Happy 10th birthday to our sweet Nathaniel Thomas!
Our little Wunkie is getting such a big kid. He grew so much this past year and is almost the same height as his big brother. We think this every year, but we are always amazed at how much his looks changed this year. While we jokingly said he looked like a little man when he was a baby because he had so much hair, he really is looking more and more like a little man. With all of his big teeth in front and the losing of his baby face, he is more and more grownup. He is still our sweetheart. He is athletic, helpful, kind, and independent. He has always been our ball of energy, snuggler, and such a joy to have as part of our family.
Nathaniel is finishing his third grade year at Walnut Creek. He has made a lot of new friends this year, which has been so fun for this social kid. There always seems to be a neighborhood boy dropping by to play with him, which is right up Nathaniel's alley. While he likes playing with his siblings, none of them can keep up with him atheletically, so it has been great for him to have peers.
Nathaniel loves to travel and experience new things. We had some fun trips this past year. We went to Cincinnati for Spring Break, Northern Minnesota with the Plantenberg Family, and Harbor Springs Michigian. We also obviously visited family in Minnesota for Christmas and family in Indiana for other holidays.
Appearance
Nathaniel loves to travel and experience new things. We had some fun trips this past year. We went to Cincinnati for Spring Break, Northern Minnesota with the Plantenberg Family, and Harbor Springs Michigian. We also obviously visited family in Minnesota for Christmas and family in Indiana for other holidays.
Appearance
Again, Nathaniel has grown so much this year. His chestnut hair is thick and coarse as ever. He has decided he likes it when I cut it really short. Not a buzz cut, but closer to it with it being just a bit longer on the top. He still has his smooth pale skin but he has been getting more and more freckles and more scars. You can always find him with at least one bandaid, multiple bruises, and a few scabs, on his limbs. He has heart shaped lips, a round face, and eyes like the sky framed by long lashes. His build is strong and lean with muscular limbs. He has an impish smile and almond shape eyes like his dad. We will have to see how tall he is but he is probably around 5'1".
Personality
Personality
Nathaniel is active. This boy has always been on the move since he learned how to walk at 9 months. He is strong and tall for his age and fairly coordinated. His body and personality were made to move. Even when he is learning, he likes to stand and dance his feet. He loves to climb trees, ride his bike and scooter, play baseball, play soccer, swim, and play basketball. His favorite class at school is PE since there are many times that they don't get to play outside. Nathaniel also was able to still be involved in sports, which was very helpful for getting some of his energy out. While he is happy to throw a ball to his pitch back in the yard or shoot basketball hoops on the driveway, he was also able to be involved in a soccer league through Genoa Church, OYAA Basketball, and Little League Baseball, and his first year of swim team. There is a sport for every season! He is also completing his fourth year of Cub Scouts. Nathaniel also can have quite a lot of perseverance, trying his best at almost everything he does. He is competitive and does not like losing, which pushes him to try harder. This ability to stick to something and practice will help him in different areas of his life. It can also make him irritable if he doesn't get his way.
Nathaniel is extremely social when he is comfortable. In new situations he doesn't say much, taking in the people and figuring out where he belongs. He is gaining confidence, though, through experience. He prefers to talk through new situations if we can provide guidance, but he doesn't freeze like he used to. When he is comfortable, he is amiable and welcoming, naturally having conversations and bonding friendships. It is getting him to be comfortable that can be a challenge. He is most nervous when he finds himself in large groups of people that he doesn't know. Nathaniel prefers to play with others than by himself. He hates being left out of anything.
Nathaniel's soul is always singing. While we rarely hear him singing anymore, we can sometimes find him if he is somewhere by himself with his headphones on. He performed in the Christmas musical at church and had a solo part as one of the three wise men. It was great to see him sing in front of others since he seems to have become a little insecure in singing in front of people, especially strangers. His sisters more than make up for the singing around here.
Nathaniel was born a helper. It is one of his greatest assets. Even his teachers comment about how helpful he is in class, always willing to help them with tasks, sharpen pencils, read out lout, or help other students. He comes by it naturally, since his mother is the same way. He doesn't always want to help with everything that mom and dad ask him to do. He loves to help cook dinner, get the mail, and mow the lawn. He does an excellent job of keeping his room clean and is typically the first to jump in when we need to pick up the toy room and the basement.
Nathaniel is persistent. This is just a kind way of staying the he is stubborn. It can make him inflexible and sometimes hard to discipline. While he continues to make progress in settling himself down when he gets upset, he can still work himself into an angry mess. This typically results in him lashing out in trying to break things, like hitting the wall. He doesn't typically break anything, but he does it because he knows it makes his parents upset. When he is exhausted, he becomes a bear. He also becomes jealous of Clara and gets upset with her for any way that she has wronged him in the past. He can hold a grudge. He almost always feels guilty afterwards, especially if his anger was towards mom. He typically apologizes without prompting. We also have him apologize and try to figure out ways to deal with life when he is frustrated. We realize that this is all a learning process and are working on it. We are working on having him perform an act of service to whoever he has wronged.
Nathaniel is still a child of physical touch. He loves having someone rub his back or snuggle with him. Mom calls him her little house cat. He is always eager for a hug. Unfortunately, he has gotten to big to be easily carried, otherwise he would probably have us carry him to bed like we used to.
Nathaniel is a rule follower and has a strong sense of justice and fairness. In an idea world, her prefers everything to be equal. I don't know if we are supposed to pick our children's Enneagram, but he is just like his mom. He probably will be a 1 wing 2. The problem comes into play when other people don't follow the rules. He gets very easily upset. We are working with him on accepting that things are not always equal or fair in life and to be content with what he has. We all have to work on this!
Loves
Here are things that Nathaniel loves at 10:
Songs -Coldplay, Travis, Six Pence Non the Richer, Rend Collective, Howie Day
Food - Strawberries, Raspberries, Bread, Cheese, Gnocchi, Ketchup, Olives, Bacon, and Icecream. He would also say crab legs/lobster if we had them more often!
Shows - Puss in Boots, Bluey, Shaun the Sheep
Books - The Bible, Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, Mysterious Benedict Society, Boxcar Children, Anything From the Library
Toys - Baseball, Legos, Bike, Basketball, Magnatiles
Cooking - Measuring and stirring anything as long as mom will let him taste the batter.
Activities - Playing outside, Playing Sports with Friends, Going on Bike Rides, COSI, Hiking, Baseball, Playing at the Park, Climbing trees, Reading books, Watching Movies
Sayings - That's Sus.
Shows - Puss in Boots, Bluey, Shaun the Sheep
Books - The Bible, Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, Mysterious Benedict Society, Boxcar Children, Anything From the Library
Toys - Baseball, Legos, Bike, Basketball, Magnatiles
Cooking - Measuring and stirring anything as long as mom will let him taste the batter.
Activities - Playing outside, Playing Sports with Friends, Going on Bike Rides, COSI, Hiking, Baseball, Playing at the Park, Climbing trees, Reading books, Watching Movies
Sayings - That's Sus.
Other Likes - Collecting ALL things (rocks, seashells, bottle caps, beads, pine cones, pretty much anything), Catching balls, Carrying his wooden sword in his belt with his giant belt buckle on.
Dislikes
Here are things that Nathaniel is not a fan of at 9: Being in large groups of people he doesn't know. Flying insects (especially bees). Being excluded from anything. When people don't wash their hands. Bugs in the house.
Here are some of the highlights from each month. I probably missed some because if I don't have pictures for it, I can't remember it. It's basically like it didn't even happen. But rather than writing what we did the entire year, the pictures explain what we did.
June
July
August
October
Questions
We thought it would be fun to interview Nathaniel and ask him a few questions each year. Here were his answers.
1. What is your favorite color? Blue
2. What is your favorite toy? Balls - Basketball, Football, Soccer, etc.
3. What is your favorite food? Gnocchi
4. What is your favorite TV show? Puss in Boots
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Fresh Fruit
6. What is your favorite thing to wear? Shorts and a T Shirt
7. What is your favorite game? Forbidden Island
8. What is your favorite book? Pax and Harry Potter
9. What is your favorite animal? Giraffes
10. What is your favorite song? Anything by Rend Collective
11. What is your favorite subject at school? Reading
12. What is your favorite sport? Baseball
13. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Climb Trees
14. What is your favorite holiday? Thanksgiving, My Birthday, Christmas, Halloween - I like all the Holidays.
15. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My blanket and Little Foot
16. What is your favorite thing to have for dinner? Gnocchi
17. What do you want to be when you grow up? A professional baseball player
18. What is the best thing about your family? We go on vacations.
19. Describe yourself, what kind of person are you? An athletic person. I person who loves to read books.
20. If you could go anywhere where would you want to go? Europe - Germany, England
21. What is something that makes you happy? Reading and winning at things.
22. What is something that makes you sad? When I can't find my blanket at bedtime.
23. What are you scared of? War. My mom and dad will die.
24. What is something you are really good at? Reading and Sports
25. What is the funniest thing you have ever seen? I have never seen anything funny that I would put down.
1. What is your favorite color? Blue
2. What is your favorite toy? Balls - Basketball, Football, Soccer, etc.
3. What is your favorite food? Gnocchi
4. What is your favorite TV show? Puss in Boots
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Fresh Fruit
6. What is your favorite thing to wear? Shorts and a T Shirt
7. What is your favorite game? Forbidden Island
8. What is your favorite book? Pax and Harry Potter
9. What is your favorite animal? Giraffes
10. What is your favorite song? Anything by Rend Collective
11. What is your favorite subject at school? Reading
12. What is your favorite sport? Baseball
13. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Climb Trees
14. What is your favorite holiday? Thanksgiving, My Birthday, Christmas, Halloween - I like all the Holidays.
15. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My blanket and Little Foot
16. What is your favorite thing to have for dinner? Gnocchi
17. What do you want to be when you grow up? A professional baseball player
18. What is the best thing about your family? We go on vacations.
19. Describe yourself, what kind of person are you? An athletic person. I person who loves to read books.
20. If you could go anywhere where would you want to go? Europe - Germany, England
21. What is something that makes you happy? Reading and winning at things.
22. What is something that makes you sad? When I can't find my blanket at bedtime.
23. What are you scared of? War. My mom and dad will die.
24. What is something you are really good at? Reading and Sports
25. What is the funniest thing you have ever seen? I have never seen anything funny that I would put down.
Activities
Baseball
Basketball
Soccer
Cub Scouts
Swim Team
This has been an amazing year of growth for Nathaniel. It has been a full year highs and lows, and many new adventures. We are grateful to have Nathaniel as our child and the privilege of watching him grow up each year.
Happy 10th birthday to our sweet Wunkie. We love you to the moon and back.
Love, Mom & Dad
Nathaniel at - One Year
Nathaniel at - Two Years
Nathaniel at - Two Years & 4 months
Nathaniel at - Two Years & 8 months
Nathaniel at - One Year
Nathaniel at - Two Years
Nathaniel at - Two Years & 4 months
Nathaniel at - Two Years & 8 months
