Growing up

We have had three birthdays in the past two months and my kiddos are -dare I say it?  Growing up.  I am filled with warring emotions.  I have learned this past year what it is like to worry about them when they don't grow, don't thrive.  What a horrible- soul wrenching diagnosis- "Failure to Thrive".  It makes me sad to think about those days almost exactly one year ago when we were given that diagnosis.  Now she is 17 lbs and growing. 

So I love watching them grow and thrive and thrive.

Joseph is 11 and taller then me now.  He makes dinner one night a week, helps around the house, devours books, talks and discusses things constantly, and babysits!!!  Yeah for a built in babysitter!!

We are working on getting him onto a basketball team at the Y in Independence.  He isn't a bad shot and has seemed to grow into his body better in the last year.  He is much more coordinated and I figure with his height they will be glad to teach him what he doesn't know.

He is going to have to get braces.  Arrg.  Those things are expensive, I don't know that his babysitting for us is enough payback.  (:  He is about to loose 7-8 different babyteeth.  The Ortho said that none of them have roots and they are just wedged in there.  So they will go really fast.  I don't know how the kid is going to eat!  But I guess he'll figure out a way.  The good news is that for right now he just needs a spacer and that is considered a preventative appliance and so is covered by insurance 100%.  The bad news is that Ortho work later on has a lifetime max that is less then a fourth of the total cost.   I guess we had better start saving.

He is very interested in growing things and is a primary factor in helping us to plant a garden this summer.  His enthusiasm is boundless and helps us to want to try.

Oliver DeMille of Thomas Jefferson Education talks of raising Young adults and not Teenagers.  I know he still is fairly young, but I really respect and like him.  I think that with him we have a very good chance of doing just that.  Only time will tell of course, but I am so greatful for my oldest child.  For his patience with me and his love and testimony of the truth.  He is an example to me in so many ways.  Sometimes when I frustrate him he tries so hard to be patient and says "Mom, I'm sorry for getting upset, but I just don't understand why . . ." whatever it is. Most of the time, he has a point.

We often tease him about his absent mindedness.  One of his jobs is to clear the counters and (less often now), we used to find things like the milk in the pantry.  His head is in the clouds and not on his job.  I am grateful for his friendship and love for us as his parents and for his brothers and sisters.  I am grateful for his determination to succeed and do his best.  For his youthful optimism and enthusiasm which I am all too often lacking.  I am trying to make sure to enjoy him while I have him here.  One of my favorite things to see him do is when he holds his baby sister.  He has developed this game with her.  He sings "we're on our way, we're on our way, on our way to Grandpa's Farm. . ." and bounces her gently on his knee.  At first she wasn't sure about the whole thing, but now she smiles up at him and enjoys it.

I am so happy that he has and is thriving.  That he is becoming a wonderful young man and that I get to watch.