A few words about Dallin....

He is incredibly stubborn when he makes up his mind. He hated nursery and primary until he was about 7. Some days he still feels this way about going to school. He made me camp outside his room to keep him there for his nap every day until he was about 3. About this time I was pregnant and would fall asleep first. He was then free to roam. Naptime should have ended a good year earlier. He still insists he doesn't need to use the bathroom until there's no holding it for another second.When we lived in Chandler he figured every way to get out of the house, so we had to put locks up high on the doors after some scary searches down the street. He still doesn't mind going off by himself, and has been *lost* (resulting in great panic) at Disneyland, Mexico, my brother's basketball game at EA.....When 7 months old, he got his first tooth. That same week he started banging his head on the floor, crib, chairs and my kneecap whenever he got frustrated. At first I thought teething made him grouchy. Then his doctor said he was entering his "terrible twos" early, which on the plus side would result in him finishing them early. No such luck. Dallin is either hot or cold. Happy or not. This led to "PIZZA!" Who knows....but when Dallin was about 3-4 he suddenly began yelling out "PIZZA!" out of nowhere during a meltdown. This signaled the abrupt end of the fit and the sudden onset of good times ahead. Dallin lived off about 5 foods for the first 6 or so years of his life. He has slowly expanded his diet. Very slowly. How in the heck did he turn out to be such a tall kid? How can I say you can't get big and strong if you don't eat when....he did???? He hated his first soccer game. "Too much running and too much kicking." Yes, I know. It's soccer. But by the next year he was scoring so many goals we had to tell him to "only practice passing" and not score for a quarter at a time to give the other kids a chance :) He can smash a baseball, tackle a kid and make him cry (his proud moment, not mine) and has a fine basketball shot. He loves to ride his horse Hershey, and has some sweet skateboarding and snowboarding skills. And, he sure got a lot of swim team medals this year! (It's his birthday and I'm his mom. Yes I'm bragging.) Dallin would not watch TV, try as I might, until he was 3. Then it was only Old Yeller and Sandlot over and over and OVER. Then he added Spiderman. Somehow I still enjoy the first 2. And I can sing you the old school theme song for Spiderman. He has the most tender heart of almost anyone I know. Just watch him with babies, little kids, animals, and even his mom. His brothers and sisters adore him. Most of the time. He works hard when he wants something. He won't sing, but is good at the piano. And he actually loves school now. Thank you Mrs. Bonham and Mrs. Binnie. We love you Dallin. I couldn't imagine life without you.