Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Eleven Things About You at Age 11



  • All Minecraft All the Time (dig, dig, dig, cake, cake, cake).
  • Recent interests include architecture, archery and runes.  We went to see one of the local Frank Lloyd Wright houses and you thought it was pretty cool that he designed everything in and around the house.  
  • You want to go to any Scandinavian country.  Preferably now.
  • You read at an amazingly fast rate. Your school requires everyone to read 25 books of at least 100 pages each over the school year.  You easily hit that benchmark by December and most of the books were over 300 pages.
  • You're branching out with food - mozzarella sticks, baked chicken, cucumbers have all passed the test.  Lunch every day consists of cooked pepperoni, an apple, cookies and a juice box.  Sometimes I force you to take a cheese sandwich or some chips just to shake things up a bit.  You buy if it's chicken nuggets or grilled cheese, but not always.
  • You are settling into middle school.  Your favorite subject this year is Science.   Your least favorite is ELA (all that writing!).  Study hall is a good place to do or catch up on forgotten homework.  And the after-school clubs are neat too!  You joined model building (another new interest) and technology, which turned out to be wood shop.  That one only lasted a few months because as 5th graders you are not allowed to actually use the equipment. :-(
  • Like most boys your age you can pack away an astonishing amount of food when you want to.  You love to sneak out with Dad in the evening to get a "snack" somewhere, which consists of what most people would eat for an entire meal.
  • If it has anything to do with a dragon, you have read it, drawn it, seen it, bought it, played it, designed it, built it, wrote about it, and put it on your wish list.
  • You ask a ton of questions, most of which I do not know the answers to.  Hello internet!  When you are having your bedtime snack you and Dad discuss relativity and all manner of serious subjects.
  • You really really really want a dog.  You grudgingly admit that the fact that your brother is scared  of them is a good reason why we don't have one right now.  But you work on him every chance you get.  "You like dogs, don't you?  Wouldn't you like a dog?  Let's get a dog! Dogs are fun!" 
  • Getting you to take a shower is like murder.  Conversely you are suddenly very concerned with how your hair looks.




  • You've decided you like chicken.  Boy does that make meal time easier!  Every day for lunch you take turkey, balogna, and salami (no bread), a juice box, a box of raisins, some craisins and some pickles.  You love to buy lunch when it is spaghetti or turkey and mashed potatoes but I still have to send in the raisins, craisins and pickles because no way are you eating the other stuff Mrs. Linda cooks.
  • You love having a job.  Delivering things at school, setting the table, bringing in groceries, you're so proud of yourself when you help out.
  • You can buckle and unbuckle your seatbelt by yourself now.  This sounds like a little thing but it is huge.  No more standing in the cold and the rain getting you settled in safely and back out again.  We all just get in the car and go!  This literally saves us probably 30 minutes a day, maybe more.
  • Charlie Brown is the reigning favorite.  I think we now have every Peanuts video it is possible to own.
  • I love watching you navigate your way around the iPad.  The other day you went to the speech app and proceeded to tell me about everything you don't like.  Most of which was not true, but very funny nevertheless.
  • You are doing a great job at Special Olympics swimming and your coach says you are really coming along.  And you are having fun, which is the most important thing.  Probably by spring you will be focused enough to participate in a meet.
  • This winter you not only wore boots, but also gloves and sometimes a winter hat!  You'd prefer your fedora but sometimes we gotta cover those ears!  (You still love hats and wear one every day.)
  • Sometimes I find you packing your backpack with movies and toys to "go New Jersey."  I wish we could go more often too buddy.
  • There are a few games you *love* to play.  One  is the "opposite" game.  You say one word and we say the opposite one (up/down, sun/moon, yes/no, etc.) and then you switch and "trick" us into saying the wrong word.  One is the "cookie" game.  We talk about making cookies and what ingredients we need.  You insist on spaghetti or soup or cheese and we make faces and say no, you need sprinkles, cinnamon, chocolate chips.  Then we pretend to be Cookie Monsters and eat all  the cookies up no matter what is in them.  Or sometimes you are the cookie and say what kind you are and we are Cookie Monster and eat you up.  Lots of giggling and hilarity and snuggle time.
  • You need an escort to go to therapy again.  You were doing great for a long time until you realized that you could stop and visit your favorite teachers on the way.  You apparently would open the classroom doors and yell hi! until they said hi back.  You are also copycatting the other kids in class when they misbehave and lose a "thumbs up."  We all find this hilarious and developmentally appropriate; your teacher assures us that pretty soon you will be back to going to therapy alone.
  • Since Advent, you insist on eating dinner by candlelight.  You gave me a jar candle for Christmas and if I forget to light it you stop eating and go turn off the lights.  

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