Dutch Turns Twelve

He is officially a pre-teen! Can't believe this is his last semester in elementary school and next year the middle school years begin. He still makes me proud with his academic achievements and the respect he shows his elders. He got 2nd place in the school spelling bee this year and placed 6th in the district-wide Number Sense competition for 6th graders. I signed him up for Cotillion against his wishes, but I think he had a good time with his friends and it was worth every penny to me when we danced together on Parents' night! His favorite music right now is AJR and Macklemore; he watched the entire Office series; he loves the comedian Nate Bargatze; and he still stays up too late reading every night. He's got a great friend group and I have a feeling they'll be seeing a lot of each other this summer. Happy 12th birthday, kiddo. Your dad and I love you tons. 

Jude Turns Nine!

Turning nine and feeling fine. This fly kiddo celebrated his birthday in late November with a trip to Hapik with his friends.

I'm constantly impressed by Jude's wit, memory, intelligence, affection, and desire to play. If we suggest a game, he's up for it. He's been studying Spanish a few minutes a day for the past year and I am so proud of him. Here's a sentence he put together about our small-headed dog, Zoey, that gives you a good example of his quirky mind: "La cabeza de mi perro es mas pequena que mi mano."

He's still obsessed with Corgis, but also has started loving Shiba Inus. He's pretty much an animal lover in general though, so it's not unusual for me to get a text with a funny animal video, or an animal park he's found online that he wants us to visit.

We gave him sparkling apple juice on NYE and now he's decided he wants to drink that year-round from a fancy glass. I'll allow it. I consider myself very lucky to be his mom and look forward to seeing what his bright future holds.