Category: Tristan

Wait, what? I have a TEENAGER in the house? How could my sweet baby Tristan possibly be 13 today?

Tristan, it has been a great year for you. So many big changes, so many big moments, and so delightful to watch you grow from a little boy to a man-child.

And when I say you’re growing up, I really mean UP. I’m still a meagre inch or so taller than you but not for long, and your feet are already well bigger than mine and almost bigger than your dad’s. You like being as big as the high school kids, though you don’t seem to use your size for nefarious purposes. Yet.

Your spring was filled with adventure as you discovered first that you love to ski and then that you had a talent for running and competed on the school track team for the first time. Who would have ever pegged a child of mine for an athlete? “He runs like the wind!” your proud vice-principal confided to me, an undertone of amazement in his voice.

And then you left grade school behind and graduated from Grade Six! We couldn’t have been more proud to see you earn the Creative Arts award, and even if we didn’t quite understand your teachers’ inside joke about you and not wearing your shoes, your class certainly found it funny.

This year you moved to middle school – a big transition for all of us, but one you seem to have taken in stride. You’re doing well in all subjects, but you seem to be enjoying math and English in particular. Mr Peters assures me with enthusiasm, “Tristan is a math guy!” and Mr Ireland mentioned how much he enjoys your quick wit and that he’s never seen such a dry sense of humour in a Grade 7 before. That’s my boy!

You absolutely have a quirky sense of humour and you take great pride in not following the crowd. You covet weird things like boots up to your hips and a sword and shield and an ocarina, which you got for Christmas. You seem to like the Legend of Zelda and Minecraft in equal measure, but you are also always up for family game night. I loved introducing you to Dungeons and Dragons this year! And you love to express yourself in art, either with a pencil or a set of fabric markers on a t-shirt or with PicCollage.

You are becoming very particular in your preferences. You prefer wooded trails over city sidewalks, cheese pizza over pepperoni, individualism over conformity and comedy over drama. You don’t understand why there are “rules” like boys don’t wear skirts to school. You like to question authority but are not particularly compelled to rebel against it, and you have a strong sense of justice and what is ‘right.’ You’re an irrepressible daydreamer and a bit of a scatterbrain, but you’re also easy going, kind and thoughtful. You are developing a delightful appreciation of beautiful sunrises and picturesque scenes.

You have a lovely gentle touch with animals, and they seem drawn to you. Willie, with whom you share a birthday (happy birthday Willie!) sleeps on your bed most nights, and Bella likes to sleep on you when we watch TV. You loved having Sir Charles the Hedgehog and his Ratty friends visiting us during the March Break last year as much as I did, and you often ask about adding another cat to our menagerie.

Your friends seem to be the same gang as always: Sophie, Theo, Carter, Owen, Ethan and Oreo, and you’ve added a few new ones this year at your new school. The gang will be here today to help you celebrate your birthday, with Monty Python and board games and Super Smash Bros and pizza. Or, as you called it, “just an ordinary day in Tristan’s life.”

In a year filled with awesome moments and milestones, I think my favourite time with you would still be our evening walks with Bella. Your legs are almost longer than mine and I have to work hard to keep up with you, but we have an easy peace between us on those walks that I enjoy more than I could explain. I love chatting with you about your day, telling you stories from my own school days, and exchanging opinions and insights. You’re a clever, quirky and sublimely funny guy, and I’m glad you’re my friend as well as my son.

Happy birthday to my sweet, silly, smart and funny Tristan! I hope this year, your first as a teenager, is full of adventure and discovery and laughter. We love you!

Remember this? Tristan’s first day of school. Doesn’t it seem like it was just last week?

And then yesterday, this happened: Grade 6 graduation.

It was the most lovely day. The school thoughtfully thought to include as many younger siblings in day as possible, so Simon was asked to be an altar server during the mass. The lovely teachers wrote a few personal thoughts about every single graduating child to share as they received their diplomas, and every time I managed to stop the tears that were freely running down my cheeks, one of the teachers on stage would start crying and set me off anew. It was truly a lovely, memorable affair.

When I was looking for Tristan’s first day of school photo for this post, I laughed out loud when came across the blog post I wrote on his first day of school back in 2006. I wrote:

Tristan occasionally tends toward the stoic, and when I peppered him with questions about his day, he answered my excitement with a casualness bordering on blase.

Did you have fun? Yep.
Was the teacher nice? Yep.
Did you play with the other kids? Uh huh.
What did you do? Oh, you know. A craft. I made a school bus.

A school bus. He made a school bus. My son, the artist.

My son, the artist indeed. Guess who won the Creative Arts Award for his graduating class?

My son, the artist AND the graduate. You read it here first. 🙂

My dear darling Tristan, today you are twelve years old!

Tristan, you are a curious, creative, thoughtful boy with a delightfuly dry and wry sense of humour. You are warm and affectionate, shy but loyal, and full of deep thoughts. You are always a wonderful companion and I enjoy spending time with you.

It seems you grow an inch every time I look at you lately, my son. You grow taller, your voice grows deeper, and the shadows of facial hair on your uppper lip are more than just peach fuzz now. It’s okay if I still think of you as my baby, though, right? Even though we may literally see eye to eye by the end of this year?

Your best friend continues to be Simon, whether you admit it or not. The two of you have an insular world of imagination woven from Minecraft and Pokemon and YouTube that comes replete with its own set of idioms and concepts impenetrable by your parents. It’s almost like a secret language of twins. And you continue to show great patience with Lucas, who adores you in ways to which I’m pretty sure you’re oblivious. You have a sweet circle of friends for whom you care deeply, and they clearly feel the same way about you. Especially one in particular. 😉

This year, your favourite things seem to be Minecraft, meatballs, that silly cat, Minecraft videos on YouTube, any artistic endeavour, Pokemon, Chinese food, family movie nights, animals of all sizes, and your dad’s baking. You are still my adventurer and my explorer, the one most receptive to my proposals of a walk in the woods or a ride on our bikes. This year we discovered a love of skiing together, and it was a wonderful adventure to share with you.

Tristan, you continue to show an amazing talent for art. In addition to sketching and drawing, you have lately taken an interest in digital artwork and your PicCollage app on your iPod. You made your own birthday party invitations with it, and you’ve lately taken to creating online avatars not just for yourself but for your friends as well.

You see yourself as a non-conformist, but you strive to make others happy. Given the opportunity to choose between two types of cupcakes to bring to school to celebrate your birthday, you sent around a poll to make sure all your classmates and teachers had a chance to vote for their preference. I read just a few days ago an article called 18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently and I saw you in so many of the points. Daydreaming, observing the world, taking time for solitude, seeking new experiences, viewing life as an opportunity for self-expression, losing track of time, seeing things differently – all the things that make you ocasionally challenging to parent or manage in school, in other words. It makes me look forward to see where you are going in life.

One thing in particular I’ve enjoyed this year is our evening walks with Bella. Although the long winter nights lately have been cold for walking, our chats have been a great way to get to know what’s going on in your life. You’ve shown an interest in astronomy and I’ve been happy to talk your ears off in sharing what I love about the stars and planets.

This has been your last year of primary school. Next year you will move on to the challenge of a middle school embedded in a high school, but for now you have enjoyed being among the kings of the school. You have very much enjoyed participating in your school’s morning “radio show” and dressing up in the school mascot costume – two of only a few of the rewards of being a sixth grader.

These letters get harder and harder to write as you get older. I’m no less proud of you, no less charmed by you, no less delighted by your company – but I feel like I can’t be as candid about my affection or your personality and interests as you grow older. Your stories are your own now, crafted more and more by your own motivations, passions and dreams. With each passing year, you become more in charge of writing the story of who you are and where you are going with your life, and I’m only along for the ride and the companionship – and maybe to take a photo or two along the way.

You may be bigger, my man-child, but you’ll always be my baby. Happy birthday, my sweet Tristan! We adore you!

Happy Birthday, my handsome fellow. Today you are ELEVEN!!

Oh Tristan, where to start? You, my big boy, have had a very good year. You seem content and confident, and you are a joy to be around. You love movie nights and game nights with the family, caesar salad with bacon, reading, Minecraft novelty versions of pop songs, Phineas and Ferb, riding your bike, feeding the chicadees and Chinese food, among other things.

You are getting SO tall – I fear this time next year you may be as tall as your old mum! You’re now at the height of my jaw, and I love how you come in to be hugged with your head tucked down so you land under my chin – but I imagine there is a day in the not too distant future when it’s me tucking my head under your chin! As long as there are still hugs, I think I will be okay with that.

You are still my explorer, my adventurer, the one who is always up for a walk or a climb or a bike ride. You are becoming the family’s athlete, and this year you played lunchtime football at school as well as running in the cross-country meet. You’d prefer to walk home from school than be driven, and I know if I am twitching for an adventure, you will be the first one to volunteer to come with me. (You’re also pretty patient with some of my crazier photography-related ideas!)

You’ve fallen in with a good lot of mates at school, and I enjoy having your friends over to the house to play. You are less outgoing than your extroverted middle brother, but you are not shy either. You strike a pleasant middle ground, and the friends you do let in to your inner circle are fast and fierce. Your friends right now are Theodore and Owen and Carter and Ethan and Orion, and of course Sophie. Your ongoing friendship with her is perhaps the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen.

I couldn’t write about you at age 11 without mentioning your current obsession with the game Minecraft. I think you eat, sleep and dream about the game! Watching your ease with the game, and the technology behind it, makes me wonder if you don’t have a future in computers. To our delight, you even built a working app in school this year. You have slightly more old-fashioned career aspirations at this point, though. To my surprise and (I must admit) delight earlier this year, you announced with some conviction that when you grow up you want to be a blacksmith.

Last year we saw a big turnaround mid-year in your attitude toward school and your behaviour in it. This year, you have really hit your stride and your grades reflect your much-improved attitude. You have been invited to test for the gifted program next year, and I think you will enjoy that if you are accepted into the program. You are curious and creative, two skills that will take you far in life. Even though you have honed your athletic side this year, your creative side continues to flourish. You still draw regularly, if not as obsessively as you used to, and you enjoy your guitar lessons with Dave.

You get along well with both Simon and Lucas, which some days means you resist throttling them quite well. You melted my heart a few months ago when I found out that after your dad or I had finished reading to you and Simon at bedtime and tucked you in, you will often read aloud to Simon yourself. You are patient with Lucas as well, and we have even entrusted you with the care of your brothers for very (very!) brief interludes recently.

I enjoy your company, Tristan. I love that you are developing a sense of humour which perfectly complements your dad’s and mine. I love that we can watch movies and even read the same books (like the Hunger Games) and discuss them on an almost grown-up level. I love that I can rely on you and interact with you and share with you in a more sophisticated and grown-up way.

Mostly, I just love you! Happy birthday to you – and to your silly cat, with whom you are delighted to share a birthday. Happiest of birthdays, my sweet Tristan! You are very much loved.

My darling Tristan, you are TEN years old today! A whole decade! You’re up to my shoulder now, my tall son, and your feet are the same size as mine. Won’t be long now and I’ll be looking up to you even when your feet are on the ground!

Tristan, you still have boundless energy and a good appetite for adventure. You like to climb things, to leap off things, to balance on things. You like to wander and explore with me (and I’m delighted to admit, you seem to share my sense of humour!) You’re a great companion, and I enjoy chatting with you as we walk. I was very impressed early in the spring last year when you committed to training for your first 5K run, and I was especially proud when you persevered through bucketloads of cold rain to finish the run.

One of the definite highlights of your year was the arrival of Willie the Cat. Maybe it’s because you share a birthday (Happy Birthday Willie!) or because you’re just a cat person at heart, but there is no doubt there is a special bond between you and that cat. And perhaps even more endearing, it’s clear the cat feels the same way. I’m pretty sure he thinks you’re a tall, hairless, funny-looking litter mate. (In sorting through my pictures from the year for this post, I laughed at the fact that nearly if not more than half of my pictures of you for the year also feature the cat somehow.)

It’s great to know I can count on you to help around the house without too much complaint, even if I have to micromanage you, and you’re clearly comfortable taking on more responsibility in the family with tasks like feeding the pets and small household jobs. You also learned to play chess this year, and started taking guitar lessons. You seem to be enjoying your lessons quite a bit, even if you don’t practice nearly as much as you should. You can play a few songs now, and I enjoy hearing you practice.

You still love video games, of course. You like to play Club Penguin on the computer and Skylanders on the Wii and DS. You still like Super Mario Bros and Pokemon. Your favourite shows are Phinias and Ferb and Hello Charlie, and you and Simon like to watch tween shows like Witches of Waverly. I love how you comfortably stand between the childhood that is nearly behind you and the teen years ahead with an easy comfort in both worlds.

Your best friend is clearly Simon, though you might never admit it. You two are partners in crime, joined at the hip — often literally. I love how the two of you flop together like puppies in a litter, and how you make each other laugh. Outside of the house, your best friends are Theodore and Sophie, and even though Sophie moved across town last year you’ve stayed in touch through letters and weekend playdates.

You are extremely patient (most of the time) with Lucas, who is more like you that you realize or would care to admit. This photo was one of my favourite memories of the year, when you asked out of the blue if you could read to Lucas at bedtime.

You’ve done well at school this year, better in the second half of the year than the first. I think it took you a while to find your groove in your first year of French immersion and while your grades have been good, you needed a bit of an attitude adjustment in the first semester, which your latest report card reflects you’ve clearly done. Just last week, I eavesdropped on a conversation you and your Dad were having about what you wanted to be when you grow up. You said you’d like to be an artist, because it would be fun to draw pictures and make paintings all day. It’s no surprise to me that you’d consider a career in the arts, because you draw and doodle so relentlessly that your teacher gave you a special doodle pad to keep you from filling your desk with endless bits of scrap paper. You have special permission to use it only when you’ve finished your in-class work.

This is the year when you’ve clearly come to love reading as well. I’m charmed that each night after either your Dad or I read to you and Simon that Simon falls instantly asleep and you lay quietly in your bed reading to yourself. Lately you’ve consumed Bone books and Calvin and Hobbes cartoons and Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, among others. I like the quiet conversations we have when I come down each night to turn off your light and tuck you in.

Tristan, you’re warm, sweet, smart, energetic and artistic, and I genuinely enjoy your company immensely (when you aren’t fidgeting madly or making the weird, random, repetitive noises that boys your age seem incapable of repressing!) Your quirks make you even more endearing to me, and it’s a genuine joy to have you as my son. Happy birthday, my darling Tristan! I wish you a year filled with joy and delight. 🙂