Nine

Dear Jordan,

I keep telling you that I’m going to put a brick on your head to stop you from growing, and I just might do it! Though this morning when I said that you told me, “Well, it would just fall off because my head is round!” So you see, you’re a smart little cookie.

You’re nine years old today. NINE YEARS OLD! I didn’t even meet you until you were 4 and still I can’t believe where the time has gone.

You are turning into quite the kid. Last week I babysat our friends’ kids for a few hours in the evening and I sat you down beforehand and told you my expectations for the evening. I expected you to listen carefully and to be respectful to your friends and to me. I told you if you met these expectations then we would all take a trip to the park. And you did. And so we did.

Now you talk to me about your Expectation Self and I have to say, I love this idea. And you rise to the occasion and you are a good listener and a respectful kid. It makes me proud.

You are still the pickiest eater I have ever known in my life. No kind of bribery can get you to try a new food. One day I stuck a mango in your face and you discovered that you actually like the taste of mango, but even still you wouldn’t try a piece! You are also the most stubborn child I think I have ever known in my life! :)

But you are a charmer. And there isn’t much that melts my heart like when you walk into the room and say in your cute little voice, “Hey, Mommy?” and then fire off some questions. You’re very curious and I like that about you.

We have started going to the library each week and you love that, too. First you check out the new release section, then the DVD section (Reading Rainbow is a new enjoyment), then the Children’s section. We usually pick a row and pull 8 or 10 books from that row without branching out much. The next week we choose a different row. You are most interested in the books with the Halloween symbol on the side because these tend to be the spooky books. You are also really enjoying chapter books and having a chapter read to you before bed at night. Right now we are reading a spooky chapter book so it’s the best of both worlds!

Your sense of humor is, well, humorous. We are constantly laughing at your antics and the goofy things you say. You understand puns and are quite creative. Comebacks are called “talk-backs” and you have your fair share of those as well. You get extra silly around your friends and are usually the group clown.

You are also the popular one. Kids swarm to you and you can often be found acting as the ringleader. It makes me laugh how terrible you are with names and you tend to call kids, “Hey, Dude!” instead of by their name. This year your good buddies are Mason, Colyn, Kyali and Adrian.

This summer you started day camp through the Y and you are loving it. Each Friday they ask if you’ll be back the following week and each time you answer them with an enthusiastic YES! You have made several friends at camp and the counselors love you. The other day when I came to pick you up they told me that the day before they were watching you as you wrote on a sticky note. You took this note in your hand and went to a counselor, patted her on the back and told her how nice she was. When another counselor “investigated” this he found a note on her back saying, “kig me.” So once again, you’re a ham!

You are an amazing artist and are constantly drawing animals and monsters and creatures. Recently my mom asked for a dragon drawing and you told her, “It’ll cost you a dollar.” At her surprise you replied, “What! I don’t work for free. I’m the best artist you could ever find!” And in the end, it really was a pretty awesome dragon.

You love family nights and all things to do with games. You’re very competitive and you love learning new things. You love to sing (especially in the bathtub or shower) and you know a good number of the words to many Michael Jackson songs. You love being outside and getting down and dirty. Your favorite shoes are your cowboy boots and you are not a fan of wearing shorts. You love your cats and you love corn chips and pistachios. We often call you our fish because you adore swimming and will wear yourself plumb out in the pool. Your laugh is contagious and you hate getting your hair cut. You have a special love for science and are thrilled when we do experiments. You ask lots of questions and listen carefully to the answers. You are very good at reading people and are a very intuitive guy.

And as for Daddy and I? Well, we think you are pretty much the coolest kid ever and we love you with all our hearts.

Hugs and kisses,

Mommy and Daddy