Eleven

Christopher turned 11 in October. I can feel the tides turning - sometimes he is still a sweet little boy, and sometimes he is a full-of-attitude teenager. Luckily, most of the time he is still the sweet little boy. (He will call you on stuff, though. If you do something he does not approve of, he will let you know. For example, when we were in London at Christmas he informed my brother-in-law that he was a "public embarrassment." To be clear, Andrew was trying to embarrass Christopher in public, so the critique was valid.)

We celebrated Christopher's birthday this year with a camping trip with two of my best friends and their families who we camp with yearly. (The kids and dads are all also good buds.) I brought cupcakes and Christopher was surprised with gifts (video game-related gift cards). We had a great trip. Then, we had pizza and Dairy Queen ice cream cake with the local cousins and aunt and uncle. (Along with more presents.)

We are rounding the homestretch of elementary school. I am sure I will be a crying mess come 5th grade graduation, but Christopher is ready to move on. He toured his (hopefully) future middle school last week, and came away feeling excited and ready. He has big plans for all of the sports and clubs he wants to try out next year.

He complains a lot about school, but always seems happy enough when he gets home. He has a good group of friends, known as Da Boyz, that he hangs out with on a daily basis. I am not sure how many of Da Boyz will be in middle school with him, but Christopher will be fine either way. In fact, the friends he really wants to hang out with are the ones he has known since he was a baby, and who are all playing a video game I won't let him play. (He is significantly younger than these friends.) He begs me every few months, but I have held my ground.

Christopher is still a vegetarian, but recently read "Hatchet", which made him start to question is beliefs. We will see if he sticks with it or not. I told him I would support him either way. 

He loves to read, and recently finished the Percy Jackson series. 

He recently started taking guitar lessons. He is learning Greek on Duolingo. He has a whole routine when he gets home from school, which includes these hobbies plus a workout that he devised for himself.

Likes at 11: video games that he is allowed to play, engineering projects, drawing, guitar, riding his bike, camping, hiking, fruit of all kinds, playing board games, YouTube, Gravity Falls, Legoes.

Dislikes: Meat, not being allowed to play Rainbow Six Siege, having his guitar lesson on a Friday after school when he just wants to "chill", the fact that Cherry won't snuggle with him, Clare's attitude.

Christopher is very helpful, and will usually do whatever I ask without complaint. He is very gracious. He thanks me for making dinner for him and for doing other things to help take care of him. He is funny. He is full of facts that he remembers from books, and is interesting to talk to. Like I said, there is attitude sometimes, but most of the time he is a joy to be around. Christopher, you are just the best.