Liam at 9 years old

Here is my long overdue post about who Liam is at the age of 9. It will be long and is more for us to document our boy at this time in his life. (And apparently I never did one when he turned 8, massive fail on my part)

Liam is currently 4 feet 3.5 inches tall.

He made these cookies with minimal help
'Me Want Cookies' Cookie Monster inspired

Liam is a very active boy who enjoys sports. He has always been excited about baseball but this past year was able to spend his summer on the same team as his best friend. While we do not have live TV (the White Sox weren't good enough for us to sign up for Comcast this year, ha!), we did get a satellite so Liam and Evan were able to watch the post season including the World Series. Liam was rooting for the Houston Astros, mainly because that was his summer team that he played on, and Evan promised to wake him up in the last inning of the final game so he could fully experience the series. It took some time for his sleeping brain to fully wake up but once he did he was appreciative that Dad kept his promise.

Liam played winter basketball again this past year. He improved on some of his skills from the year before and even though he complained that they never won a game it was still a good experience for him. He learned some good defense skills and even made a few baskets.

If there is one subject in school that Liam thoroughly enjoys it is reading. He enjoys many of these series; Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dog Man, Captain Underpants, I survived.. but also enjoys going to the library and finding a fiction book as well.

He also enjoys writing and in his third grade class has had more writing projects that have him using Google Classroom. I think he enjoys being on the computer and making the graphics to go along with his project.

Learning how to play baseball cards with Dad

While starting a new school at first was a bit nerve wracking for Liam he has excelled and fit in very well in his classroom. He has many friends including Luke, Andrew and Evan. He enjoys his teacher, Mrs. Williams and Mr. Meyers the music teacher.

Liam is still continuing piano lessons with his teacher Mrs. Close. We drive back to our old neighborhood once a week for a 30 minute lesson. He tells us that he doesn't like piano but as his skills are growing there are many times that he will voluntarily sit down to play one of his favorite pieces from a lesson or a new song that Grandma Fink has sent to him. He is excellent at sight reading and many times Mrs. Close will ask him if he has already played the next song since he has played it so well the first time. We are still working on rhythm and the note names but overall he is doing very well.

He enjoys riding his bike and we now allow him to bike around the block on his own. (which mainly started on walks together but then turned into him going way ahead of us and making it home before we could catch up)

Learning how to play Othello with Mom

Liam prefers sweat pants and a T-shirt to wear to school. He will occasionally wear jeans but its usually only if he has no other option.

His favorite TV show is Teen Titans Go and Lego Masters. When he is allowed he enjoys playing Roblox on the computer. His favorite movies are Jurassic World, Spider-Man Far From Home and Monsters Inc.

Liam is very responsible and a rule follower. He will help get things for his little sisters if asked to and can now get himself entirely ready in the morning without Evan or I reminding him to do things. He enjoys playing with Archie and will do training with him as well. He does get frustrated easily as training a puppy can be difficult at times but we think this is a great skill for him to learn.

Liam will sometimes play with his sisters but has a harder time being flexible with that playtime. He enjoys fighting with Caroline the most and enjoys making her mad. He likes rough housing with both Caroline and Lucy.

Liam does not go to AWANA anymore but he does participate in our church's youth group which meets monthly. He still remembers many of his Sparks verses though as I try to teach them to Caroline he will chime in with the rest by memory. He also goes to ROCK choir at our church.

We really enjoy watching him grow up into a very funny, still cuddly, thoughtful boy. He makes our hearts beam with pride.