Evan:: Nearly Ten

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He has a dream -- a long-term goal and a plan for his future.  It involves electronic/robotic/remote control machines.  He wants to design them, build them, drive them around.  He also wants to have his own RC car race track.  To make all this happen, he intends to start working with his dad when he's eleven, "since the only work I know is contracting."

He thinks someone is pretty (besides just me;-) for the first time.  He confides his little secrets to me and I will not tell them, but how precious it is to know his heart beats just a little faster around a certain girl he knows.

He loves food.  Mashed potatoes and gravy, spaghetti and meatballs, pizza, berry-banana smoothies, cashews, red peppers, baked beans, lasagna, bacon, tacos, apple crisp, red cabbage, stuffing, fish patties, chicken noodle soup, yams, chocolate pudding.  Yum.

He values humor, but only to make his close friends laugh, not a crowd of strangers.  He can ride his bike for 5 miles and not feel tired, but ask him to walk half a mile and he'll be a drama queen about his sore feet.  He wants to kiss and cuddle me but won't let me kiss or cuddle him. 

He has many collections:  specimens for looking at under the microscope (a.k.a. dead bugs); toothpicks in the shape of swords; sticks with all the bark whittled off;  empty gum wrappers folded back up to look like real gum;  batteries -- everywhere.

He doesn't want a party this year.  It was always the plan to do a party at ten, but he doesn't want that.  Instead he just wants a chance to hang out with his best bud, and let us spend the party funds on a big gift.  That sounds just right for him :-)