Happy Birthday to My Ten Year-Old - An Interview

It's hard for me to believe that Lewie is ten years-old today.  He's been here for an entire decade!  I've been a mom for a whole decade!  I wish I could say unequivocally that I've been with him for every single milestone, but I know that's impossible.  Instead, I'd like to think I've written about them (or most of them) in this blog.

Silly Lewie

Sweet Lewie (We took a picture of him with a pineapple as the term "pineapple pen" has become his favorite meme.)

This year, my ten year-old will be going into forth grade.  He just squeaks into a size 6 shoe, and he wears a 14-16 for pants and shirts.  (Next year, he will most likely fit into men's shoes and clothing--Yikes!)

It's been a year of transition and new milestones.  For one, in May, he had his very first sleepover at his best friend's house.  Now since that faithful day, Lewie and Ryan have spent several days this summer sleeping over each other's houses; in fact, Ryan is sleeping over tonight to be here for his birthday.  The two of them have become best buds, and it warms my heart to think that they've had play dates since they were one years-old!

Another milestone is that Lewie tried new camps this year.  His beloved Camp 565 was cancelled back in March, and suddenly we were left scrambling to find something to take its place.  One new camp that he attended for several weeks, Eagle Rock Day Camp, offered archery, zip lines, hiking, swimming, and all things nature.  It was a first for him to be at such a camp, and the archery and the zip line were both new experiences.  Another camp he attended, ID Tech Camp, was a week of learning coding and scripting on the computer.  He begged me to attend this camp, and while it's difficult for me to comprehend exactly what he learned, it did confirm his love of computers.  He told me on the forth day, "Mommy, I even spent my free time going through the lessons because I really want to learn."

Little Lewie, of course, is still my sweet angel.  He's an easy kid with a heart of gold.  He does everything he can to make people happy and stay away from drama.  He's kind to his teachers, his classmates, and his friends, and he LOVES life.  All of his interests have turned to the computer, but we still play board games, hike, swim, and bike.  While he loves to play games on the Xbox and watch YouTube videos, he's lately developed an interest for making songs using Music Maker Jam.  Music is turning to a new love, and he can often be seen wearing headphones when he doesn't want to disturb us (like at 5 in the morning).

Last year, I asked him the following 14 questions.  I also added two more to the mix.  Some of his answers are the same, but many are different.  My little boy is definitely growing up!

Q:  What is your favorite color?

A:  Orange (Same as last year.)

Q:  What is your favorite book?

A:   Wonder.  Although, he still enjoys The Magic Tree House books, too. 

Q:  What is your favorite cartoon?

A:  "The Amazing World of Gumball" and "Teen Titans Go! To the Movies"

Q:  What is your favorite movie?

A:  "Avenger's Infinity War," says Lewie.  "Although, my favorite movie of all time is still 'The Polar Express.' I need to see it more."

Q:  What is your favorite song?

A:  "Megalovania" by Toby Fox from the UNDERTALE Soundtrack."  (Lewie says this very matter-of-factly.)

Q:  What is your favorite board game?

A:  Clue. (Although, we also like Sorry, Slapsies, and sometimes Chutes and Ladders.  He played Monopoly and Scrabble for his first time this year, too.)

Q:  What is your favorite computer game?

A:  "Undertale," he answers.  Although, he likes playing Fortnite, Roblox, and Minecraft, too.  He also still likes playing Mario games on the Wii U.

Q:  What is your favorite place?

A:  "Billy's Ice Cream because it's simple and yummy."  (It also has a Lionel train that rides around the ice cream parlor on a track.)  When Lewie mentioned this was his favorite place, we decided to take him there today, and then we discovered it went out of business.  We're so sad! 

Q:  What is your favorite thing to do at school?

A:  P.E.  (Gym) (Same as last year)

Q:  Who is your favorite teacher?

A:  "Probably Mr. Youngs (Lewie's music teacher), but Mrs. Nardelli is nice, too (Lewie's third grade teacher)."

Q:  What is your favorite sport?

A:  Basketball

Q:  What is your favorite food?

A:  French Toast (Same as last year)

Q:  What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?

A:  Taking walks (Same as last year, but he didn't mention the trampoline)

Q:  What do you want to be when you grow up?

A:  "A Game Designer!"

Q:  What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?
A:  "Watch Avenger movies with him!"

Q:  What is your favorite moment as a nine year-old?
A: "Going parasailing."  (We just recently did this during our brief trip to Delaware.  There will be more about this later...)

Sayings
This year Lewie has picked up on memes from YouTube.  He likes to say the same things over and over again like, "Hi! Welcome to Chili's," "I want a hot dog," or "Pineapple Pen."  We laugh because he says them at the most ridiculous times, and we've even joined in the fun by actually buying him a pineapple pen, a pineapple shirt, a pineapple towel, and even a pineapple night light.  This boy has become the pineapple kid even though he actually doesn't eat pineapples!

(One quick story: When we stayed at the Evergreen Lodge near Yosemite National Park, we quickly learned that our room had an Alexa Amazon device.  The boys--a.k.a. my husband and Little Lewie--went back and forth asking Alexa to play music, tell jokes, etc.  Then, out of the blue, Lewie says, "Alexa, play Pineapple Pen."  We laughed from the absurdity of it all...UNTIL...Alexa starts playing "Pen Pineapple Apple Pen."  What?  There's actually a song with this title?  We laughed until we almost peed our pants, and the song made us laugh even more.  (It's worth checking out the video for a further chuckle.)

Other sayings by Lewie include, "I'm proud of my mom because she's a dean," "I'm going to college where my mom works," and "I'm going to create [fill in the blank]."  This boy is constantly coming up with new game, software, console, and computer ideas either to improve existing programs or to come up with brand new ones.

My Little Lewie is definitely growing up, but there are still times when he reminds me of being a little kid.  He still sleeps with his beloved "Tigey" (stuffed animal tiger); he loves Star Wars and the Avengers; he loves playing computer games to be silly and not competitive; and he loves making people laugh.  At times, he mispronounces a big word or I have to teach him what a word means.  He also needs to be bribed to take a shower or a bath, as he shows no interest in dressing up for girls just yet (thank goodness)!

Yes, I'll take ten.   I'm sad that a full decade has gone by.  (I wept as I looked through ten years worth of pictures.)  Still, he's young, and he isn't done needing us yet!  If anything, I'm using this birthday to remind me that my quality time with little guy is limited, and so I need to dedicate the next ten years to him just as much as I did the first ten years.  I'm going to continue being an active mom in his life--even if it means taking on less commitments at work or in my town.  These years are precious, and so Lewie--YOU COME FIRST!  Here's to the next decade; it WILL be awesome!