He's more boy than baby, but he'll alway be my little guy. And this kiddo turned 8 in the midst of the holiday crazy.
Ryan's a tough kid to "figure out." People expect him to be older than he is due to his height (tallest boy in 1st/2nd grade). He's very passionate. Exceptionally bright. Athletic. Loves to read and is a gifted little artist. But just when you go thinking he's ahead of the curve, he surprises you with the behavior you expect from a little guy. He gets excited too easily in class and wants to answer every question. He gets swept up in a moment with friends and is laughing so hard that he misses instructions. He's so focused on the project at hand, he tunes out the adult he's supposed to mind. He's one second figuring out the mechanics of a vehicle like a 30 year old engineer and then bursts into tears because his sister cut him off. Maybe this is how every almost 8 year old is. But it's the first time we've parented an 8 year old boy, so to us, we're often scratching our heads and looking for consistency. Perhaps this is why Ryan is so deeply engrained in my heart since a lot of what I described above sounds like me at 39. (Ok, minus the athletic part since I'll try and generally end things with a drs bill.)
The texture of our 7 year old is freckles and the interrupted pickett of missing teeth. The tooth fairy shelled out some serious cash this year. Thankfully she only pays a single golden dollar coin per tooth. This year he's lost 5 in all to a variety of hilarious circumstances (8 total are gone). One down the drain as he was trying to show it to me and wash off the blood at the same time. One on the first day of 2nd grade when his bestie ran into him. He's now lost teeth in CA, MI and NY... Easter, Fathers Day and Thanksgiving. Things settled down by late fall in the tooth department though.
Ryan played three organized sports this past year. Coach pitch (coached by Max), Basketball (coached by Max) and Flag - Football (judged by Max from the sidelines since he was in season). Ryan also got to learn from the sidelines as Northview's youngest ball boy. He really excels at Football and Baseball. Basketball was a rougher go-around, but by the end of the season he had gotten a lot better. He's super physical and his claim to fame was forcing jump balls. The kid spent as much time on the floor of the court as he did running it.
This year, Ryan's time dedicated to drawing kinda diminished a bit. Last year, most mornings we found him at the counter drawing away, this year that time transferred to either Legos or reading first thing. The things this kid can do with legos deserves it's own post. Kits meant for 12 year old are completed on his own in 2 hours. Crazy ships and planes concocted from only his imagination. We also got a kick out of his theatrics during his schools Christmas show.
So just when you think he's a serious brainiac, he surprises you with his crazy antics or his radical style of dressing (shorts with high socks in crazy colors.) I love his contradictions!
The cottage has been one of the places that Ryan has blossomed the most. He's very responsible around the water and loves everything that the lake brings him. Fishing, kayaking to Turtle Bay, wrestling on the floating mat with the boys, RC boats, flinging water balloons at Michigan fans and the sheriff. Yes, you read that right. (Top left image.) We didn't entirely realize that our kids had a balloon launcher during the July 4th boat parade. It was college themed. Of course he took out the U of M pontoon. We may have even encouraged that. Then we realized that he and Caden had also hit the sheriff's boat too. Good thing he thought it was funny.
Ry enjoys the solitude of the lake most mornings.
The boy being a boy. No matter where we go, (pictured here: Florida, Ithaca, Home, Big Star or the GR Arts Festival), the kid loves to take in new experiences. Usually peppering us with a LOT of questions. As for reading, it's nuts. We're zooming through chapter books like crazy. His teacher, Ms. Reid, got him interested in Boxcar Children (and says he's her laughing buddy since the two of them are the only ones that belly laugh at the cheezy old fashioned jokes.)
These are pics of Ryan and his best buds. Cali of course is one of the most primary relationships in his life. The bond has only increased this year, especially with the realization that we're going to have to let her go soon. We also try and get together with the Alguire kids when we can make schedules align. And his buddy circle at school has widened, though his Kindergarten relationships have remained strong. Some of the maturity we've seen is from him playing with upper elementary kids at recess for games like gaga ball and football. But all in all, he got a great core group of 8 boys that have each other's backs.
Our beautiful boy.
Other things about Ryan this year: he wants to be a professional football player or coach when he's older, he only wears wind pants and shorts, he is a great big brother, except when he's trying to be the parent, he eats more than most 16 year olds and generally speaking, he's thinking 13 steps ahead of where he is at that very moment.
Ryan, you're a force. We love you so very much and think you have so many gifts that will make this world a better place. Channel your passion and find the joy in the moment and you've got this thing called life all figured out.
