Nine Years Old

Parker,

     Today you turn 9 years old!  You are an amazing kid and mom and dad are so proud of you!  There are a lot of things I miss about you being little but I absolutely LOVE the stage you are in!  You are funny, helpful, and still enjoy hanging out with us!  Here are some of the things I want to remember about you as you celebrate another birthday:

-You are still tall and thin.  You weigh about 80 pounds (90th percentile) and are almost 57 inches tall (95th percentile).  You are taller than most of the kids in your class.  You wear size 8-10 clothes and size 6 shoe.  You are almost moving into men's size shoes which just blows my mind!  A few weeks ago I was running late to pick you and Eden up from school so I just grabbed your flip flops to wear and they actually fit me!

-You are so smart and continue to do well in school.  You are very driven and self motivated and I never have to remind you to get your homework done after school.  You read all of the time and have met all of your AR reading goals this year.

-You still love to play baseball and are one of the starting pitchers for your team this season.

-You are a great eater and you eat A LOT!  You will usually try most new foods but your favorites right now are spaghetti, bacon, chips and salsa, fruit, chicken alfredo, and jelly beans.

-You are so helpful around the house and rarely complain when I ask you to help me with chores.  You are also good about helping daddy with chores that are hard for him.  You always take out the trash on Monday, you always remember to make your bed every morning, and you are also good at folding laundry.  I am so thankful for your helpful spirit and what a good example you are for your sisters.

-You still love to play video games and look forward to your game time after you finish your homework. 

-You started speech therapy this year to help correct your lisp.  You are slowly but surely making progress and I hope that you will be able to be dismissed next year.

-You are funny and we love joking with you now that you can understand humor better. 

-The one thing I wish I could change about you right now is how hard you can be on yourself when you make a mistake.  You hate being wrong or not being the best at something and your perfectionism can be your downfall.  I wish you could see what dad and I see every day... that you are an awesome, smart, hard-working, kind, loving kid and one little mistake doesn't change all of that! 

There was a time when you were two and three years old when I wondered if you would ever make it to this birthday!  You were stubborn, strong willed and pushed the limits several times a day.  You completely wore me out!  But it seems like I blinked and you've turned into this great kid that makes me proud every single day!  I can not wait to see what you accomplish this year! I know whatever it is, you will give it 100% just like you always do!

I love you to the moon and back! Mom