Showing posts with label Garrett. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Garrett. Show all posts

Thursday, December 4, 2025

Garrett: Ten Years!

 Unlike Matthew's post, this one has been sitting in my draft folder with very little content in it. So I'll do my best to piece a few things into it between pictures and his birthday interview, but I'm also just reminding myself that done is better than perfect. Definitely not how I want to close the book on his birthday updates, but life happens and here we are. And I'd rather close the book with an imperfect tenth birthday update than no update at all. 


What is your favorite color? Blue

What is your favorite animal? Cheetah

What is your favorite book? I Survived

What is your favorite song? Firework

What is your favorite sport? Soccer

I know I said it last year, but man Garrett has really taken to soccer. It's so fun to watch him play 

What is your favorite thing to do with Mom? Go yarn shopping

Garrett now crochets, and while his pile of started projects is significantly larger than his pile of completed projects, every once in a while he actually manages to finish something

What is your favorite thing to do with Dad? Play football

What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play on the snow hills

Where is your favorite place to go? The beach

I'm not sure if he has more fun fishing or swimming at the beach, but it's always a week with no shortage of smiles

What is your favorite fruit? Grapes

What is your favorite vegetable? Cauliflower

What is your favorite cereal? Cookie Crisp

What is your favorite treat? Milk Duds

What is your favorite meal? Balsamic Zucchini Ravioli

What makes you happy? Crocheting

What makes you sad? When people are mean to me

Who are your best friends? Pravash, Adric, Jamesia, JC, Merry

He and Adric goofing around during an indoor recess

What do you want to be when you grow up? Carpenter

What was your favorite part about last year? Fishing at the beach

What is one thing you want to do this year? Go to Pierre (spoiler since I'm posting this so late--Pierre didn't happen, but he still got to go walleye fishing for his 10th birthday trip with my parents, which was going to be the whole reason for going to Pierre, and since he still ended up catching lots of walleye he was perfectly happy with the change of plans)

A photo from the trip this past August, which I know technically shouldn't be on this post because if I had actually made this post in a timely manner I wouldn't have had this picture yet, but I can't not include it. Not just because of the fish, but also, look at that hair. He started growing it out shortly after his 10th birthday and it's just glorious. We've had to trim it a few times to keep it tidy (and not mullet-like) but otherwise he's all in on the flowing locks (and he's got the head flick to get the hair out of his eyes pretty well mastered)

I know I'll forget lots of details and miss lots of important things about Garrett at this age, but I will say that I've enjoyed the stroll down memory lane to pull the photos for this post. And let's be honest, no matter when I typed this or how much time I poured into making it perfect, I could still never capture all the details and nuances that make Garrett Garrett in a blog post. These posts are just the tip of the iceberg, and I'm so blessed that I get to experience Garrett in all his depths of character and personality!






Always an adventure out hiking with this crew, and Garrett has started getting big on wanting solo pictures with Mom and Dad, as well as carrying a plastic bag so he can pick up litter (which, sadly, we always find way more of than I expect)



Garrett loves growing stuff, and he has taken over planting stuff in our deck boxes (which honestly I never even bothered with) and he even grew a cantaloupe this year (which was delicious and he saved the seeds so he could grow more next year!)


Still going strong with piano lessons, and we've added another violinist to the house

Garrett the reporter at the Sunday School Christmas Program. He was super nervous about "acting" in front of an audience but did a great job!

Tried waterskiing again this summer (with new water skis) and it went so much better!

Garrett and a classmate wrote Christmas letter books to help kindergarteners work on their letter sounds and they even got to use them to do a little lesson with some kindergarteners 

I swear this isn't child labor--he genuinely LOVES mowing

Garrett tried lacrosse at a summer camp, and like most things he picked it up pretty easily and said he wanted to play it more, but unfortunately there just aren't a lot of lacrosse opportunities around here

The first few times we went to the skating rink Garrett opted for roller skates and while he did fine with them, it was a game changer for him to get roller blades. He was zipping around the rink

He was a little nervous about the heights at first, but once he fell a few times and learned his harness would catch him, he LOVED playing around on these aerial activities.

I can't think of a better cake for this sweet boy than a fish cake. He's followed William's footsteps in a lot of things, but it has been so fun to watch him really start exploring some interests that are just his (like fishing, crocheting, and gardening). He's a maker and a builder and always full of great ideas, and while Mom and Dad sometimes wish he would close the loop on his ideas a little more often, it's always fun to see where his ideas are taking him next

Thursday, June 20, 2024

Garrett: Nine Years!

 


Age: 9

Height: 4 feet, 1.8 inches

Weight: 58 pounds, 3.2 ounces

At eight, Garrett was almost a full inch shorter than William was at the same age. Garrett worked on closing that gap though, and is almost the same height William was at nine. And thanks to a massive 6+ pound weight gain, Garrett weighed in heavier than William did at nine, which I think is the first time he's ever outweighed William.

What is your favorite color? Blue

What is your favorite animal? Red Panda

What is your favorite book? Pokémon

This kid's day was made when Uncle Mike gave him his old baseball card sleeves and he found out his Pokémon cards fit in them perfectly. He and William have spent countless arranging--and rearranging--the cards 

What is your favorite song? Celebration

What is your favorite sport? Soccer

Garrett played on an organized team for the first time this fall and LOVED it. And I know every parent thinks their kid is the best, but Garrett is seriously a bit of a terror on the field. He is quick and can keep the ball at his feet, which at his age is really all that's needed to take the ball up the field and score. He's also the sweetest little player though--he's good about distributing the ball to teammates after scoring a goal or two, and he genuinely feels bad if his team massively outscores the other team because he worries the game isn't fun for his opponents

What is your favorite thing to do with Mom? Play Yahtzee

What is your favorite thing to do with Dad? Play football

It's not football with Dad, but you'd better believe this kid was thrilled when one of the players we know on the local college football team tossed a ball up to him during half time

What is your favorite thing to do outside? Bike

As close as we can get to biking in the winter!

Where is your favorite place to go? Thunder Road Arcade

He picked the arcade for his birthday outing last year, and we went there again for his birthday outing this year 

What is your favorite fruit? Tomatoes

What is your favorite vegetable? Cauliflower

What is your favorite cereal? Mini Dino Bites

What is your favorite treat? Fun Dip

What is your favorite meal? Tacos

I don't think he's cutting these peppers for tacos, but he does definitely help with peppers (and tomatoes and avocadoes) for that meal as well

What makes you happy? Going to the Thunder Road Arcade

What makes you sad? People teasing me when I lose a soccer game

Who are your best friends? Pravash, Jayse, and JC

Garrett and one of his friends at their 2nd grade music program last spring

What do you want to be when you grow up? NFL quarterback

What was your favorite part about last year? Going to the Thunder Road Acarde

What is one thing you want to do this year? Go to the Cat Cafe


I'm not sure why he thinks we need to go to the Cat Cafe when he has a knack for finding cats no matter where we go, but whatever

As evidenced by his ability to find cats wherever we go, Garrett continues to be my animal and baby-loving boy, in addition to loving all things plants and gardening. There's just something about caring for another living thing that is innate to his personality.

He loved getting to ride the horses at the circus

Anytime we dog sit he is in heaven (just as long as he doesn't have to clean the poop)

He loves helping out with younger cousins

As a school project they planted marigolds for Mother's Day, which he transplanted into one of our planters and needless to say they thrived (and he also saved the seeds to plant some again this year)

He got a fish tank for his 8th birthday, and while it's not as fun as other pets (and it has definitely been a learning curve for Mom and Dad) he does enjoy watching them and caring for them


I suppose catching fish (especially to eat, like they do at the beach) isn't exactly "nurturing", but it's worth including because the pieces of his personality that lend themselves to caring and nurturing also translate into his being a patient and successful fisherman

Honestly, I'm so far behind on this post and given that Garrett is closer to 9.5 than 9 at this point I'm having a hard time separating current happenings from things that happened leading up to his birthday, so I'm just going to dump a few more pictures of my favorite Garrett and call it good!

At the PTO Fun Run--I can always count on Garrett to be willing to take a picture with me!

Sooo many lester lace creations. This kid loves starting arts and crafts projects--but it's the follow through to get them finished that he lacks

Another summer, another year of Grandparent Camp in NC for a week. Lots of fun exploring with William and two of their cousins, and not nearly as much homesickness as he had the first year!

I know it's super hard to tell in this photo, but Garrett tried skiing for the first time last summer. It wasn't super successful, but we were so proud of him for trying!

As if Darrell needed to teach the boys more ways to be dangerous

Loves getting to carve his own pumpkin!

Last fall marked the start of piano lessons for Garrett, and he has blown us away with his progress this year. He's a little shy about performing, but we're working on having the confidence to do it even though it makes us feel nervous

Pokémon and that Vikings beanie pretty perfectly sum up Garrett in the early spring of 2024. I can't wait to see who he'll be--and what he'll be into--at ten, but I know a few things will remain true: he'll still be a lover and still have a kind, compassionate heart