Eleven Excellent things about Teddy

Poor Teddy's birthday passed unheralded in the blog.  He doesn't read it yet, so he is not aware of the omission, but I feel bad.  Years from now, this will no doubt be used as evidence in the "Mom always liked me better" trials.

Only a week after his official birthday party (did I mention I've been sick, work has been crazy, and my DSL has been down?), I will commemorate some of the hundreds of things I love about him at this age!

1. He can sing!  He has his dad's ear and can sing almost anything.  With 2 school concerts under his belt, he is also learning to read music, and I can't wait for him to start seriously learning an instrument.  I am a dunce at it, so I am glad he has inherited his father's genes here.
2. He makes us all laugh.  His next challenge is learning when and where to unleash his comedic talent.  He has learned that he can avoid punishment from some adults by tweaking their funny bone.  He has not yet learned that some adults only get more annoyed by this.  Still, I fully expect to be telling stories about his childhood on Letterman (or something like it) someday.
   
3. He is sensitive to other people.  Teddy is aware of other people's feelings.  He is a student of social interaction, and has told us about incidents at school where other children have been bullied or teased.  While he doesn't yet know what to do to help them, he notices and wants to make them feel better.
   
4. He believes life should be fair. Teddy believes in fairness so much, that it really bothers him when he sees rules applied unevenly.  We are working on helping him navigate an unfair world, to learn when it is appropriate to speak up, and when you have to just roll with the punches.  He gets indignant about the latter, but unfortunately, life is not always fair.  If it was, I'd be taller and thinner.
5. He is handsome.  He reminds me of Jim Carrey, in that you don't even realize how good-looking he is because he is always making such goofy faces.  DH and I are stumped on how it happened.  Teddy is a perfect blend of the 2 of us, and somehow he got all the right parts.  Mwah, love you, baby!
   
6. He enjoys trying new things.  I love how adventuresome Teddy is.  From trying new foods, to riding the scariest roller coasters, he has a zest for trying new things that will let him sample all that life has to offer.  Whatever it is, bring it on!
   
7. He is spiritual.  Now that we are going to church more regularly, he is paying attention to the sermons.  Even while he  hangs out with his brother to help occupy him, he listens to the lessons, and seems to be taking them to heart
8. He is creative.  Teddy has written great short stories that have plot twists better than ones I have written in college.  He needs to work on setting and description more, but I really hope he will continue writing.  He also is very creative with drawing, ideas for games, and building things.  That seems to run in the family.
   
9. He is a good big brother.  With the emotional management and anger issues that Barley struggles with, we have all felt the fallout.  Teddy probably spends more time with Barley than anyone else, and has definitely taken a lot of the impact.  Despite the frequent conflict, Teddy will often play what Barley wants to play, help him achieve levels in video games, and keep him company in church or wherever we're going.  Barley loves his big brother so much, he wants to be where Teddy is, doing whatever Teddy is doing, and preferably, playing with whatever toy/game Teddy is holding in his hands RIGHT now. 
   
10. He is popular at school. I suppose being class clown probably helps.  Teddy always seems to have a crowd of people around him.  Even at a young age, he never hesitated to walk up to anyone, child or adult, and say, "Hi!  Would you like to play with me?"
    
11. His is smart.  He has been on Honor Roll every marking period since they started tracking it in 4th grade.  Following in the tradition of my grandmother, of course my first reaction is, "Why not Principal's List?"  I only do that because I know he is capable of all As, but mostly As and 1 B is not bad either.

And one to grow on:
That self-identity is coming along.  It can be annoying at times when he won't just blithely do whatever we tell him to. It is a good sign of his willingness to assert himself, so I suppose DH and I will just have to cope with the growing independence.  Sigh.

HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY, KIDDO!