Double Digits!

Ian turned ten-years-old today! I love this boy oh so very much. Physical affection is one of my stronger love languages, and Ian and Oliver sure do know how to shower me with plenty of hugs. Ian says he wants to live at home and go to college online and then wants to live very close once he moves out of our house. I realize between now and then he may very well change his mind, but I'm fine with the idea that he might always live near me! We have been celebrating his birthday off and on over the past 11 days. Today is the last day of his birthday celebrations. On December 2-3 we went to Great Wolf Lodge as a part of his birthday celebration. On December 8 Paul's brother and parents came up for a birthday meal, birthday cake, and to give him his presents. On December 9-10 Ian had pepperoni pizza for dinner. On December 10 he had two donuts for breakfast. Yesterday we had a play date with two boys for 2.5 hours; they made him birthday cards. Today he got the day off from school work aside from art class at Meadowbrook, and we attended a Christmas party with our homeschool group at a bounce place from 11:00-1:00. In addition to using the inflatables, the kids were able to eat pizza, chips, brownies, cookies, donuts, chocolate covered pretzels, etc.. He also opened his gifts from Grandpa/Margie and from Paul and I. Some parents give their kids big birthday parties. I've never done that, but I think in our own way we have helped him have a very special birthday! As a side note, Nadia and I also took showers yesterday during the play date. It felt heavenly; I was very grateful my friend let us take showers at her house!

One way Ian has changed over the past year is he has shown more courage. It was NOT easy for him to climb the steps to the top of the crown of the Statue of Liberty, make his video for the baptism, go zip lining, or climb the rock wall, but he DID it. In the case of the zip lining, he found he loved it and easily did it several more times. I don't think he's itching to go rock wall climbing or climb another spiral staircase any time soon. I know he is very grateful he was baptized. He continues to be very empathetic. Of my three kids, Ian definitely took the passing of Uncle Maurice the hardest. He has only recently finally gotten out of the habit of mentioning Uncle Maurice in his prayers. Another way Ian changed this past year is that he *finally* started waking up a bit later on a more regular basis! I started to wonder if he would ever experience "sleeping-in." Although he's occasionally still the first one up, the vast majority of the time Oliver is now the first one up, and thankfully when they aren't sharing a bedroom with a cousin they rarely get up before 7am. I really, really appreciate this change. Thank you, Ian!

He had so many doctor appointments the first three years of his life, but he has been very healthy for the past seven years. At the moment the only two things we know he is allergic to are pecans and walnuts. He also has come a LONG way in overcoming the reflux (vomiting) that used to happen when he laughed. He laughs a lot, especially when his cousins are around, and he only threw up once due to laughing over the last several months. He eats breakfast and lunch quickly most of the time. Dinner can still be a challenge, but compared to what it was like when he was two-years-old, he's come SUCH a long way. It's hard to find side dishes that he likes because he doesn't like rice, macaroni and cheese, pierogies, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, French fries, or baked beans. His favorite foods include chocolate or peanut butter cereal, bologna sandwich, hot dogs, peanut butter and marmalade sandwich, yogurt, cookies, brownies, ice cream, candy, chips, popcorn, Gala apples, red grapes, green beans, salad, rolls, monkey bread, donuts, pizza, tuna noodle casserole, nachos, rigatoni and meatballs, fish sticks, Goldfish crackers, bacon, chocolate chip pancakes, steak, beef ravioli, and chicken tenders or nuggets. Oliver and Nadia are like me in that they don't like to drink anything that's carbonated. Ian is like his Dad. He does like soda. His first choice is usually root beer. He also loves to drink apple juice.

His favorite toys are still Legos and stuffed animals. He loves playing on the Nintendo Switch. He generally earns one or two 20 minute turns each day. His favorite educational app is Stack the States. His favorite books are those that involve a character that travels back in time - Imagination Station, Magic Tree House, or the series he's been reading most recently - Treasure Chest. He enjoys reading, but he is NOT a book worm. He reads for school or to earn a turn on the Switch. Nadia reads just for fun. He will read a picture book for fun, but he doesn't read a chapter book unless I require him to do so or he's trying to earn a turn. He loves to tell jokes (puns in particular), and he does an amazing job imitating different voices and sounds. He's made amazing progress in learning to play the piano. It's the one area where he is more advanced than Nadia and can give her assistance. He LOVES to draw. He draws on pretty much every bit of paper he gets his hands on all throughout the day every day. He even drew on his music during chorale rehearsal. He draws on the church bulletins, his schoolwork, etc. Although I think it's great that he enjoys drawing so much, his school work would get done in a more timely manner if he didn't draw quite so much. Finally, he loves to play with Nadia. He prefers to play Legos with her, but he will play paper dolls with her, Calico Critter animals, or basically anything she wants if it means she'll play with him. He enjoys playing board games like Sorry, Candyland, and Chess. He loves his guinea pig. He has been so gentle with Patches over the past three years that she is very docile with him. She'll just sit beside him or on his lap for long periods of time. Nadia's guinea pig is far more skittish than Ian's. 

Ian has received two birthday calls thus far today - from Aunt Janet and Grandma. Paul delayed his departure to work this morning so that he could be here when Ian opened his presents. You can tell what he likes by what he was given. Grandpa and Gubba gave him a Lego Movie 2 Lego set (706 pieces). I bought him a stuffed animal, two small Mario figurines, and a Star Wars lego set (1,060 pieces). Just for his birthday Ian received over 3,000 Legos total! I wonder how many tens of thousands of Legos we have in this house right now? Legos, anything related to Star Wars, stuffed animals, and anything related to Mario are his favorite things! We love Ian so very much, and I think his tenth birthday has been very special for him!