Birthday Season: Part 4

Garrett has turned 9.  I know it's cliche and all, but I truly can hardly believe it.  He is nearly 5' tall and I know that if I let myself blink he'll be taller than me.  But, oh, he is so sweet.  He has the most tender heart.  He can not keep his hands off of his little sister, and I will often catch him laying a kiss on the top of Carter's head.  He adores his big sister as well.  The other day he came home with soccer jerseys for his new team.  They had the number '11' on them.  I asked him if he picked the number or what and he said, "I picked 11 because it's Maddy's birthday AND her favorite number."  (Ironically, Maddy and Carter both randomly were assigned the #11 for their softball and tball jerseys- so all my kids are #11 this season!)  A few weeks ago we had a family movie night and Maddy and Garrett spontaneously shared our overstuffed chair.   It was so cute and sweet, both of them sitting on it sideways, with their legs spilling over the side.  I didn't dare take a picture and break the spell, but I am both in awe of and thankful for the relationship they have, even while in such different stages of life.

He's funny and stubborn and athletic and smart.  I love to watch him play soccer or basketball, he's so focused and I get more and more frequent glimpses of the man that he'll be one day.  It's heart breaking and wonderful and exciting and humbling and so much more all at once.

I really love being his mama.

He got a new bike for his birthday, something that was NOT on his list, and I was worried that he wouldn't be happy about it or that he wouldn't like it because it's SO much bigger than his old one.

Wrong and wrong.  He loves it- LOVES.  He's ridden it every day since.  It's gigantic, but he makes it work.

 For his party we went to Sky High.  With eight other third grade boys.  Let me tell you, that was a fun car ride!  He was a happy boy and it was a fun afternoon.  Thankful for his great friends!