How could you possibly be 8 years old?! You have brought us so much happiness in each of your 8 years of life so far. The look on our faces in this picture tells it all. This was taken just a couple of hours after you were born.
As you know you came to us 12 weeks early. We were of course very concerned about your well being when I was in labor with you...your dad says from the moment he heard you scream when you were born he knew his prayers had been answered and everything would be taken care of from then on out. And it has been. Keegan, you truly are 'our little fiery one'.
Here is the sign above your little place in the NICU at KU Med Center, where you grew for 8 weeks.
Fast forward 8 years later...
you have changed a lot in the last year. Your physical appearance as well as your emotional and intellectual capabilities.
You lost your first three teeth, including your top two! Your "big" teeth are growing in and I know you will look so much older now!
Your pants have gotten short and your shoes have gotten too small and you are more coordinated. You have become very interested in sports this year, playing and watching. The chubbiness in your face has gone away.
Intellectually, you are figuring out the world. You say social studies and science are your favorite subjects. You retain information astoundingly. Your vocabulary is out of this world. The other night when we were reading Pinocchio with Sam, I asked you what "destiny" meant and you replied, "like your dreams of what you want to do" and when I asked you what "embrace" meant you replied with, "to reach out and hold onto"!!! Reading comes very naturally to you, you are reading advanced chapter books and you read with great expression.
You are a little, I mean much more, sensitive and emotional to discipline than you use to be. When we ask you to do something differently you cry and get upset and say "I am doing that!" I think it is your way of saying "please trust that I am big and mature and I can do it myself". You are strong-headed and persistent. Where would you possibly get that trait from? You like to get the last word in. We are trying to teach you to be respectful and to not talk back. Not that we aren't going to stop teaching you, having expectations of you or reminding you of rules but I understand that you are you own person and you want to be independent, but at the same time you want to make sure we are there watching and noticing, this person that you are.
I recently came across a journal assignment of mine from one of my education or child development classes from college and I spoke about Clara and at that time she was your age, 8. I wrote, "One minute I can be having a mature conversation with her and the next she is throwing a fit." I relaxed as I read this as it reminded me that this is normal behavior for this age. Coming in and out of surprising maturity and toddler like fits.
You can be serious and SILLY...
You have become an early riser in your old age. We often have to tell you that you can not get up or at least out of bed before 7:00. You are always the first one up. You are ready for the day and maybe you like your alone time. The other morning when I had woken up you had already warmed yourself up a pancake and syrup and eaten it. There is no doubt that you love life!
You and your brother have gotten quite close. You play together sometimes for hours with out one bout of bickering. I will catch you teaching him how to do something or just being silly with each other. This is not to say that you don't fight. This morning you both galloped into my bedroom, sporting matching new haircuts and only wearing boxers, went to use the bathroom together and then skipped out. And I thought, oh how cute...not 5 seconds later was there squabbling and crying because you had drank out of Sam's Sunkist bottle! There are lots of lessons in these fights, I remind myself as we intervene with the yelling and screaming!
I love how when I look at you and say in a loving voice, "Keegan" and you know to come over and give me a hug. I don't know if you do it because I ask or because you want to but it sure makes me feel good. 
Some days it takes everything in us to make it through a day and bedtime could not come any sooner, but as soon as you and your brother are in bed asleep, your dad and I talk about you two, we laugh at the endearing things you have said or done, and we are reminded of the joy you brought into our lives 8 years ago.
We love you Keegan.
Mom and Dad
1 comment:
Gosh, that brought tears to my eyes....how quickly 8 years go!
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