Happy 9th Birthday, Owen!

Dear Owen,

Oh, how you have grown!!  My baby boy with the adorable curls has grown into a young man before the blink of an eye!  It seems as though time keeps speeding up - at least for your mom.  But it's not going fast enough for you.  You keep telling me how you want to be older and do grown up things.  And you're already looking forward to your next birthday when you'll be "double digits" as you say.

Look at those curls!!

And look at you now!

You are such a curious boy!  You love reading about fun facts and dispelling myths.  When we met your 3rd grade teacher for the first time, within 5 minutes of talking with you, she responded, "You're a big thinker."  Yes, you are!  You are always thinking deep thoughts, figuring things out and coming up with new ideas.  You especially like experimenting in the kitchen, whether you're helping me bake or coming up with your own concoction.

You love to read.  And the scarier the book, the better!  Your favorite books right now are the Goosebumps series.  They've even made the books into a TV series which you love to watch.  For us older folk, it's like Alfred Hitchcock for kids (which I'll admit to staying up late watching those shows when I was around your age - I loved scary things too!)  You have nearly all the titles to the 60+ Goosebump books memorized.

Speaking of which, you have an incredible memory.  It's truly amazing!  You'll bring up events that happened years ago that I've long forgotten and remember it like it was yesterday.  That memory has served you well at school.  You are a natural when it comes to reading and math.  You can solve a math problem far quicker than I.  You don't even need to write it down - you do it all in your head.  You definitely take after Pa when it comes to numbers!

You are so creative!  You are always coming up with new inventions all your own.  You take pieces of paper, tape, skewers, straws, and anything else that you can get your hands on and create something unique.  Your head is always spinning when it comes to crafting!  You also love to draw.  You are quite the artist!  Your favorite thing to draw is dinosaurs, although dragons may be a close second.  You are so talented!

Drawing of a baby T-rex

Hand-made desk organizer 

Vending machine

Dinosaurs are still a big obsession in your life.  When not drawing them, you're watching them on tv or playing with your extensive collection.  For the 6th year in a row, you had yet another dinosaur themed birthday party.  The dino birthdays started when you were just 4 years old!  Of course, there are no more dinosaur cartoons for you.  Now whatever you watch has to be realistic - and cartoons just won't do.  Jurassic Park and Jurassic World are more your style.  You love the Jurassic movie series, but you are quick to point out all the inaccuracies.  After all, didn't they know a velociraptor was supposed to have feathers!?!?  Because you sure did!

Playing with your first set of dinosaurs when you were just two

You love exploring the great outdoors - hiking on trails, wading through streams, collecting rocks and sticks.  You've even been known to save frogs and even an occasional turtle from certain death by transporting them from the dangerous road to the safe haven of our wetlands.

You are quite the little fish!  You can spend hours in the bath tub and can't get enough time in the pool.  You are a great swimmer and can hold your breath for crazy long periods of time.

This summer you loved swimming in our little pool in the back yard.  You'd swim around and around in circles just like a goldfish in a bowl!

You REALLY want a dog.  But not just any dog - your current dog of choice is a Labrador Retriever.  You ask me at least once a month (sometimes even daily), "When can we get a dog?"  And my response is always: "When you have a house of your own!"  For now, your cat William will have to do.

You tell the best stories.  You love to share them with whoever will listen.  And boy, you can sure talk and talk and talk!  You always have a lot to say!

On your birthday, you got to choose the adventure of the day.  You chose an outing to the Eagles Nest - one of your favorite indoor parks.  We ended up spending the majority of our time in the little kids area and you didn't even complain.  You are such a great big brother!  And your little brother and sister certainly look up to you - they always want to do what big brother Owen is doing.

You are such a handsome, smart, sweet, funny boy.  And we are so very blessed to celebrate another birthday with you.  A very happy 9th birthday, Owen.  You are one amazing kid!  We love you forever and for always!