Nine Years Already

Liam is 9!  How can that be?  It truly seems like just yesterday that I brought home that sweet boy and wrapped him up tight like a swaddled baby burrito.  He still loves to be wrapped up tight and warm like that.  He prefers to sleep inside a sleeping bag on top of his regular bed, like a cocooned caterpillar waiting to emerge as a butterfly.  Except that he also stuffs every stuffed animal and blanket that he owns into the sleeping bag with him.

When I look back at his baby pictures, his blue eyes and sweet smile are the same today.

I love hearing the boy (is he a "tween" now?  He thinks so...) he is becoming, when he discusses serious topics or counsels his siblings in the intricacies of elementary school life.

We often describe Liam as cautious, and in many ways he is.  He takes a while to warm up to some new things, although once he decides he is comfortable with something he is perfectly fine.  He has been a picky eater since starting solid food, but I have noticed a number of recent occasions when he took the initiative on his own to try something new.  We don't always recognize that he does have an adventurous spirit too, and embraces some things with gusto.  Rock climbing is one of those things.  Prior to his birthday party, we had gone only once, and he LOVED it without hesitation.  He asked every day for a week if we could go back (and he doesn't make many requests).

I think he had a great party, and I loved seeing him with such confidence.  I was surprised that many of his friends were intimidated by the walls and the height, and quite cautious.  Liam was my little spider monkey, climbing up so high.  He tackled the swinging ladder with much determination too (I can always tell when I see a picture where his tongue is sticking out that he is concentrating hard), and made it higher than just about anyone else (OK, there just may have been a certain 4 yr old who out climbed them all on the ladder, but I'll leave that for a different post).  Then there was the swing...they did have them "latched" onto the seat with a carabiner hook, but I really don't want to think about what it would have looked like if they fell.  The party helper swung them SO high (see how Liam is completely horizontal), and they swung up so they were almost over the rest of the party kids sitting on bleachers, watching.  Some of the boys didn't want to go at all.  Liam jumped right on, the first one to go, and had such a smile.  (The "party helper" said a parent had to go, so I did it too, and can attest that it was a stomach-dropping ride, especially once they stopped simple swinging and started pulling them up close to the ceiling before letting them drop and swing.)

My brave, adventurous nine year old loves rock climbing, go-kart racing, video games with strategy and fighting, discussing right versus wrong in the big picture of life, baseball, the idea of hunting (do not know yet where he will be able to use the bow & arrows, but he did love it!) and America's Funniest Home Videos.  I regret that sometimes I don't listen enough to Liam, because he is not in my face talking loudly (not mentioning names...).  His true birthday was on Monday, so it was a big anti-climactic.  I decided to give him lots of snuggles and just let him talk after I put the others to bed.  He talked about so many things, hardly taking a breath.  I really need to listen to my quietest boy more often.  At one point I thought he was done talking, there was a very long pause and I knew he was tired, but then he said out of the blue, "So that attack on Pearl Harbor sure must have been a surprise!"  And he was off talking again, spouting facts about how many planes there were, how many ships were sunk, how many people died.  I didn't see that topic coming.  I love that boy!