Ben is 11 Today!

Dear Ben,

Today you are 11 years old.

Instead of writing about milestones like sitting up, walking, and saying your first word, which is where we were on this day a decade (!?) ago, I am now writing about things like how you were blindsided by the puberty video at school two weeks ago. (not my fault, one of us forgot the permission slip. Hint: wasn't me!)

Firstly, I truly hope "the puberty video" has improved since I was in school. Secondly, I hope there is no lasting psychological scarring from that little surprise!

All joking aside, did I mention you are 11?  In five years you can drive! (prediction: you won't actually drive in five years… you are already worried about having to do this….)

At this age, you are suddenly all about friends. This has come as a surprise for me because for many years there, you could kind of take or leave most other kids. The only exceptions were the ones in our neighborhood, who, my heart is happy to say, are still wonderful friends. School friends were acquaintances, people to sometimes interact with AT school, but not much more. Now, suddenly, you crave people and want them around ALL the time.

After a couple years of encouraging you to "find your people",  I am happy to report you found a couple. You did a good job too! :)  I love watching you interact with your little friends  (who are actually not so little. Sujay's feet are like four sizes bigger than mine. I am realizing how full of "men" my house is going to be in the coming years. There is probably not enough Febreeze in the world…. but, I digress.)

Your favorite sports are still are basketball and swimming, although if anyone asks you right now, you say you hate swimming and want to quit. This isn't actually true… you're just worried about having to swim two lengths of butterfly this summer. I know this because you bring it up at least once a day, and that's on a good day. One a bad day, I might hear about your swimming angst about a dozen times.  Every start of swim season is rocky because of some new worry. Last year was the same. I wish we could fast-forward to the part where you are excited because that's way more fun. But such is life with an anxious kid.

You also love to write. Notebooks upon notebooks FILLED with stories, lists for stories, and outlines for stories and games you want to create. I'm kind of envious of how much you crank out, honestly. If we go somewhere, it's common to see you grab your notebook and favorite pen so you can write while we drive.

Currently, you also love all things Pokemon (again) and Ninjago (again) and science (always).

You've done an amazing job with the HUGE transition of switching schools midyear. You are thriving at your new school and look forward to going every day. I'm so proud of you for the courage you had to do that! I know it wasn't easy.

You are still the serious, contemplative kid you have been since the day you were born, always the straight man to your brothers' comedy duo.

I just got the rare opportunity to spend almost an entire week with just you around since you were on spring break by yourself. You've morphed into this neat "big kid", who is really fun to hang out and go places with.  :)

I love the person you are and the person you are becoming!

Happy birthday, B!

Love, Mom

Happy XIth!

We celebrated Ben's 11th birthday yesterday with Tom's side of the family! It was a quick and harried gathering, but the kids had a blast nonetheless. Ben had picked out cupcakes from Graul's. On the way out, he and I spotted these cool roman numeral candles and both agreed they were a must have. ;)  

His favorite birthday gift thusfar, no joke, a set of a dozen flare pens from Aunt Krystyna and Uncle Marc. I had told Krystyna he really wanted them, and that truly they would be a great and easy standalone gift. I know she didn't believe me. They also got him a cool Rubik's cube variation with a crazy number of sides, which he also loves... but he really would have been thrilled with just the pens. He HUGGED them when he opened them. LOL! 

What can I say? He loves pens!  I was actually considering for one of his gifts from us just raiding the pen aisle at Office Depot and filling a basket with different kinds. Flare pens, in particular, are his favorite though.  And until now, he hasn't actually owned any of his own, just pilfered them from school and other places. ;)

This is how he blew out his XI.  So much for the awesome candle blowing picture I always put on the photo calendar. Going to have to try again tomorrow or Sunday when we celebrate with my family! 

Birthday Chiptole…. and Science!

In what has become an annual tradition… here is Ben enjoying his birthday Chipotle. ;)

The other two got into some sciencing today… mostly of the vinegar/baking soda/food coloring variety… we exploded a plastic bag, make popcorn kernels dance in water, and then mostly poured things for awhile. ;)

Birthday Sleepover Success!

Well, we survived our first foray into little boy sleepovers!

The kids had a blast. They played a ton of Wii, watched Pokemon movies, played laser tag, and ate a shameful amount of junk food. They say they were up until about 1:30, although they were pretty quiet after about 11. 

In an attempt to keep the little ones out of their hair (because they wanted to be RIGHT in the middle of it all), we set up a mini sleepover in Simon's room and hooked up a little tv to the x-box up there. They had their own popcorn and glowsticks. They were (mostly) content…. it took some convincing that their setup was as cool as Ben's. 

Ben's two little friends, Sujay and Tommy, are such nice kids.  I like them a lot! They've been over separately, but never together. It's a great little trio.  I fed them a pancake breakfast this morning and Tom just left to take them all home. They were still chattering about Pokemon.  

Now… to air out the junior frat house basement. LOL.   

Ben's Birthday….

Ben's 11th (!) birthday is coming up quickly and we still have no idea what to do. He was wishy-washy on a birthday party. I think this is because he was anxious about mixing friends from his old school and friends from his new school.

Yesterday, he said he had changed his mind, but now it's kind of too late to do a full-on party. I had told him he could have two friends over for a sleepover, but he's lukewarm on that too.

There is anxiety about pretty much every possible decision. I have NO idea where he gets this. (that was a joke there…. ha… ha… ha…. )

This kid has such a hard time making decisions!

Now I'm just trying to figure out a fun day trip we could take him on by himself.  He keeps asking to do something without his brothers. We've done all the downtown stuff a hundred times. Aquarium, Science Center, etc….even Ripley's Believe it Or Not (which was awesome, btw!)

I just don't have any good ideas.  Maybe the Spy Museum in D.C.? I don't know… I guess I should start researching. LOL.

Ben is 10!!

Dear Ben,

Today is has been a whole decade since we first met you. TEN YEARS! If I sit quietly and think (not that I ever get that chance around here!)  I can bring back every feeling and thought from that morning your daddy and I walked into the hospital and waited for you to be born.  Nervous, excited....realizing there was NO turning back.

We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into with this parenting thing. And like everyone always says, it has turned out to be way harder than we ever imagined, but also the most amazing and awesome thing ever ... and you started it all.  This is probably a good thing because you broke us in well. You still hold the honor being our most challenging baby and toddler, yes EVEN compared to Jonathan. (you love hearing those stories too...) 

You have come into your own this year and seem to really have a good grasp on who you are. Fourth grade has been your best year yet as far as friends and school. You are happier and less afraid to try new things than you used to be. Swimming and basketball have helped to give you so much confidence. You still don't much like being the "short kid", but you seem to have slowly begun to embrace it as part of your identity.

You want to dress and wear your hair a certain way now, and you care how you look, which is cute. You announced at your last haircut that you didn't want them to cut it too short because you'd like to start wearing it longer now. Your clothes are an assortment of Under Amour and UA knockoffs from Target and Old Navy in all sorts of blinding fluorescents. Perhaps my favorite touch are the brightly colored socks pulled up to your kneecaps, a look you have picked up from your friends. It's cute though... and you'll get some good laughs out of the photos in about 20 years. ;)

You are an amazing big brother to Simon and Jonathan, though they don't always make your life easy. I admire that so much about you. You have an amazing knack for patiently and lovingly dealing with and communicating with all children younger than you. Every little kid we meet seems to worship the ground you walk on.  It makes me smile.

Perhaps my most favorite thing about you is that you are kind. I've never actually seen you be mean to anyone (though I'm sure there are things I haven't seen) and you seem to accept everyone the way they are.  You are deeply hurt when other kids are mean and still don't seem to understand why they are like that (neither do I, really). I'm glad you at least understand now when it is happening, because you didn't used to. Now you know who the mean kids are and are learning to defend yourself with words or just walk away. I hate that you had to even learn that lesson; but it's a good one, nonetheless.

I ask you what you want to be when you grow up and it ranges from engineer to writer. And I have a feeling whatever you do will somehow encompass things from both worlds. You love facts and breaking things down, just like your daddy. You also love to fill notebooks with words, just like mommy. You write all kinds of stories and create entire worlds.... and yet, they are full of facts and list and statistics. Whatever you do, it will certainly be interesting to watch it as it comes to light. 

You are becoming such a neat little person. Sometimes I feel like you are SUCH an old soul and know way more than I do... that you just quietly tolerate listening to my thoughts on things. LOL.  I think this might be my most favorite age so far. I love talking to you and hearing what goes on inside that brain of yours. 

I am so excited to see what your future holds and I love you so very much! Happy 10th birthday, Thomas Benjamin!

Love,

Mommy