Ethan is Ten...You Might or Might Not Know What That Means for Me

My boy #2, the classic middle child, turned ten years old last week.  Ethan has officially made it to the double digits and he continues to be one of the bright, shining lights of my life.  If you're new to my blog and maybe you want a little "Ethan history" I'll have to direct you back to some blog posts I wrote about him in April 2011 when he was hospitalized for three days.  He also starred in a very graphic blog post about the scourge known as the stomach flu.  I believe I wrote that one in December 2010.  Of course, I wrote a blog post about him for his birthday last year and you can find it here.  As I mentioned last year, Ethan is anything but plain vanilla.  He is all sugar and spice (even if that's supposed to be for girls).  Ethan continues to have an all-consuming preoccupation with all-things-military.  I think this interest has stuck for about two years now.  Military stuff and enormous Lego sets--those are his two passions at the moment.  Whereas my older and younger sons kind of float from one interest to another, my middle son is definitive about and committed to those two passions.  Once again, one of his birthday gifts was to go to the Army surplus store and have a little shopping spree.

Ethan and his little recruit.

 I can recall my Dad saying when Ethan was a tiny baby that he would be a very persistent, determined boy--and likely, man.  That continues to hold true.  Once he gets something in his head that he is interested in or desires to have he is like a dog with a bone.  He's always been that way.  And, you know what?  He usually gets what he wants eventually.  He's willing to sacrifice having many things to get the few things that he really wants.  Also, he's very specific about what he wants--down to the model number.  That's his Uncle Rob in him.

I had a revelation about Ethan recently.  He is not my boy who loves his Mom to hug and kiss on him right now.  I guess that's part of being a "tween" if that's what you want to call him.  I still do hug and kiss him--a lot--but it's not without receiving quite a bit of resistance.  However, recently I was putting some special things in a box that each of the boys had made for me and I realized that Ethan is the child who likes to write notes to me or draws pictures for me.  That's how he shows his love.  I told his Aunt Cayla and she said that must be his love language and that's probably how he likes to receive love too.  She's right.  I'm going to be more deliberate about that, but I'm still not giving up on the hugs and kisses.  All boys need hugs and kisses and "I love yous" from their mommas.  No one can convince me otherwise.  They also need it from their daddies but this is my blog, not his Dad's blog.

This one is from October 2008--6 years old

Let me translate:  "I love my Mom so much!  Too much.  Very Much! From:  Ethan  To:  Mom

He recognizes in this one that his Mom loves him.  

This was his Mother's Day card to me this year.  My favorite line is H--Her hair is blonde but she went to college.  I guess he's impressed that I'm blonde and still a little smart at the same time.  He hasn't made the connection yet that he's just as blonde as me even though I remind him frequently.

Ethan reminds me a lot of my love--his Dad.  He has that charming way about him.  Once when he was about three years old we were in Target together.  I was telling him the things we needed to get and we were standing in an aisle with the groceries.  I told him we needed milk and he said, "I'll get it.  You just stand there and look pretty."  That is soooooooo his Dad.  Ethan pretty much gets along with everyone and is complimented frequently for his politeness.  Not that my other boys aren't polite--they are--but it's probably more unusual for a boy in the 9-10 year-old range to be noted for his politeness.  All of his teachers have adored him and I am so proud of him for being such a good boy all the time.  He has a very tender heart.  He's the one who will come and ask permission to eat a popcicle after his brothers have already grabbed one from the freezer. 

Honestly, could there BE three cuter boys??

It's difficult to really encapsulate all that is Ethan in a simple blog post.  I deperately love all of my boys, equally and in different ways, and I am so blessed to experience the uniqueness that is each one.  One of the things that is different about Ethan compared to his brothers was the timing of when he was born.  If you've read the blog post that I wrote about him last year then you might think you know what I'm referring to.  If you haven't I encourage you to because I believe it will be meaningful to you even if you don't know Ethan.  But that "timing" is not the timing I'm thinking of.  Yes, Ethan was born five minutes after midnight on his due date; but what's significant also is the time of year he was born.  You see, I already had my beautiful boy, Jac, and Lindy and I knew we wanted to have more children.  Of course, the big decision is always "when?"  Around this time I had prayed that God would allow me to have another baby before I turned 30.  Well, my little Ethan slipped right out and peed on the doctor's shoes exactly 20 days before I turned 30.  So, if you're any good at math at all you can quickly figure that if Ethan is turning ten then that means I am turning....  I'll let you fill in the blank.  Ethan is my child who can't let me forget how old I am...EVER...because he knows I'm almost exactly 30 years older than him.  Gotta love him.

Ethan has been at his grandparents' house the last two weeks in Springfield.  He wanted to spend the 4th of July there and so spending his birthday at their house was the trade-off for getting to spend the 4th there.  I have missed him desperately, as I missed Jac when he was there for two weeks.  His Uncle Rob helped me surprise him with the enormous Lego set he wanted and I got to watch him open it on Skype.  I love giving the gifts to my kids that they really want.  It's so much better than just guessing and buying something you think they will like.  He had a little party there and he doesn't want a party at home.  Nope, my boy wants to go to the gun range for his tenth birthday.  You're not surprised by that, are you?  He really wants Mr. Matt to go though so we have to plan it around his schedule.

The back of his shirt says "All Things are Possible"

I hope you've enjoyed a little Ethan insight as he turns ten.  He is a unique boy--very special indeed--and I am so proud of his tender heart, his sweet spirit, and most of all, how he wants all his friends to know Jesus.  We are blessed with a tremendous gift in our middle son.