Mosher boys: 9

My oldest child turned 9 last week. 9!!!!!!! Craziness I tell you. My first baby is just one year away from double digits! I don't even really know what to say about this. It makes me feel kinda old, but also kinda proud. Very proud of Sam, of course, but also proud of myself- 9 good years of parenting under my belt and going strong! Being a parent is the hardest job around, for sure, but also the best. I've had such fun these past 9 years, caring for, teaching, loving, hanging out with Sammy. What a great kid he is, if I do say so myself!

Turning 9 is a pretty intense time of change for a child as well. It reminds me a lot of the time when you slowly watch your child morph from a toddler to a real kid. Sam is going through similar changes, but its a morph from kid to...older kid, I guess. He's not a preteen yet (thank goodness!!), but he is also not a little kid anymore. He has moments of such surliness and attitude, that it feels like we are living with a teenager already. I sometimes wonder- where did my sweet little boy go? And then he reappears, happy to play with his brothers, spin around the block on his roller blades, or just contentedly lay on the couch and read. Emotions are riding high, and close to the surface at this age, even for mellow, steady Sam. He is emerging from the shell of childhood, and starting to peek through to the adult world out here. And I imagine it can be kind of scary sometimes, and exhilarating at others. Kind of like life.

Sam chose to celebrate this birthday with a trip to Alcatraz. He, Jeff, and friend Fynn spent the day in SF, taking a ferry out to the island, tour of the prison, lunch in the city and a trip to the vintage arcade nearby. We also had a family party for him with Grannie and Grandpa. Sam's menu included Grannie's world famous mac n'cheese, cauliflower cooked with bacon, and a green salad. I made him a vanilla roulade cake, filled with Meyer lemon curd and covered in whipped cream. We ended the evening with, drum roll please, a viewing of Star Wars!!!!! Sam and Patch were SO excited to finally watch this movie and I'm please to report that everyone made it through the entire film, with no problems. Empire Strikes Back, here we come!

Opening presents with brothers.