Ren is 11!

Ren is 11! 

(We didn't get these photos taken til a month after his birthday, but the upside to that is that it was starting to be a little green outside!)

At 11 years old...

-Ren still walks to the beat of his own drum! He is creative, inquisitive, stubborn, imaginative, clever, hilarious, and he focuses on the most unusual things. Things that would matter to me do not matter to him, and vice versa! It's always interesting to see what he fixates on or shows interest in. He's always thinking of creative ways to do things.

-We transferred the boys to a new school this semester. In January, they started at Trinity Academy. Ren is in 5th grade there, and Mrs. Truby is his teacher. She is amazing and perfect for him! They have a big dog in their classroom every day - Harley Sue. She just wanders around for pets and love, and she even rides the bus when they go to the high school for band! There's also an axolotl named Ezra in their class, which Ren enjoys updating me on Ezra's eating habits (or lack thereof). The classroom doesn't have traditional desks, but bunkbeds, poufs, couches, and other types of seating. It's bit messy/chaotic in there (just like Ren), and Mrs. Truby haas a collection of Lego minifigs. She also is so tech savvy, with 3D printers, drones, and green screens for the kids to learn and use.

-Ren is our introvert, so he has had a harder time with the new school than Sutton. My consensus is that he loves the school, his teacher, the learning methods, but he's sad still about leaving his old friends. He doesn't automatically put himself out there to make new friends, so we are hoping that is still yet to come.

-Ren started playing the trumpet at the beginning of the school year. It didn't come naturally to him, but we have been working harder the past month at home and he has made a lot of progress.

-Outside of school, Ren enjoys hiking, Roblox + Minecraft, playing outside, Legos, filming YouTube videos, and drawing/animating on the iPad.

-He is so talented at drawing and animating on the iPad! It blows me away. He taught himself to use Procreate and loves to sit and draw while I read to him.

(Luna is our oldest cat and always finds us every.single.time we're outside and has to insert herself into all photo sessions.)

The following was Ren's posing idea:

Luna started licking his toes:

-We tried reading the Harry Potter books a couple years ago, and Ren lost interest halfway through the 4th book. I decided to try again after we read through a couple of other series. He is OBSESSED and it makes me so happy! Both my boys now love Harry Potter like their momma. Several times a day, I hear, "Mom, will you read to me?" So we sit on the couch and I read while he draws. Love these times with him!

-One big thing we have been battling with Ren this year is his sleeping issues. He started having trouble falling asleep and staying asleep toward the end of last summer. He had been sleeping downstairs near Sutton's room a lot, and when we made him come back to his bedroom to sleep when it was getting close to school starting, he just couldn't transition. He has a lot of anxiety and negative thoughts, and they are always worse at night. Coupled with the fact that his room isn't close to anyone else's...it has been a struggle. We started a bedtime routine starting about 30 minutes before bedtime, involving melatonin and me reading to him (which is how all the reading started - we read the Millie Maven series first). Then at bedtime, we check on him every 15 minutes until he's asleep. I think he finds comfort in knowing one of us is nearby while he's trying to fall asleep. He used to come up to our bedroom every night halfway through the night and sleep on our couch, but we have luckily gotten past that. Adam sleeps down near him on a makeshift bed probably 3 nights per week, and Ren still takes his bedding down to sleep near Sutton on the weekends. We are hoping he grows out of this at some point, but have also realized that he will most likely just never sleep as much as Sutton or the rest of us.

Sutton wasn't super excited to be taking these, but he did it for me, so we're excusing his weird teenager smile:

-Some of Ren's favorite shows to watch are Gravity Falls, Milo Murphy's Law, and he loves all the animated movies like Garfield, Trolls, Sonic, Minions, Ice Age, etc.

-Ren definitely seems more on the immature side for his age, and we also think he likely has ADD in some capacity. Not the hyperactive piece, but the struggle-to-focus piece. He's very disorganized, is constantly losing or misplacing things, and forgets things or forgets what he is doing very easily. Luckily his new teachers recognize this, but also recognize his strengths and uniqueness...they seem to really SEE him and are trying to help with these issues at school, but it is a process.

-Ren got a bearded dragon two Christmases ago. His name was Journey. Ren LOVED him. He suddenly passed away in July and Ren was devastated, so we got him a new one and he named her Toast. Ren LOVES Toast. He calls her his daughter (and my granddaughter). He thinks she is the cutest ever and does a really great job with the responsibility of caring for her. He is excited to be doing a research project about bearded dragons for school this semester. Here is the carrier that Papa Ed and Grandma Janet got him for Toast for Christmas:

-Ren's favorite meals at home are Mac n cheese, and bean + cheese burritos. He loves Yoohoo and ice cream. He loves blue raspberry slushes, SunChips (harvest cheddar), Ritz cheese sandwich crackers, and anything else sweet, chocolate, or snacky. He would survive on snacks alone if it were up to him.

-Ren's favorite restaurant is still Doc Greens because of their Mac n cheese. He also likes the Mac at Chick-fil-a and Panera. He loves bean burritos from Taco Shop.

Our neighbors' animals were curious about why we were in the woods, so we went to say hi. Bailey the horse was very interested in Toast, and Saint the goat was just there to say hi:

Ren was excited that this photo had 4 animals in it, Luna, Toast, Bailey, Saint:

-While Sutton lives in shorts, Ren prefers pants and layering shirts. Sometimes he will wear two shirts that both have hoods. Or two that both have collars. I just let him, it's who he is. :)

-Ren enjoys cozy spaces/vibes. For his birthday, Adam made him a whole area in the basement that is just for him. There's a tent with pillows, a crafting desk, a Lego table, and storage + lights under the stairs. He loves spending time in there. We also set up a table with his computer for homework, and he likes having that space that is HIS too. 

Smokey came and found us in the woods too. He is the only cat we currently have that we let inside. He is so snuggly and purrs an insane amount. He's a really great kitty!

-He still doesn't like sports. He is able to now tell us that it's because he hates competition, which I totally get...it brings out the worst in people sometimes! Adam feels the same way, so it all tracks. We tried taekwando this year, he liked it, but not enough to keep doing it. He has expressed interest in cooking and baking. And he loves camping. So we will keep trying to figure out what hobbies to get him into.

-Ren loves animals through and through. I love this about him. I save cat and dog videos on my phone on Facebook and instagram and then he will snuggle in with me to watch them sometimes. I love that his birthday photos ended up being very animal-centric, even though we didn't plan it that way (besides bringing Toast out with us)! We had to get a few with our beloved Riddick at the end!

Ren...you are the most amazing and unique individual that I know! And one day, that intensely clever brain of yours is going to do great things! We will keep plugging along and trying to find your niche and the things that inspire you. We love you more than words can say and are so grateful God put YOU in our little foursome. 

Here's the birthday video (this was taken closer to his actual birthday...not a month late!)...