Monroe Turns Eight!

Monroe is eight years old!! He is a bright, athletic, deeply feeling kid and he's getting so big! For his birthday dinner, we had a mini corndog and Caesar salad picnic at the Ballard Locks. Parker was at soccer practice and David was out of town, but Uncle Damo joined us for the fun. Monroe continues to keep us on our toes with his whit, humor, spunk, and bear hugs. And here's a bit more about 8-year-old Monroe. He...

• is very enthusiastic and energetic, which are such lovely qualities most of the time. When he feels good about something, life is so good. And when he feels negatively about something, watch out.
• is an outward processor so all those positive and negative feelings are visible and audible to all.
• is smart as a whip! He excels at school, as long as he can keep his body under control and/or has a teacher with patience for all his movement. Thankfully, his second-grade teacher has lots of patience and adores Monroe (most of the time). 
• is both friendly and independent. Monroe has lots of friends and still often chooses to play by himself.
• still likes to play full imaginary sports games with made up teams and teammates and can be heard calling out the play-by-play of what's happening. 
• made Seattle United soccer club's top team for his age group and they're gearing up for another great season. He's been working on improving his right foot and being almost ambidextrous seems to be handy and pretty rare at his age.
• played baseball again this year and did great at hitting, fielding, and pitching. The game can be a bit slow for him so staying focused can be a challenge.
• has been taking swim lessons and he's gotten to be a much more capable swimmer. 
• really enjoys needling his brothers, which doesn't generally end well for anyone involved, including anyone who's nearby and has to listen to the whining and crying that ensues. 
• gives really great compliments - specific, enthusiastic, and often out of the blue.
• still likes to hike his pants up real high. Is that comfy?
• loves to eat a variety of foods and he's usually pretty open to trying new things. 
• lists macaroni and cheese, pizza, French toast, scrambled eggs with pancetta, and any eggs Papa makes as his favorite foods. His least favorite foods are salmon, shrimp, and olives.
• has many stuffies, but his current favorites are Cloud the snow leopard, Sprinkles the seal, and Tramp the squishmellow.
• lists snow leopards, snakes, spiders, otters, and seals as his favorite animals.
• continues to be very physical. He loves big strong hugs with us and with Tater. He really loves to squeeze Tater, which she isn't a big fan of. 
• is quick to say thanks and show gratitude for things and experiences.
• has a truly infectious laugh!

P.S. Monroe Turns Seven