My Eight Year Old

My original Mother's Day (a few days early) present, eight years ago. The sweetest gift.

I love the age eight because:

Liam is not too old to tell me, after watching some of the movie in Music class, that, "Mom you have GOT to see Mary Poppins. It is the BEST movie. They sing, and it's funny. Really, we have GOT to watch that movie." And after we rented it for movie night, Liam laughed and laughed over the funny parts, even rewinding them to watch them multiple times. The boy has always been a fan of slapstick humor, and watching someone get a puff of black smoke on their face from a dirty chimney just made his day. I imagine a few years from now I won't be able to force him to watch movies like this.

He and I went out to watch Thor at the movie theater last night, and had a very nice time. He was old enough to sit through some intense battle scenes, and young enough to only cover his eyes once - during the one and only kissing scene. Afterward, the evening was so warm and balmy, we parked by a fountain (the picture above) and chatted. Liam told me, "I think this is where you and Daddy should have gone after your wedding." ha ha He was right - it was very romantic. Watch out ladies - he already has a sense of romance at the tender age of eight!

He acts excited if I play the Lego Star Wars video game with him, even though I'm always accidentally killing his guy and doing things that slow him down or make it harder for him. He takes pity on his poor mother's gaming skills. And he loves, loves, loves to read the great big books that give tips and tricks for those games. Nothing excites him like a gaming manual.

He is growing so tall, and stretching out so thin. I look at pictures from last summer and he seems so much younger then. I can see shades of the pre-teen that Liam will become.

Liam is becoming more adventurous with age. He is trying more foods (he has always been quite picky) without my prodding. He willingly jumped on the trampoline at the mall, with bungee cords attached to a harness, so he could jump really high. Lately it seems that he surprises me with the things he wants to try.

He is becoming more confident in his baseball skills. This past weekend he had one of his best hitting games, and he really enjoyed himself. I'm so happy to see him get enthusiastic like that, and really push himself.

Still, he's not too old to play with his siblings, especially Natalie. No one can make her laugh like Liam. They sit in the back of the van sometimes and just talk and giggle and goof off. I'm so happy that Natalie has such a great big brother to set the bar for future men in her life.

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy, growing up too fast and yet so beautifully!