Conway Turns Eleven

Conway is 11 years old!! He is smart, focused, hardworking, and opinionated. For his birthday breakfast Conway requested scrambled eggs, bananas, and silver dollar pancakes with maple syrup and chocolate sauce and for lunch he had pesto tortellini. We went to a Sounders game in the evening, so he got to have chicken strips and fries for dinner. Not a bad day of birthday meals! And here's a little more about eleven-year-old Conway. He... 

• can be quiet and chill and still loves to rest. These days his resting is often accompanied by listening to music in his room, preferably Kendrick Lamar.
• is willing to argue an opinion (or is it a fact?) down to the smallest detail. There is no injustice too small for Conway. 
• insists on detailed specificity. Don't bring half-truths, contradictions, or unclear information around Conway because he will call you on it! He agrees with Brene Brown that "clear is kind".
• got his braces off!
• excels at school. His combination of intelligence, grit, focus, determination, and outside the box thinking serve him well and we're excited to see where these gifts take him. 
• has become a bit more physical with his brothers and he's actually into playing with them every once in a while. It still doesn't generally end well, though.
• has become a great skier and he really seems to enjoy it, especially the going fast part. 
• played another fun year of Seattle United soccer. He's a great leader, kind teammate, and works really hard. He also takes it personally if he gets beat on the ball and he will hunt you down. He doesn't have the quickest first step, but he's fast and he doesn't give up. 
• gave up baseball, to everyone's surprise. Queen Anne Little League even named a new rule after him, allowing kids to wear jewelry in games. He insists he'll have fun just watching his friends play. 
• played another season of QA basketball and has become kind of obsessed with the sport. Turns out he's a great basketball player! 
• is doing okay at getting out of bed on weekday mornings, but it can still be a bit of a fight to get him to eat breakfast before heading off to school. He's really looking forward to the later start time he'll have next year as a middle schooler (!!!).
• is still fairly specific about what he wears. These days he tends to sport less bling and fewer colorful outfits, but he loves his Nike Tech and he's very particular about which shoes he wears with which outfit. The kid has style.
• says pesto pasta, French toast, and corndogs are his favorite foods. Tofu and mushrooms continue to be his least favorites. 
• lists snow leopards, mongooses, and Tater as his favorite animals.
• still wants hugs before he leaves for school in the morning and as he goes to bed at night. We're crossing our fingers that this will never change. 

Happy 11th Birthday Conway! We love you!

P.S. Conway Turns Ten, Parker Turns Eleven