Sunday, October 28, 2018

Dawson is NINE

This seems so unreal.  There's no way our first baby can be nine!  That feels so impossible to me.  To say, "I have a 9 year old son" seems impossible!  BUT it's true, Dawson is now NINE years old!  AND we couldn't be more proud of the big kid he's becoming.  
This year Dawson did boy scouts again.  He loves scouting.  It's honestly perfectly up his alley.  He loves the projects they do-whether it's recycling an item to make something new, fishing, learning about fishing, hiking, seriously he loves it all!  Dawson is such a lover of the outdoors that this should not be surprising.  I remember when Dawson turned 2 or 3 saying to someone that in since Dawson birth I had been outside more than in my entire life before he was born.  This is because from a young age Dawson would beg to go outside.  He's always loved being outside no matter what we are doing, and this has not changed one bit.  In fact, when we started talking to the kids about looking for a new house in Alabama we asked what was one thing they thought we should look for and Dawson's immediate response without hesitation was "a good yard to play in."
In addition to Scouts, Dawson also played basketball this year.  John was his coach, and his team did really well.  Dawson's so fast and has gotten even better at shooting!  I was very proud of how he played this year.  It was really fun to watch him.  After having watched Carter play soccer in the fall, Dawson had requested to do soccer again in the spring.  It has been a couple years since Dawson played soccer, so we were excited for him to get to play again now that he's older.  WHOA, we were kind of surprised that now he plays on a much bigger field-he likes it though because it means lots more running! His favorite!  Dawson ran a couple one mile fun runs this year and his very first official 5k race.  He also went on a 4 mile run one day (not a race, but worth mentioning since it's his longest run).  He's a great runner.  He's also a great bike rider.  We just went on a long bike ride--4 miles! But he probably went closer to 5 miles. 
This boy also loves fishing.  He hasn't gotten to go fishing as much this spring as normal, but at the beginning of the month for Pop's first birthday in heaven we had a little party at the dock and Dawson was beyond thrilled to get to fish!
Dawson not only enjoys scouts, soccer, basketball, and fishing, he also loves helping others.  He regularly does things without being asked, and frequently he even sneaks and does little chores to surprise us or his siblings to help thing out.  He's so sweet.  He's got a big heart and he loves to serve and help others.  Dawson is very even-tempered and a lot of times I have to drag things out of him.  I think when things bother him he just chooses not to talk about it or at least until after he processes it, where as I want to talk about it with him immediately.  I love seeing him when he gets really excited about something though because he is usually so even tempered that I enjoy seeing these moments of excitement.
This year Dawson has done well in school.  There has been a lot of work in second grade, specifically in math and Dawson's done well!!  He works so hard.  I'm especially proud of how well he does with reading-he can read such hard books now!  I'm impressed!  Dawson loves projects in school-his favorite this year was the Market Day projects where he got to make and sell balloon creations.  Fun! 
This year Dawson has continued to grow like a weed.  He will be taller than me before too terribly long at the rate he's growing.  He's tall and lean-I think this is why he's such a fast runner!
Dawson LOVES art....he enjoys coloring, drawing, painting, making crafts out of anything and everything.  I know that if I told him to choose between watching tv or playing video games OR art he would choose art 100 percent of the time.  
I love our sweet big boy.  He's a wonderful example for his siblings, and he's such a sweet, kind hearted, loving, smart, compassionate big kid now!  We love our Dawson so very much!  Happy number NINE!

This was when he got to open his presents from us!  This was his Pac Man game he wanted, but his surprise and favorite gift from us was his pocket knife.  Big deal around our house!

This is the "whoa I got a pocket knife" smile

This was on his actual birthday.  He had to go to school.  I made him a special sticky bun for breakfast and put his candle in it!


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