Ethan

Ethan has been constantly impressing me lately in so many ways.  He is such a great kid.  And great at a lot of things.

His pinewood derby car made it into the finals this year!  That was very exciting for him since he designed and did his car with very little help.  I, of course, am lame and didn't take any pictures while we were there...

 I truly love watching Ethan swim.  It makes me happy.  Here is a picture of him in mid-dive.  His legs aren't up straight but his arms and head go straight in every time and it's pretty impressive for a 9 year old. The other two boys in his class, both older by two years, did a lot of belly flops.  The splat sounds made everyone at the pool flinch and say, "ouch!" every time.  But Ethan's dives were always a SWOOSH head first!

He's happy when he's swimming.  His strokes are getting better each lesson too.  This time around, he really got a feel for the rhythm of the breaststroke and butterfly.  I'm not sure who was more sad when this set of lessons came to an end, him or me!  But he told me he's excited to one day be on the swim team.  I think he's well on his way.  Perhaps one more set of lessons to help with endurance is all he needs.  What a fish he's become!

One of his other loves is piano.  He is currently playing songs with four sharps!  I admit it's getting harder for me to help him.  I kind of have to figure it out first before I can, instead of just playing it without thinking.

His love of piano is very unique I think.  Do you know any other kid who plays at least an hour every day for fun?  Who plays every song in every book in every octave up and down the piano and then tries to transpose them??!!  Sometimes I wish we had a piano room with a door!

I know he needs a better piano teacher.  His teacher is so nice and has sure made it fun for him, but he needs something more.  I'm trying to figure out how to make that work.  He needs a real music teacher…hearing him play real music is so enjoyable.  Next week, he'll be starting on a simplified version of Entertainer!  So exciting!

He also loves reading.  He recently finished the Percy Jackson series…for the third time.  He reads so fast and it blows my mind how he can read a book with over 300 pages in one day.  I love how much he loves reading.  I love how he can read for HOURS and stop mid-chapter and be happy.  Stopping computer games or wii almost always leaves him grumpy, but reading always leaves him happy.  Reading rocks.

He pretty good at golfing too.  My Dad has been taking him putting and to the driving range and I have to say, that kid can swing a club like a golfer!  He hits balls farther than I ever have.

He enjoys doing algebra with Todd before bed.

He's made thousands of origami models and lots of them are pretty amazing.

Sometimes I wonder how I'll ever keep up with him.  How I'll be able to continue to teach him the whole time he's under my roof.  Will it be enough.  Do I know enough?  I'm grateful I have experience and hopefully a little wisdom under my belt.  I certainly am grateful I have the Spirit teaching me how to teach him.  And I'm grateful for the kid he is becoming, not just that he's good at so many things, but that he's so often in tune with the needs in the family, willing to help in so many ways, slowly but surely becoming more mature, and that he can feel the Spirit and has acted on promptings.  He's an amazing kid and I'm grateful for him in my life.