ten

Somehow it feels like a blurry picture of a child zooming past on roller skates is very apropos for a report on a tenth birthday. My oldest child is ten years old: a whole decade, double digits.

Liam is growing into himself, becoming more sweet and interesting day by day. Perhaps spurred by this milestone birthday, Joel and I have been talking a lot about the person Liam is becoming. This smart, polite child with a sly sense of humor and lovely smile is a triumph for us in a lot of ways.

Liam was a challenging toddler and preschooler. Even into Kindergarten, we agonized about his education and his future because he seemed to have so many obstacles to overcome. As a baby, he bit other kids. As a preschooler he refused to participate in most activities and acted out daily toward his teachers and classmates. And now? Now you'd never know that we went through those struggles together. Now he is self-assured and self-aware. True, he tends to hold back and observe at first, but when he's comfortable he dives right in - to a conversation, a game or a project. He has a group of close friends, and while he does better one-on-one, he can hang in a group too. He's introverted and intense, but loves to tell jokes and make people laugh. He reads at a 9th grade level, and is a starting player on his soccer team this fall.

But isn't this the rollercoaster of parenting? One minute you think your kid won't survive preschool, and the next day he's in fourth grade and you're watching him walk into a new classroom in a new school without a care in the world. And the ride is so worth it when, on the night of his birthday, he crawls in bed with you and says, "if I ever am reincarnated [another story] I hope I have a mom as nice as you..."

We were supposed to go to Fall Creek to celebrate Liam's birthday with his friends, but had to settle for SkateWorld when it rained.

Instead of a cake this year Liam wanted to take his friends to Prince Puckler's for ice cream.

But of course, per tradition, he requested Gramma's angel food cake for his family party.

And on his actual birthday (Sept 7) we went on a family bike ride along the river with Liam on his new bike and Lucy in the Burley trailer.