Happy 11th year to my sweet soul Christopher! This year Chris continued to be all about everything Gravity Falls and wizarding. He may be working on some sort of record for how many consecutive Halloweens you can dress as Harry Potter, and Elf or a Wizard. He’s now 5′ 2″–a full 4 inches taller than William at the same age–which has become a point of contention between the brothers. Chris is a diligent student who continues to get great grades and excel at school. This year marked his last year of elementary school and 5th grade was unusual in that we saw a bit of tween moodiness creep in. Chris has a great group of friends, but we’ve also discovered sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. I think Chris is more than ready for middle school, and ready to have new experiences and make new connections.
Shortly after Chris’s 10th birthday last year we had to say farewell to our old lady cat Kiki. It was a moment I’d been dreading for several years and the first real loss experienced in our household. Chris was Kiki’s favorite, and for a kid with a soft heart and big feelings I knew the loss would be tough. A bit to my surprise, Chris handled the loss of Kiki with grace and a maturity I didn’t expect. Later in the summer we welcomed two new kittens into our family and Chris immediately became Tilly’s favorite. I guess Chris just has a way with the independent girl cats and they gravitate towards him. Perhaps Kiki had a hand in that to help fill a spot in Chris’s heart.
Mid-year Chris started asking about learning to play an instrument, specifically the flute. To hear Jason tell the story, Chris had been asking for flute lessons for months. To hear me tell the story, Chris mentioned the flute once or twice and then one day Chris and Jason came home with a rental flute in hand. No matter how it exactly happened, Chris has learned to play the flute and seems to quite enjoy it. It’s fun to see him develop some interests of his own and not just automatically be signed up for whatever William has been signed up for.
Chris is a kid who is so un-demanding I fear he’ll end up with some kind of middle child complex. He’s generally content to have hand me down things from William and tells us that trying to spoil him would be a bad thing. I’m hard pressed to come up a with a list of his favorite things other than zebra cake rolls and sleeping in. Chris can often be found under his blanket long after his official bedtime, reading with a flashlight as if we can’t see him. We always know when he finally settles in, as he makes one final (loud) trip down out of his bunk bed and into the bathroom before going to sleep. Chris is also the most likely to disappear for hours to watch shows in the basement. He still prefers his solo time and on more than one occasion the question “Did anyone feed Chris?” has been uttered. Poor easy going middle son of mine. Just don’t tell his brothers, but he might currently be my favorite. Happy 11th birthday bud!
