liam at nine

We've started an unfortunate (for our pocketbooks!) trend this year of going away for birthday weekends. Liam's birthday fell on a Sunday this year, so we decided to celebrate by spending the weekend at Barb and Kevin's cottage in Michigan (hospitality for which we and our pocketbooks are profoundly grateful). We took the dog (his first trip with us) and we had a great time exploring the area and just hanging out together. We came back Sunday afternoon, which was a workday for Mike (inconvenient holiday schedule!) but the boys and I went to Hacienda for his birthday dinner and were joined by my parents, J, Loni, Bethany, Joe, and Klaudia. It was quite a meal to top off a pretty incredible weekend.

Our Liam is kind of at a tough age. He's old enough that I can trust him to be pretty responsible, but still young enough that he constantly ignores his responsibilities in favor of whatever fun thing is more appealing. He's old enough to ride his bike alone (within set boundaries), but still young enough that he doesn't always come home when he says he will. Yes, I know, these things will get worse as he gets older, but I'm hoping there is a sweet spot in there somewhere -- kind of the calm before the storm of the teenage years.

Right now, Liam is a blur of activity. He's spent his summer playing basketball, baseball, and tennis, and swimming. He got a new bike from us for his birthday, and has been tearing around the neighborhood. He has so much energy, and hardly sits still, though for the past couple of weeks has been spending his afternoons totally engrossed in reading. 

Liam's the elder statesman at home, and when school starts, he'll be in the highest grade (fourth) at the elementary school (next year, he moves up to intermediate school). Sometimes he tries to set a good example, but (and I totally get this) it's just so *hard* to be good all of the time. That part has been a real challenge for Liam (and his brothers!) lately because he wants to be good, but fighting and running and arguing are just too tempting.

For the third year running, we had a party at the local pool for Liam's birthday. This year, a whole bunch of kids came, and everyone (except for the kid who mysteriously got a bloody nose) was perfectly happy splashing and swimming and diving and horsing around. I am pretty sure that Liam's face hurt by the end of the party from all the smiling he was doing. And that, my friends, is what it's all about.

Happy birthday, Liam! We love you ... and we hope that you spend every birthday from here on out smiling until your cheeks are sore.