament house pool and made his father so very proud when he voluntarily chose to watch Sportscenter in the morning.

He learned how to dive this summer and shocked us all when he claimed he could flip off the diving board… and then did! He’s in the process of losing his two front teeth and is working very, very hard to read “real chapter books.” He’s loving first grade because he finally gets to do all the fun classes like art and PE but also because there is “real math.”

He went on hikes in all seasons. Dug tunnels and built snowmen during the great blizzard of 2011. He splashed in the waters of Lake Michigan and jumped the waves of the Atlantic. He rode his bike to the library. He let his mother soak up his year of Kindergarten with many afternoon trips to our favorite museums in Chicago. And he outgrew his pants approximately every 5 weeks. These are a few of his favorite things:

color: orange – because it’s one of the Chicago Bears’ colors
food: wings and… well, that’s it I guess
vegetable: Brussels sprouts
dessert: whoppers, the triple-dipped kind from Albanese!
part of school: art, because I love to draw and the teacher gives us interesting subjects to draw
sport: football!
thing to do: art
movie: Harry Potter II
song: Ice, Ice Baby (editor’s note: yes, by Vanilla Ice) (editor’s note #2: shut up)
game: can it be a sport? No, okay. The Game of Life
book: Lunch Lady
restaurant: BW’s – of course!
holiday: Christmas, because you get lots of presents
animal: anaconda because it’s so long and I really like the name

What did you request for your birthday dinner?
Tacos!

Tell me about your friends:
I like to play legos with my friend S. My school friends and I really like to play football at recess. My friends are all fun to play with.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
This is tricky. Either a cop or an FBI person because I want to fight crime.

If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go?
To Niagara Falls. I really liked the tour at the bottom, the Cave of the Winds!

What do you love about each person in our family?
I like Dad because he lets me watch Ultimate Fighting with him and I like to wrestle with him. I like to hug you, Mom! 🙂 I like to play with my sisters – especially when we play things like Star Wars.

What were some of your best memories from this past year?
– Finally getting my own library card! (editor’s note: that’s a rite of passage in this house that happens when you can read on your own)
– Learning how to do a flip off the diving board
– I loved Niagara Falls
– I liked learning about the Civil War at those battlefields we visited. And I remember that I was in the Army of Virginia!
– Oh!! And I got to go to my first Cubs game and on the very same day a Sox game too! The Sox lost but the Cubs won and it was a really good time.

What are some of your wishes for this year?
1. I hope to have a good year in school and to start reading those Magic Tree House books.
2. I want to work hard on football.
3. I want to decorate my room with lots of college sports stuff.

Each year I interview my children on their birthdays and write a post about their year. My hope is that someday these musings will spark special memories. Search for ‘birthday interview’ over there on the right to read previous posts.