Zane calls him Quinny
Bob calls him Q
He calls himself Q-dog
I call him pretty darn awesome!
Quinn is turning 11 next Monday and with his coming birthday comes a chance for me to take a minute to think about our second boy. He's had an awesome year. It hasn't been the most crazy of years. It hasn't been the most stressful. The past year hasn't had any drastic ups or downs. It wasn't full of doctors appointments or therapy or worry. It was, by all accounts, a pretty normal year. And that's pretty darn awesome!
Quinn is still a little boy in many ways. He's still small compared to his peers. He's only barely 70 pounds soaking wet. At first glance, you might not even realize he's almost 11 years old, but I challenge you to look a little closer. Notice the trendy bang flip and the cool glasses. Take not of the daily appearance of the Under Armour hoodie. Watch the way he interacts with his friends. Discover, with a little shock, that many of his friends are girls. (Did I ever tell you about Halloween trick-or-treating when the group of 4 girls, and no boys, showed up at our door to gather Quinn for a trip around the neighborhood?) I think if you look closely, you will see all the little ways that Quinn really is growing up. And it's pretty darn awesome!
Fear not, he has certainly not surrounded himself with only girls. Quinn is a people magnet. He loves people and everyone loves him. I'm pretty sure the Mighty Quinn could make friends at a funeral. There are many life skills that Q has that will serve him well, but this one is pretty darn awesome!
When Quinn's not off being social, you can find him in one of 2 places. He's either with Spencer chilling in the basement or he's with the little boys doing any number of things that you might think would be below a big 5th grader. Not Quinn. He will happily help keep the little guys company/occupied/happy. He is still the most helpful of the 4 boys. He's a part of the Whitlow Elementary Safety Patrol! I can always count on him when I ask him "Quinn will you _____?" It's pretty darn awesome!
One of the biggest changes I've seen this year is one that you wouldn't notice by looking at our boy. You wouldn't really even notice it if you just met him. To recognize how much Quinn's confidence has grown in the last year, you would need to have spent time with him over the last 10 years. And you would need to see him on a lacrosse field. Q changed from a kid with killer speed but a fear to take a shot on goal to a confident leader on his team. He's probably one of the best teammates you could possibly want on a team. He's competent, but (usually) humble. He's funny, but (usually) knows when to pay attention. He's coachable (pretty much always) and he's reliable. For Quinn I can say, without a doubt, that playing lacrosse has helped him to become a better kid because he's so much more confident in himself now. That is most definitely pretty darn awesome!
We will be celebrating Quinn's birthday this weekend with a little slumber party with some of his lacrosse buddies. It's his very first sleepover party and he's so excited! I doubt they will get much sleep, but I know they will have a blast. I wish the Mighty Quinn the happiest of birthdays and will do everything I can to make sure next year is pretty darn awesome!
No comments:
Post a Comment