The Boy and his Dog

A while back, Harry asked if he could get a dog.  I think it was right around the morning after watching "My Dog Skip."  After several iterations of what kind of dog(s), it mostly got back to him wanting one that would fetch.  Seemed reasonable.  We told him he needed to wait until he turned 8.  Guess what happens this year... you got it.  8.

So a few months ago, we started canvassing friends for referrals, combing breeder websites, and applying for rescues.

Last Friday, Kim picked up Max(ie)

So far, Harry's been incredibly into his dog.  Sometimes a little too much, sometimes not enough.  Overall though, his responsibility has been pretty impressive.  Luckily the weather's been pretty good and they've been walking Max to school in the morning.  Bailey tried to tag along one day, but it seems to have wiped her out.

"like a weed" doesn't really cover it...

Growth is significant lately.  Emotional, physical, mental... yes, yes, and yes.  Harry's got them all covered.  He continues to impress more and more every day with the things he does, the things he says, and the things he thinks. 

A recent love is for the "Ninja Warrior" show on G4.  He loves watching the competitors (equal enthusiasm for those who make it through, as well as those who don't), he loves going to the playground across the street to "train" ("complained" yesterday that he had done too much lower-body training, and now he's sore), he even loves coming up with his own "courses" that he's created out of blocks (they take up an entire side of the living room, and about a 10 minute narrative to explain).

We've begun watching some College Lacrosse on TV, catching some of the Faceoff Classic yesterday.  It's nice to be able to point out some of the things we're trying to work on in practice, even nicer when he points them out to me, but I think the best comment was, ""I can't wait to go to college... so I can play for Hopkins."  Alrighty then... best get after it.  This is a nice follow up to "Daddy, can I go play wallball" when we arrived a few minutes early for practice on Wednesday.  Finally, the fact that he seems to get it from the Maverik Commercial... I love it.

Then there's all of the reading lately.  He finished the 1st Harry Potter book a while back, and then got to see the movie (all part of the deal), but it took quite a while to get going on "The Chamber of Secrets."  At some point, I just picked it out as the next book for storytime (before bed).  We got about a chapter and a half in, and he took over.  This has turned into staying up after we read together, sometimes for as much as an hour, to continue reading.  We've even had a few times that we've had to take it from him so he'll get some sleep!  Now he's even reading mid-day on a weekend?!?!?

Dinnertime discussions have even become more cerebral.  We had quite a talk yesterday about how one friend was telling him (paraphrasing) that he needed to be a Christian, and that we indeed did not from monkeys.  Great... we're here already?  2nd Grade?  awesome.  Much discussion later of respecting others' opinions/religions/beliefs/etc, and I think we collectively came to a good point.

We're so proud of all of this growth.  He's an incredible kid, who continues to impress at every turn.

The fact that none of his pants seem to be long enough anymore, and we keep catching him flexing in front of the mirror... that's another discussion entirely.