I have been wanting to write about Conner for some time. He turned 9 on October 18th and while my intentions to do a birthday post (heck, even a birthday party) for him were there, it never came to fruition. So here goes. And in usual style, I am going to let pictures speak for themselves. Warning: lots of proud Mommy bragging will go on here.
Hmm...don't even know where to start. This ninth year of life has been an amazing transformation for all of us. He is at that age where he is somewhat detaching from us and venturing out. May not look like a big way from the outside, but I see it and feel it on the inside and am really proud of him. All the times I
forced encouraged him to be independent has certainly paid off in dividends. I find myself allowing him to do things on his own, like pulling up to a fast food place so he can run in and go to the bathroom, allowing him to take his sister to the bathroom at restaurants (he waits outside for her of course), at the beach, giving him a key and allowing him to go up to our unit to get something and come back, even going in a store to purchase something and go through the checkout on his own. I love that he wants to do it and literally see his confidence building. Those are some ways I see it and am proud for him, but there are other moments that just touch my heart where proud doesn't scratch the surface. I see some of them around here, like these:
The novelty of a baby brother has not worn off, in fact, I see his
desire to interact and connect with Zane more and more each week. This
weekend, Conner and Keith went camping (where apparently
you can set up the timer on the camera and take as many "farting" pictures as you want while eating Doritos) and when he came back, he took Zane in his arms and said "How's my boy? You have me back now", in the sweetest baby voice you have ever heard. He has yet to deny my request nor complain when I say, "Can you watch your brother for me? or "Will you go talk to Zane for a minute?" Conner was even able to go upstairs get Zane out of the crib and bring him down to the kitchen for me. Sweet for me! And oh so sweet for he and Zane. His love of babies didn't start with Zane however, he had a
cousin born last January and from her birth, he has been enamored with her. (see right) It wasn't the token, "I'll hold her until I get bored", he was content to hold her and just be. This is the same kid who, on a playground will play with kids of any age. It is not uncommon for me to see him playing with toddlers even when there is bigger kids around. He will strike up conversations with Mom's, Grandmother's with no hesitation and demonstrate an innate kindness that is admirable. I say innate because I have seen it since birth and unfortunately cannot claim credit for teaching it!
What may speak more than anything to the subject of his kindness and ability to get along with kids of all ages is this:
This is Alaina's five year old birthday party. A girly girl "sleepover" (you don't really think I am crazy enough to actually have that many girls stay over do you?) and do you see who that is in the left corner of the pic? Yep, Conner. He wanted to be there every bit as much as Alaina wanted him there. That said, he will ham it up with the boys every chance he gets. Here he is with his "co-authors" at school at the book reveal party at school. The ONE thing Conner's teacher said he could work on at
school was his silliness with the boys. She did add that it was a problem for all of them and hey, if he is going to have an issue in school, I will take that one! He (and we as parents) are so blessed that school comes easily for him. He is the type that can ace a test without studying and is able to comprehend concepts, especially mathematic ones, without much effort. He got straight A's first quarter and his love of school is not only reflected in his grades, but his attitude when he gets in the car at the end of the day. It is rare that I don't get "It was an awesome day!" from him. : ) Let's all pray this continues!
Not only do academic things come easily, Conner is an athlete. His favorite "subject" is recess and his competitive nature, which he is still learning to control, combined with his physical ability allows him to excel and enjoy sports. So far it has been soccer and we are holding back the lion in him that has requested tackle football since the age of 3. One day, Conner, one day. We are going to give basketball another go round this winter and and he is eager to try baseball as well. The one thing that rivals his love to be on the field would be football watching. Yep, he and his Dad have become regular football game watching buddies. In fact, last night when we were supposed to be decorating the tree, I was left alone with the ornaments as Conner sat and watched a game. Yep, it happened. The appeal and magic of Christmas Tree decorating has died it's first death with Conner. Thank you NFL. You know your son loves some football when he runs upstairs to give you a play by play of the last minutes of a game including the details of time left, penalties given, yards run and even plays used. It will be interesting to see which sport he ends up playing the most!
Okay, this post is getting WAY too long already. As you can see, I am madly in love and madly proud of this boy and could go on all day about him, but here are some moments of love that reflect those sentiments.
Conner and I sitting in the hospital looking at Zane, talking about him and bonding over this new addition to our family. Conner's questions are always genuine, and demonstrate a mature curiosity and thirst for knowledge that I love.
These next two were from a beach trip we took when Zane was just 3 weeks old. Tell me that Conner requesting skin to skin time with his baby brother is not one of the sweetest things ever. Love.
I was lucky enough to catch this moment. It was the first time that Zane looked at Conner. I mean, really looked at him. It fills me with anticipation to think what their relationship will be like and I feel blessed beyond belief that Conner is the big brother that God has blessed Zane with.
Conner is not only great with Zane but is great with his sister. That does not mean that he doesn't annoy, aggravate and intentionally torture her. I mean, what brothers DON'T do that?? But he still loves to hang out with her. Here was a moment I caught on the beach this summer where they were sitting in the surf having a conversation for a good while
And then there is all that they do together on a regular basis. The occasional bubble bath where he keeps his sister laughing with all his
inappropriateness silliness. They still have sleepovers on a regular basis and always make some type of fort out of the furniture, his loft (see below) or have a movie night together. Their excitement over it is really remarkable. Wonder how long that will last??
He has really struggled with Alaina in other ways. She wants his attention constantly and that takes the form of aggravating him and always wanting to be in his room. He has verbalized to e how hard it is for him sometimes and we have had many honest conversations about how difficult it can be to have
Alaina as a sister, but also what a blessing. Oh how I hope God gives me the wisdom and strength to help him navigate his relationship with Alaina!
And his Dad. What Dad is not seen as a hero by their son at some point? Conner loves his Daddy fiercely. They do things together every night. Every single night. Keith is amazing in that respect. Where I am pushing them off to bed without hesitation, Keith is always careful to consider if he has had his one on one time with them that day. Me? I am busy trying to get one on one time with myself. Just sayin. This weekend Keith cut off his long scraggly hair locks and Conner, after weeks of refusing to have his hair cut, welcomed the clippers without hesitation the same night. I feel beyond blessed to have Keith as a Dad for Conner.
Now I know I have portrayed Conner as a saint, and while he is wonderful in so many ways, he is also a normal boy. He struggles at time with all the typical things...telling the truth, obedience, responsibility. In fact, after we left Trader Joes the other day, I found he had "stolen" a sucker out of the treasure box. While free, kids are only supposed to take one item and he had chosen a chocolate coin and wasn't supposed to take anything else. He had slipped the sucker in his pants to hide it. I called him on it and he promptly ran back in the store to put it back in the treasure box but it bothered me and I let him know. He demonstrated a big love of money (literally, the boy loves some cash) and video games. Keith and I will always be looking for wisdom in teaching him that balance and oh what challenges he will have ahead with a world that is embroiled in money and media. *sigh*
My prayer is that since I have been given this privilege to parent his amazingly beautiful creature, that I can do it to God's glory. That I can guide and lead him to know Christ and be a light for Him. I have not done the job I need to do in that area, but God has mercy and thankfully lots of it. He also has the wisdom that I will need to nurture Conner and allow all these amazing traits to blossom into full maturity where he can one day lead others, lead a family and most of all know our Father
