I can’t believe our firstborn is officially a tween!
On September 27th, our sweet Branden officially entered tween territory, and as sad as it makes me, I am one proud mom of the person that he’s becoming and it’s been pretty darn amazing watching him grow.
This year Branden started 7th grade, full time in school and he’s thriving. It’s been one of the best decisions ever even though it was a tough one with the state of the world. Remembering his mask, Chromebook, and locker key is a challenge every morning as he runs for the bus, but Chris and I do our best to go through this checklist with him each morning.
This year as he turned 12, we had a low-key birthday with family and friends. Branden got to spend the day rock climbing with Chris, which is one of his favorite activities, and then he came home for a special dinner (dad’s famous chicken tacos) and pumpkin pie (no cake for this kiddo) for his birthday treat.
Some things about Branden at age 12:
- He still has a love/hate relationship with Blake, but whenever they think we’re not looking they actually have a lot of fun together.
- His BFF is his cousin Shane, but he’s meeting a lot of cool kids at school this year.
- His favorite activity outside of rock climbing is jiu jitsu, which he practiced this summer and is committing a full year to starting in November. We’re super excited he’s found something that he’s very passionate about.
- He loves spicy foods, white rice with soy sauce, wings, and anything Chris cooks.
- He loves to zoom around our neighborhood on his electric scooter.
- He gets more and more into music with each passing day and even brings headphones to school so that he can listen whenever he has some free time.
- He’s honestly the sweetest, kindest kid who thinks so often of others. He reminds me a lot of me whenever I was younger because he loves to hang with the adults every chance he gets more than the younger kids – he’s an old soul.
- Branden has the sweetest relationship with our dog, Oliver. In fact, many, many nights, Oliver creeps into Branden’s bed and sleeps with him.
- As a right of passage for these preteen years, he is messy, messy, messy – but we’re working on it.
- He is such a night owl and would stay up all night if he could.
- His favorite shows right now are Smallville, Cobra Kai, and can’t wait for the next season of Stranger Things.
- He loves to scroll through Reddit threads in his spare time and often comes to tell me stories about the crazy people on the Internet.
One of my personal favorite moments with him is when Chris is working late and he creeps into my room to check on me and sits with me to watch Desperate Housewives (lol). We have the best conversations during these nights and as crazy as it sounds, he’s always asking me about what’s happening on Wisteria Lane!
We are so proud of Branden and wish him the happiest of birthdays! Love you!
XOXO,
Allison
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