Tomorrow is Zane's 8th birthday!
I have really enjoyed getting to know this handsome blonde dude this year. He's developing his own little personality and it's pretty amazing to watch. I think he tends to surprise us more than the big boys have. Just when I think I've got him figured out, he shares another quirk all his own.
Zane is a thinker. He thinks everything through. And then some. I would say that being a thinker first (as opposed to action first) is a good thing about 90% of the time.
One thing that he's far better at than his older brothers is imaginative play with action figures. He's always played well with action sets. The storylines and games he plays are complex and intricate - and you better believe there are rules involved. Do not break the rules. Rule breakage leads to a bad scene!
I think one of the areas that Zane struggles most with is related to the fact that he thinks through situations and feels like he's got the best plan forward. This is awesome - and should keep him out of lots of trouble - but it also makes dealing with change very difficult. He still has problems when unexpected things happen or he's surprised by some reaction. He's much better at these things than he used to be - and maturity will continue to help I'm sure.
Speaking of maturity, Zane's sense of humor has gotten so much funnier this year! He's got a quick wit and is very dry. Some of the stuff he says is just plain funny! I was trying to take a picture of something a few weeks ago and I couldn't find a place to take the picture with a decent backdrop. I tried to use the table, but the table was REALLY dirty (like 4 boys live here dirty) so I made a comment about not being able to find a clean spot to use. Zane looked a me and said, "You should just take a picture of the table and say 'boys'." He was completely deadpan serious. It cracked me up for days.
In sports, being a thinker first has both pros and cons. On the con side, he tends to come across as overly cautious when he's learning something new. I actually remember thinking this about Spencer too. Like our oldest, Zane seems hesitant to try new things until he's sure he can master them. Like riding a bike... he used training wheels far longer than he probably needed them, but wouldn't let us take them off until Beck took his off.
There are also lots of times when being a thinker is a benefit in sports. On the football field, he does what he's told to do, pretty much every time. He doesn't forget. He doesn't flake. He just does his job. He's not flashy in any way, but he's very reliable. And that makes him an asset on just about every team. In Jiu Jitsu, he watches - like a hawk - the more experienced kids in the group. Sensei has to remind him regularly that he should be focused on his group. But then when he does get a chance to try the more advanced stuff, he picks up the techniques super quickly because he's watched and learned over the previous sessions.
Knowing that Zane analyzes things and "lives" in his head leads to people making assumptions about him. Bob and I have done it ourselves, so trust me, I know it's easy to do. He's a really bright kid. I think he's likely the most intellectually gifted of our boys. We let him play sports and expose him to athletic activities, but never really had very high expectations of what he would accomplish. Shame on us... We've consistently underestimated this area of his abilities. I suppose we get to continue to learn from our kids and need reminders that we certainly don't know it all! The biggest surprise this year has happened with Jiu Jitsu. We signed the little boys up for classes over the summer to try it out since we didn't have anything else going on. Zane has fallen in love with the sport. As in, he looks forward to going every time. We knew he'd DO it. We didn't think he'd LIKE it. And we never expected he'd LOVE it.
I think part of the reason he likes it so much is because he gets to do it with Beckett. Those 2 boys have the best relationship! I love it. They argue occasionally. Sometimes things get ugly. But I would say that the vast majority of the time they are more friends than foes. Jiu Jitsu is something those two get to do together that the big boys don't do. They are learning things that they know Spencer and Quinn don't know. And I think it's made them love the sport - and respect each other - more because it's special for them. Someday they won't have to share a room and they won't ride the same bus to school and they will have different friends and (maybe) different interests, but for now, they are kind of the textbook description of BROTHERS.
I'm excited to see what's in store for Zane this year. He's probably going to get braces. He's going to finish this football season, move up to U9 in lacrosse, start another football season and do WHO KNOWS WHAT in Jiu Jitsu. He's learning more and more at school and enjoying all of it. I'm sure he will continue to mentor the little guy that looks up to him daily while also modeling himself on what he sees in his big brothers. In some ways I think Zane's position in our family is the luckiest one of all the boys - and also possibly the trickiest. He's sandwiched in between all kinds of awesome. If he didn't have a strong personality, it would be possible for him to get overlooked and lost in the shuffle. Luckily for Zane - and really for all of us - he's a pretty awesome dude. Smart. Funny. Handsome. And all ours to enjoy and love!
I wish the happiest of birthdays to our sweet Zane. I can't wait to have an 8 year old in the house again!
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We are finishing up fall break tomorrow and looking forward to a really nice, relaxing weekend - and birthday cake! Today we went on the annual Burt's Pumpkin Farm trip (look for pictures soon) and tomorrow we are updating our family portraits. It's been a lovely, low stress week! On Monday we hit the ground running for 3 straight weeks of all out crazy chaos. Then fall sports start wrapping up and we start gearing up for the holidays. Goodness... where has this year gone???
Cheers!
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