Dylan Update, 8 Years

As I was reading last year's update I thought at first that not much has changed for Dylan in his 8th year of life compared to his 7th.  He is still really much into baseball - he played Single A in the spring and is just finishing up his first fall ball season in Single A.  Dylan is still playing piano and doing very well at it but still not liking that much.  And he is still very much into his Wii, especially Skylanders.  But then I got to the part in last year's update about Dylan learning to read and the books he had gone through that summer before he turned 7, and that's when I realized how much he has grown over the past year - in his reading.  Dylan is now downing chapter books and wanting to read in his bed at night by himself.  He now listening attentively to Martin reading him Harry Potter.  He amazes us at the big words he can read, particularly when we ask him to read a bible passage and he doesn't even hesitate on words like "righteousness" or "reconciliation."

Second grade has been a bit of an adjustment in that, at least at our school, I think the teachers expect much more from the kids compared to first grade.  He has homework every night and spelling words and he's expected to actually do things that he didn't already know how to do.  It's been good for him though.

The fish that Dylan got for his birthday last year unfortunately didn't make it to this birthday.  Dylan Jr. didn't last very long, but he wasn't very strong to begin with.  Delta made it 11 months but Mommy didn't get to cleaning his tank very much since Levi was born so....

Dylan has been a great big brother to Levi.  He is helpful in entertaining Levi while I brush my teeth or some other thing I used to take for granted when there wasn't a baby that needed to be held.  He loves to hold Levi and we have to remind him that he's not allowed to carry Levi around the house as much as Dylan would like to.

I guess I hadn't realized this earlier but after reading his last update I see that Dylan hasn't lost any teeth in the last year.  He lost the first 8 before he was 7 and then no more.

Dylan gained 6 lbs. and almost 2 inches since last December.  At his recent end of season party for baseball, the coach said he would remember Dylan because of his big attitude and heart that out measured his size.  He said Dylan was like "Small? Who's small?"  That sums up a lot for Dylan.