Your Favorite things:
Grant, you adore all things sports! This has been a constant passion for you since the time you could bounce a ball! Currently, your favorite sport is soccer. You are amazing to watch because you play with all of your heart and soul. You love basketball as well and this year you are practicing with a group of 2nd/3rd grade club players! You are only in first grade, yet you fit right in and never have even the slightest hesitation about the whole thing. In Spring of last year, we were beyond amazed at your flag football skills. You were the leading quarterback of the Poway league! You scored more than anyone else and this year, we’ve had three coaches try to recruit you for their team! You really are a talent when it comes to your athletic abilities and confidence on the playing field. Sports is the way you spend the majority of your time. When you come home from school, you beg Dane to go out and play with you in the front yard. In the summertime, you shoot 25 hoops a day and work on your soccer skills constantly. It is a win-win because you have quite a bit of energy, and exercising helps you to feel calm and focused afterwards. Other hobbies include: puzzles, perler beading, baking with Mom, boogie boarding at the beach, math, bug collecting, rock collecting, lizard hunting, scootering, legos, and word searches. Your favorite food is gyoza, pancakes with whipped cream and chocolate chips, and steak. Your favorite tv show is Tom and Jerry. Your favorite subject in school is math. Your favorite thing to do at recess is play handball. Your favorite person is Dane and Dad. You adore these two people and look up to them so much. For Halloween this year you want to be a phantom. You love action movies and comedy. You love to laugh and be silly. You are an entertainer! You make everyone around you happy with your silly jokes and free spirit. Your best friend is Leeland Torres from your soccer team. Your favorite place to be is visiting with Grandma and Grandpa and Grammy and Papa. You love your extended family and cousins. You love helping and spending time with small children and younger cousins. Whenever friends come over with babies, you are always helping out and taking care of the toddlers. They love you!
Ways you’ve grown:
Grant- you are a true leader. Your teachers both last year and this have mentioned this to me several times. The kids at school look up to you and think very highly of you! You are kind and giving to kids that need a friend. You like to have a good time and always bring sunshine into a room. Two words to describe you would be happy and confident. You like to spend time with boys that are older than you (Dane’s friends) and you fit right in! You also love to spend time with younger children. You have the most trouble getting along with kids your own age! You are getting so much better at being a good friend, though, and I’ve seen you grow in this area, tremendously this year. You are no longer as worried about me leaving you. Last year you struggled with separation anxiety at school and with babysitters. This year you exhibited a small amount of this at the beginning of the year, but then recovered after you realized that there are many children, many of your friends who have to go to Extended School Study. This means that they attend school for 8-9 hours a day instead of the 6 that you attend. This realization helped you to move forward and not feel so sad about being away from Mom and Dad all day long. You are a compassionate kid and you look for the good in life. 95 % of the time if I ask about your day- you’ll tell me the good about it. You are getting better at being less picky with your food, but you still struggle a little in this area. You are not a fan of the basics! Spaghetti (you don’t like the sauce), tacos (you just eat chips and cheese), chicken noodle soup- no thank you. It’s a little hard on me, but lately I’ve been grateful for those few meals that you do love… like chicken teriyaki and gyoza! Mac and Cheese is a favorite as well. You are a great sleeper and never give us an issue in this area. You are a wonderful brother with only small measures of naughtiness! You like to tease Anna and make sure she doesn’t get away with ANYTHING at all! But at the end of the day- you love her like crazy and she loves you as well. Right now you are working on making good choices and obedience. This has been a hardship lately, but you are giving it your all and doing a great job trying to wake up when asked, brush your teeth, do homework, get ready for soccer. Man, the day goes so much better when you get to it! I’m always so thankful for your positive attitude and helpfulness. You are growing a mile a minute physically. I must say, I think you are stronger than I am! Your little body is one big muscle and you are physically so powerful! This year you became a little hiker and at first, you complained about the steepness of the mountains we’d hike, but then you learned that you enjoyed making it to the top, and so you quit complaining and started becoming an amazing hiker! You are so fun to have along. Now if only we can talk your sisters into doing it with us.
Memories/Stories:
This year our family traveled to: St. George, UT with friends over spring break. Tucson, AZ to visit the Rustands over Christmas. Palm Springs a few times- once with Grammy and Papa and once with our small family. Seattle, WA to visit our family, Disneyland with Grandma and Grandpa and a fun Disney trip with Grammy and Papa and all the family in September. We were super busy! And had such a great time. On our last trip to Disneyland- you had a fun time riding all of the roller coasters- Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain! You were so brave and you loved it!
At school, a few moms have come up to me and told me that their daughters have a crush on you. One mom told me that you had gone up to her daughter when she was struggling with her hook for her backpack. The hook was broken, so you tried to fix it. When you couldn’t fix it, you gave her yours that was working and took her broken one. So sweet. All the moms at school think you are the cat’s meow. First grade has not been easy for you so far. You are struggling to learn to read and it’s making an impact on the quality of your life (and mine!) You are unhappy that you can’t seem to remember all of the rules. Vowel sounds give you the most trouble and reading is just not coming easily. We pray every night and we are working at home on a new curriculum. You are so hard working and so wonderful to keep at it, even though it is tough. Life has yet to throw a challenge your way, and this is it, I’m afraid. But if I know you… I know that you’ll handle it in stride and conquer in no time. You are an amazing kid, Grant. We adore you and couldn’t be more grateful and proud of the young man you are becoming. You put a smile on our faces and warmth in our hearts every day.
