Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Brandon's 9th birthday letter

Dear Brandon,                                                                                              February 25, 2020

I write this letter almost 3 months after your birthday this year.  It had been a busy winter!  You have changed so much going from 8 to 9.  You still have a sweet and caring disposition about you but you have started challenging and questioning things more.  I believe this is your way of asserting your independence as you get older and closer to being a tween.  You are kind and caring and seem to make friends easily.  You are not shy and you prefer to be around people as much as you can.  You have continued to do great at school (although sometimes I wish that you wanted to push yourself a bit more).  You are in the highest reading group with all of your close friends and you got chosen to do a special accelerated after school math enrichment class on Thursdays.  Your reading has really taken off and you participated in the Oregon Battle of the Books.  It is excited watching you become excited to read so much!

Your best friends continue to be Colton and Riley from kindergarten and Logan.  You have become close with Ishan (who is in our Cub Scout group and who was in your class last year), our neighbor John, Cruz (who was in your kindergarten class as well), Matthew who was in Cub Scouts with you and is in your class, Josh who was also in your class last year, and Silas (who was in your class last year as well and who you love playing video games with).  You enjoy having play dates with your friends when you can.

You did basketball, baseball, and flag football this year for sports.  You enjoyed all of them but seemed to enjoy baseball the most.  You enjoyed baseball so much in the spring that you decided to play in the Fall also.  It was fun watching you grow and develop with your sports-such a big difference from 2nd grade sports to 3rd grade sports where you have refs and more rules!  You didn't know anyone really on your baseball team and you did a great job making new friends and listening to your coaches.

With your free time you love playing with your friends, playing Fortnite online with your friends and Daddy, cooking with Daddy and baking with Mommy, and watching Hulu shows Like Boy Meets World and Full House.  You have begun helping out quite a bit more around the house and take the dishes out and take Lulu on a walk to help me out!  This has been very helpful.

We had a such a fun year leading up to you turning 9.  Here are my favorite photos of you over the past year.  I can't believe that next year you will be 10!  That seems so old!

I love this photo of you and Lulu playing in the snow in Sun River in January.  We had such a fun trip and it snowed so hard on our last day.  You and Lulu loved seeing it snow.  We also had a blast with the Mowery family going inner tubing at Mt. Bachelor.

We had a lot of fun going on a hike near the Deschutes River in Sun River.  It was fun seeing Sun River in the winter time.

 In January-you had fun making an Angry Bird Pinewood Derby car and racing it.  You and Daddy made it together.
 In February we went to Aubrey Lodge with your Cub Scout pack and had fun trekking through feet of snow to the lodge and sledding with your friends.
In March we had a blast going to your School's Rockin' Fun Night (Mother/Son dance) where we had fun in the photo booth together.  Although you didn't want to dance much with your mom you did have fun racing around the cafeteria and hallways with your friends.
 At the end of March you finished your basketball season and had a lot of fun playing with most of your friends at Alberta Rider.
At the end of March for Spring break we went to Great Wolf Lodge where you had a blast swimming, playing Magi Quest, and doing a rope course.  Then we went to Skamania Lodge where we saw Multnomah Falls.
 In April we went to the Tulip Festival on a very wet and soggy Sunday (in between all your baseball games).  The tulips were out though and it was very pretty!
In May you continued to have fun playing baseball and Lulu came to watch you.  You got on a baseball team with all of your buddies which was so much fun!
In June we had fun at the Coast where we went to Lincoln City for a night and got to swim in a hotel pool and let Lulu run like crazy on the beach.  We also had a yummy Mexican dinner at the coast.
We had fun hiking in Sun River to our favorite spot-Sparks Lake.  You did great hiking-Lulu not so much as she was panting a lot!
You got to meet your newest cousin Callie in August which was so fun.  We had such a fun trip to California.
 You had fun running in the ocean near Santa Cruz in California.  You had such a fun time on our trip.
You got to meet and love on Aunt Lael's berniedoodle Jack in California in August.  You loved how mellow and playful Jack was.
You played Flag Football through MVP and had a lot of fun.  It was quite a muddy and rainy season but there were a few nice weather days.
You had fun playing Fall baseball and improved so much in a short period of time!
You had a blast going to Disneyland for your first time.  You loved Star Wars land!
You had a lot of fun making your Droid at the Droid shop in Disneyland-an early 9th birthday present to you!
Both you and your sister loved the IncrediCoaster.  Your other favorite rides were Splash Mountain, the Indiana Jones ride, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain at night, and the Guardian of the Galaxy ride.  You loved Disneyland so much and was at the perfect age to go!
Meeting a favorite-Tigger in Disneyland with your sister!
I loved your Halloween outfit this year-Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean.  You liked the movie too!
In November we did a fun hike with your Cub Scout den at the Tualatin River Nature center.  
 In late November we celebrated your birthday and CiCi's birthday early and you got a big hug from CiCi.  You loved your Pokemon game you got from her!
In December we celebrated your birthday with lava cake and candles!

As you can see, you had such a fun and wonderful year with so many memories.  I love you so much Brandon and am so happy to your mother.

Love,
Mommy

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