Growing up nicely

Here's my oldest one. I think he's turning into such a handsome young man. Eleven years old now. (sigh) I don't know how that happened.

Let me tell you how great he is.

You see that big cake. That was the cake I made for his big birthday party. The one that was supposed to take place yesterday.

Sunday morning, the baby came down stairs complaining that his stomach hurt. Biggest brother knew what that meant right away.

I started making phone calls to reschedule the party. My new pre-teen was disappointed but he was more worried about his baby brother. He spent his day entertaining his little brother and fussing over him.

He wasn't bitter about the party at all. In fact, his spin doctor-ed it by saying that he'd get two big birthday cakes now.

The poor little guy was sick all day. He laid on the floor with a blanket and pillow until about 3 pm when finally tried to eat and drink. (Thank goodness his stomach finally settled.)

Today however, his eyes started running and getting all cruddy. His nose was a mess and after breakfast he announced, "My ear hurts."

Off to the doc we went and all suspicions were confirmed.

we may be back tomorrow because the oldest one is also complaining of ear pain. he has also picked up his baby brother's cough.

And me...I'm a bit punky too. Low grade fever and tired. I skipped our last basketball practice tonight and I never miss practice. (the oldest one suggested we stay home to keep our germs contained and rest a bit.)

Boy, we've had a sickly winter but we are learning compassion for others, viral containment, healthy practices, and the limits of the power of Lysol.

I would love to write all about my wonderful oldest boy but I just lack the thought process this evening. However, I wanted to document how wonderful a person he is.

It's against his nature to hurt others. He's always willing to make a sacrifice and he is always thankful of any good that comes his way. He never brags. If he scored 12 points on the court, he's prouder that his brother scored just one.

He's wicked smart.

He loves to learn. he does his work for the joy of completing it.

He does Rod and Staff English 5 with no help from me. He has such a gift for language that it seems a waste of time. No, that's not right. The material is new for him. He just grasps it so effortlessly. The difference between a noun of direct address and an appositive is so apparent to him that all the review seems like overkill. But he'll work through an entire lesson, on his own, writing out everything...with no complaints what-so-ever. Oddly enough, he enjoys it.Throw in a worksheet on diagramming and he's thrilled.

To start shaping his growing mind, I gave him The Giver to read a last week. He finished it in a few days. We talked about that dystopian society and the dangers of over-protecting people. he decided that we need to experience the bad to appreciate the good.

The boy reads like crazy. It's all I can do to keep the boy in decent literature. If it weren't for the fact that he is 4 inches taller than most of his age-mates and fairly good at sports...he'd be a total nerd.

He does sometimes loose his patience but that's my fault and usually a direct result from a situation that I have caused.

He apologizes and he accepts apologies.

He's thankful and he's a gentleman.

He's just a great young man.

I know every parent says that their kid is wonderful. I know that I'm biased but I am so amazed at what Zoodad and I have gotten in this kid. We lucked out for sure.