He is TWELVE!!!!

Time keeps marching along and I am not the only one getting older.  M turned twelve on August 8th!  How can this boy who was a baby two days ago be 12?! M's Birthday was on a Sunday this year which meant he had to patiently wait through a typical Sunday morning of church before opening presents.  

Thankfully for him, his BIG present came a bit early.  M has grown so much in the last year and was in need of a new bike.  Brandon was very unimpressed at the quality of the bikes from big box stores.  Not only was the quality poor, the price was still high.  We decided to spend (quite) a bit more and get a good bike that will last for a long time.  We went to a bike shop and found the perfect bike!  We were all very excited for M! 

The twelve year old!

 

The new bike!

 

His old glove needed an upgrade too!

 

So grown up!

 

 

 After lunch of his choice, probably Culvers or another local place, we went to the local pool.  There were a bunch of kids he knew and he had a great time.  It was like a party with zero cost or planning!!!

 

A Birthday smile!

After an hour or two at the pool we stopped swimming and headed to Walgreens for M's first dose of the covid vaccine!  He was finally old enough and we were not going to wait a single extra day!

M: I might not look happy, but I was super excited to get it!

 

On the way home from Walgreens M decided he wanted to go back to the pool and since it was his day, that is what we did!!!!

 

M: The second time I played with another whole set of friends!

After our time at the pool we had pizza and then watched a movie and had Birthday cake!  It was a wonderful Birthday for M!.  

12 year olds light their own candles!

 

Birthday boy!

 

 

Aww

Wishing for a wonderful 12th year!

 A little update on M:
As I said above, he is growing so much!  He is getting very close to five feet!  When he started the growth hormone shots in the summer of 2019 his Dr told us that without them he would not make it to 5 feet tall.  The Dr now believes he could grow to 5'5" or 5'6" which is incredible.  

 

M is really enjoying most parts of in person 6th grade.  He loves getting to know many new people and playing football at recess.  History is by far his favorite class.  Percussion is his instrument of choice.  Chatting with friends is far better than getting work done in class.  Weekends filled with homework would be the major downside of sixth grade!  The fact that he doesn't have text books or easy ways for me to understand what he is learning or assigned is the other tricky part. M also really struggles to keep tabs on his water bottles and hoodies.  I think all the 6th grade teachers can identify his water bottle and find it all over the school and return it to him!

This fall M participated in middle school cross country.  I am not sure he will go out again next year as he felt like it was a lot of running.  Haha!  M is meeting weekly with a person trainer for cardio, weight lifting, and even some martial arts.  He continues to meet each week with his therapist and mentor and realizes he won the lottery with each of them as they buy him Culvers every single time!  

M enjoys having more independence and going for bike rides on his own.  He also walks home from school on occasion.  He is a part of the middle school chess club, but mainly just wants to play chess rather than learning new strategy.  

He continues to love to read books by the armful!  He is very smitten with our cats and has many daily cuddle sessions.  He is involved in youth group at church and will be in the Christmas program next week. 

There are still many tricky areas for him, but we celebrate so many areas where he is thriving. We love you very much, M!!!