Ryan Turned 9!

Ryan turned 9 last December!  It was a family birthday party year so my family came out to celebrate.  Ryan is still into skateboarding and received some new "skinny jeans" with a few Tony Hawk shirts, a new skateboard, a DC hat, new Vans, Tech Decks, and a new Wii game. I love how Ryan gets so passionate about something and that's all he wants and thinks about.  He had his Toy Story phase, Star Wars phase, Pirate phase, and now we're onto skateboarding (and basketball is thrown in there now too!).

Ryan is really gifted academically and has really soared this year in school.  He tested into the GATE program at school, received straight A's, and has won some awards for his writing and reading achievements.  He thrives on trying to be the best at everything which is a great attribute except that if he thinks he can't be the best he won't even try :(  

He's done some things different this past year with sports.  He decided he didn't really like soccer (see above for the reason) and so we told him he needed to be involved in something and he chose golf.  He took golf lessons at Redhawk Golf Course by our house and absolutely loved it!  The instructor there said that Ryan has some natural skill and he's invited to come play with the more advanced players on Saturdays where they play some holes on the golf course along with range practice. Woohoo!  He just finished his basketball season and really excelled on his team.  He kept telling me before sign-ups he didn't want to play and basketball was stupid.  When the last day for sign-ups approached I told him it was his last chance and he finally spilled why he didn't want to play.  In his division they would start having refs and would call fouls and stuff.  He was so scared he'd foul out every game because he's quite a physical and aggressive player.  I convinced him to play and he's so glad he did.  Ryan was one of his team's top scorers and only fouled out once!  Can't wait for next year!

Although Ryan can make me want to pull my hair out quite regularly, he also can make me laugh so hard!  He is so witty and pretty hilarious (sometimes bordering on obnoxious if I'm being honest) and a really good boy.  We've seen more of his soft and serious side these past few months through some different experiences he's had and it makes me so happy to see him make good choices, choose good friends, and be so fun to have in our family.