Zane turned 11 on Tuesday. We celebrated with cupcakes and ravioli (his favorite, which he eats strangely without sauce) and have a birthday party with some of his buddies this weekend.
11 years old is one of those "sweet spot" years. (I think the same about 5 year-olds.) Zane is smart (more on this later) and funny (more on this later) and not yet into that pre/early teen moodiness. He enjoys hanging out with us and talking to us (mostly about football and madden and other things he knows WAY more about than me). He's generally just an EASY kid and a pleasure to be around! Seriously! There were many days over the last 6 months where he saved my sanity - and he is a superstar remote learner!
I mentioned that Zane is smart and funny - but those adjectives don't really cover it. I've talked in the past about the unique way Zane's mind works. He is very very bright - and I say this after raising some other really smart kids. Zane just processes on another level. He's definitely smarter than me - which fills me with both pride and a little terror. Pointed in a positive direction, the sky is the limit. But if he goes off-course, he's going to be a hacking millionaire mastermind leading dubious entities for nefarious goals. LOL I kid... sort of...
I also stated above that Zane is funny, which is very true, but when you combine his biting sense of humor with the fact that he's often one of the smartest people in the room, his humor can be quite caustic! He doesn't always find the balance between making someone laugh and just being mean - bright side, a good portion of his quick, one-liners go over the head of the target because of both content and the extraordinarily dry delivery. Maybe he will be a comic when he grows up...
If you ask Zane what he wants to do as a career, he will tell you he's going to be in the NFL. It's actually refreshing to see a little dude who loves a sport so much that he wants to turn it into a career - however unlikely. I'll not be bursting his bubble any time soon - the world will do that it time and for now I love that the boy can dream.
Speaking of dreams... Zane STILL spends a lot of time alone in his own head. He's always done this. It's in his personality. He likes his alone time and he likes the process of creating. He would be mortified to know that I'm sharing that he still plays make-believe (regularly). He makes up elaborate games with his stuffed friends, sometimes Beckett, sometimes his friends outside, sometimes a football, sometimes nothing more than some room to run and a little fresh air. Oh, and he's ALWAYS in charge.
I'm really enjoying the process of raising this interesting young man. I love that he's about to blossom both physically and emotionally. He's off to middle school next year and I think he's going to thrive! 11 is going to be a good year for Zane!
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This weekend we have more football games - and got really lucky with both the schedule and the weather. We have a 10:30 and a 1:00 at the same park - which makes for a lengthy day, but both Bob and I will get to see both boys - which is often not the case. AND bonus that it's supposed to be textbook "chamber of commerce" weather in Georgia this weekend. Cool and crisp and perfect for a day of football - and probably sunburns.
Then Saturday night Beck's football team is doing a big community sleep out in one of the local neighborhoods - coaches Bob and Spencer are going too. And Zane has a birthday party sleepover too. If I can keep Quinn from making social plans (unlikely) I will get a Quinn date. Worst case, I get a Saturday night alone at home. :)
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