Conor is double digits

My apologies to all involved for how long it has taken me to post. Time has become a strange beast over the past month+ (but I'll save that for another post). In the mean time, let's focus on something upbeat and celebratory...

On March 28th, our sweet boy turned 10-years-old. The night before, Eric asked me, "Tomorrow, we won't have any kids who are single digits in age. Do you feel old, yet?" (Yeah, I love you, too, Honey!) 😄

Even though Conor's birthday was spent during a pandemic/quarantine, we did our best to make it as fun as possible. We (aka Eric, because he's taller!) put up the Happy Birthday banner to mark the day. Conor requested food from the Mr. Gyro food truck for dinner (thank goodness some of the food trucks are still open!!) and grasshopper pie for dessert. We spent the day playing games, relaxing, and just being together. All-in-all, a fairly good way to spend a birthday!

One of the highlights from the day was when Conors' BFF (Theo) and his mom drove by our house to deliver a (socially distanced) birthday greeting. Conor stood on the sidewalk and Theo stayed in the car, but they still giggled and had fun catching up for a few minutes.

Conor opening a present

Modeling the shirt I made for him

Happy boy! He got a Pokemon video game

Obligatory birthday photo

His glowing grasshopper pie

Conor's Birthday Interview

Age: 10 years

What is your favorite thing to do? Play board games, dice games, and card games

What do you want to be when you grow up? An engineer

What is your favorite food? Either gyro or carbonara

What is your favorite color? Seafoam green

What is your favorite toy? Spot 1

What makes you laugh? Dad

What is your favorite song? Allstar by Smash Mouth

What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Cookie dough

What do you like to do with your family? Everything

What is your favorite TV show? Atomic Puppet

What is your favorite book? Warriors

What do you do really well? Growing

If you have $1000 to spend, how would you spend it? Pokemon, Pokemon, Pokemon

What do you want to do before your next birthday? I want to go to Hawaii

What was your favorite thing done as a 9-year-old? We got our dog Huckleberry

Annika is officially double digits

Last night, Annika went to bed as a 9-year-old. This morning, she awoke as a 10-year-old. Double digits, baby!!

Today she is 10... a decade of life under her belt. That also means Eric and I have been parents for a decade... three weeks earlier than we expected. (She has kept us on our toes ever since!) As we left the hospital with our newborn baby girl, I couldn't help but look over my shoulder and think "They're just letting us leave with her and we have NO CLUE what we're doing!"

Over the past 10 years, there have been countless bouts of laughter and tears, moments of "What the hell are we doing??" and "Wow! We haven't screwed them up too much ... yet." It has been quite a journey and one we are incredibly grateful for. As we watch the kids take one each day, we often stare in wonder at all they have learned, how much they've grown, and how much they've changed since they were born. 

This girl amazes us in so many ways. She is witty, compassionate, wickedly smart, funny, daring, and loving. She is tough and isn't afraid to stand up for herself or someone else being wronged. She is a protective big sister who will go to the ends of the earth for Conor, and will be the first in line to complain about something he has recently done. She instantly falls in love with any baby or animal that is in her line of sight. Life will not run over this girl... she will do well for herself, we are sure of it. She loves to art and science, and is often occupying herself with one (or both) of these things. She is our girl and we are so proud of who she is and can't wait to see who she develops into. Happy birthday, sweet girl!  

We are having a fairly low-key day today, which considering our summer's hectic pace, is a welcome change. As I write this post, Annika and Eric are playing a game and Conor is relaxing with his Pokemon stuff. I hear chatter and giggles ... and am loving every minute of it. Annika and I started off the day by going 8:30 mass; she signed up to be an alter server this year and wanted to make mental notes about all of the things she will need to do. After while, she opened presents, which included a digital watch, a "Officially 10" t-shirt, a point-and-shoot digital camera, a night gown, and a book about drawing animals. In a bit, we'll head to the pool for her weekly diving lesson and then we'll have Swedish meatballs as her chosen birthday dinner. 

Annika's 10-Year Birthday Interview

What is your favorite color? Red and pink

What is your favorite toy? Bunny 1

What is your favorite food? Swedish Meatballs

What do you do really well? Diving

What new skill do you want to learn? Ride a unicycle

What is your favorite book? Captain Underpants

What makes you laugh? Daddy

What is your favorite game? Tickle Spider (Daddy/Annika silly game)

What makes you happy? Family

What do you want to be when you grow up? Engineer who builds robots

What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

What is your favorite song? True Colors

If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it? Put some in bank account and give the rest to a charity that helps the homeless and poor.

What do you look forward to now that you are 10? Getting to do more grown up things