Dexter was excited to have his 15th birthday at the park and then we walked over for the screening at Jean Cocteau Cinema.
The stats:
Weight: 135 lbs (around 81st percentile)
Height: 70 in (around 96th percentile)
Dexter made it through his first year of middle school. He is growing faster than we can get clothes for him and is still one of the tallest in his class. He's not great at standing up straight and is sometimes quite clumsy in his growing frame.
He's a busy kid and played tennis and basketball after school and improved greatly in both. He did well in his classes for the most part with a few bumps in the road learning how to deal with a lot more homework and organization.
He has stayed close to a few of his elementary friends and he's making new friends at Prep. He had a lot of fun having Maya there for his first year and made friends with many of the older kids because of that.
He's still in sloth zone, loving sleeping, video games, and screens of all varieties. That said, he is well liked by friends and can be a great conversationalist when he's around people.
He definitely developing an interest in politics and philosophy. He's still playing the piano. He has been watching more and more complex/adult themed movies and would probably say his favorite movie is "The Blues Brothers." He is also watching more baseball with Dad and is becoming a big Cubs fan.
He's turning into a sophisticated fellow. Happy Birthday Dex!
Dexter decided to focus on his Wood Gormley buddies for his party this year since he just met the kids at Santa Fe Prep. He decided to go with his friends to the movies and then hang at the house afterward.
The stats:
Weight: 115 lbs (around 75th percentile)
Height: 67 in (around 95th percentile)
This year, Dexter has completed many milestones. He completed 6th grade and was accepted into Santa Fe Prep for middle and high school. He's definitely earned the title of teenager with all the excitement like braces, acne and teenage angst. He's tall for his class so people often think he's older than he is, but he still loves to play like the younger ones. His voice is deeper and he loves walking around the house with headphones on.
This year, Dexter is still playing tennis and is doing a pretty good job of getting outside. He had a great time participating in the musical, Grease, this summer.
However, he is still very active in his sloth period preferring to play video games, watch TV, and play games whenever possible. He's still taking piano and had fun playing the clarinet during the school year for 6th grade band.
Dexter has slowed down on reading lately and mostly reads assigned books and some of his old favorites. Hard to get him too excited about reading right now. He is getting more interested in politics and history. He's also interested in ethics and arguing generally which can be interesting and annoying. He's a huge fan of The Good Place particularly because of the all the ethical issues is explores. He's still in love with Brooklyn 99, The Simpsons, and stand up comedy. We continue to movies with some of his recent favorites being Inside Out 2 and Back to the Future.
Dexter has a close group of friends from his old school and is just starting to get to know the kids at his new school, but he seems like he really enjoys socializing and getting to know people. He still has some anxiety, but he's really developed some good techniques to deal with it.
It's crazy to see our little guy getting so much bigger and more mature. Welcome to the teenage years!!
Happy Birthday Dexter!
Dexter decided that he wanted to have a small party and go to the "Adventure Center" at the mall and then watch a movie at our house.
The stats:
Weight: 90 lbs (around 75th percentile)
Height: 59 in (around 80th percentile)
Dexter made it through his first year in Santa Fe. He's had an impressively good time at his new school, Wood Gormley. He liked his teachers for 4th grade and he made some great new friends. He's off to a great start in 5th grade and seems very comfortable with his new teacher too. We hear that he's a good student even though his class is infamous for being LOUD. His teachers always say he brings a nice, fun, yet mellow vibe to the classroom.
Transition isn't easy, but he's been courageous and willing to try a lot of new things. Everyday isn't all smiles, but most of the time he seems like he's having a pretty good time.
Dexter is still enjoying rec soccer and now he's been taking some tennis lessons too. He is continuing his piano lessons too. His greatest love is still video games (CURSE YOU PANDEMIC!). He likes the creative games like Minecraft, but will happily play just about anything on a device. He also likes board games and poker.
Dexter is reading plenty as usual. He's continues to read all of the Rick Riordan books; he completed the Hunger Games trilogy and recently started the Scythe series. He is obsessed with his Hazardous Tales books which he reads over and over. They are historically based, so he will happily recite facts he's found there. He is also enjoying math and creative writing as much as ever.
We are really enjoying being able to share so much as a family now. We are watching so many fun movies together (Dexter's been watching some classics like The Great Escape and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly lately). He's a fun companion at restaurants or on outings. It's great to feel like Dexter has arrived in a new place where he's able to make jokes that are really funny, comment about more complicated subjects, and engage with us in more sophisticated ways. It is always a treat to hang out with Dex.
Happy Birthday 11-year-old!
The stats:
Weight: 76 lbs (around 60th percentile)
Height: 56 in (around 75th percentile)
Wow! A lot has changed for Dexter over the past year. Most of his 3rd grade year was in-person at Mark Day School. He loved being back at school and bonded with the boys in his cohort. After the school year, we moved and he has now started at a new school for 4th grade. His anxiety was certainly present, but it's decreased steadily and really went down when we got to Santa Fe. We are seeing a new maturity and confidence that seems to be helping him deal with all these new situations.
Dexter loves comedy! He loves joke books and watching comedy. He tries out his own jokes, but mostly he makes funny comments frequently and really makes us laugh. He is already making friends here and seems to have found a few boys that he really likes. He likes to FaceTime with his buddies from San Rafael. He also started rec soccer here. He complains about going, but usually has a great time once he's there. Overall, in comparison to a year ago, Dexter is so much more relaxed and happy.
Dexter has turned into a reading maniac this year. We finished the Harry Potter Series with us reading much of it to him and then he found the Percy Jackson series and he began reading ferociously on his own. These days, he can often be found reading a book in corner. We realized the extent of his book collection when we moved. He loves the big bookshelf in his new room and is alway digging out old favorites. He's also loving math and enjoys a good math challenge. He's advancing with his writing and prefers to write funny stories more than anything else. He's recently started a series about cheese that wants to take over the world. He's a curious kid with good imagination.
Dexter is still playing piano and getting virtual lessons from our teacher in San Rafael. He is progressing and likes to play, but always complains about practicing. Playing on the soccer team is a fun new activity.
Dexter continues to love video games. He gets very involved and wants books about Minecraft and Zelda Breath of the Wild. He loves all video games and it is his favorite thing to do. Much of this habit was built on the pandemic and we aren't thrilled about it. We try to limit the time, but it does make him happy.
Dexter is beginning to get old enough to participate in more the "mature" TV shows that we like to watch and is not the little guy who feels left out as much. He and Maya continue to get along well. Maya is wanting to be out more on her own with friends, so Dexter is sometimes lonely around here. Dexter's favorite shows are "The Simpsons" and "Tom and Jerry." As a family, we've watched "Modern Family" and "His Dark Materials" along with some other fun programs.
We are having fun with our double digits kid. It's very fun to get to know the older, wiser, and funnier Dexter.
