Dear Quinn,
Over a week ago, you turned ELEVEN! I still cannot believe how old that sounds for you. I still see you as my squishy toddler who couldn't say his r's! I mean not really - I know you're quite mature and fully functioning as the pre-teen that you are, but in my mind, you will always live as my silly "little middle" with big ideas! I am so very thankful for you in my life, and I hope you know how very loved and cherished you are. Let me tell you about you at 11:
-The biggest change for your this year was getting your tonsils and adenoids removed. You've always been a loud breather when you sleep, snoring on and off throughout the night. When you were 10-months-old, I took you to an ENT to find out if there was anything going on that we should be concerned about. He diagnosed you with laryngomalacia - basically a floppy/flimsy breathing tube that made breathing more difficult, especially if you slept on your back and/or cried a lot. Thank goodness I had been trusting my gut to go against the recommendation to put you to bed on your back and instead felt that you got better rest on your belly. The ENT said this would help you breathe better; and he also advised never letting you cry it out. So we went to you every time you cried. We were told you would grow out of laryngomalacia by about two-years-old, and I guess you did, but you never stopped being a noisy sleeper. When we took you to a different ENT around 3 years old, he told us you weren't showing signs of sleep apnea, so there was no need to take your tonsils and we should just watch you. We did get your "scoped" for vocal nodules at 5-years-old, and sure enough, you had them. Your raspy voice had always given me concern, so we sought speech therapy to help with nodules, and while we were at it, we tackled your "r" and "s" sounds. You've continued to have to take care of your voice with lots of water and trying not to scream or shout a lot. But, again, the darn sleeping just kept being so loud. Especially in the past couple of years, you'd wake up with a sore throat and even say you didn't want to talk, whispering to me, "Email my teacher and tell her I'm not talking today!" In third grade, you had strep twice - pretty close together, and Dr. B. said if you had it one more time we'd need to consider getting your tonsils out. Last year, I was on the fence about just seeking another ENT appointment, but we never really did anything about it. Finally, after a horrible sore throat and a phone call from the GFC nurse saying, "His tonsils are HUGE," I made ENT appointments with two different doctors. The first one said you weren't really a candidate for surgery because you didn't have the other symptoms of sleep apnea - agreeing with the ENT when you were 3. But my gut was still feeling like he wasn't getting the whole picture. So, I wen to the other ENT appointment and basically just said, "I want them out." This doctor looked at your throat, said, "Wow, you've got some big old meatballs back there, don't you, Quinn?!" He said, yes, let's take them out. The following week, right after surgery, he came to the waiting room to get Dad and me, and he said that your tonsils and especially adenoids were so big - blocking about 75-80% of your airway. He said it was like you've "been living under water your whole life." Oh man, to hear that made me both delighted that we demanded this surgery and angry that we waited 10 years to do it! I was angry at the doctors who didn't guide us properly or never really seemed to hear what I was saying. I slept in your bed for the first 10 days after surgery, and at first the snoring didn't go away, but after a week when swelling was less, you stopped! It's been about a month and a half, and now, you are a quiet sleeper! I never know when you're asleep or not - whereas before, I could hear you were asleep from down the hallway! My heart is more at peace knowing my baby can breathe!!
-You are so very smart! You are well above grade level in every subject, and in STAAR reading you scored in the 100th percentile in 4th grade. In math, you scored in the 95th percentile. You LOVE to learn; always have! You love PACE, you love to read, you enjoy learning about how things happen, where they come from, how they work, etc.
-You still love to collect all kinds of random things I call "tchotchkes." You've gotten better about knowing what you can or should throw away, but you continue to want all kinds of little doodads in your possession. We cleaned out every corner of your room this summer, and when you found some old pouches and zipper bags full of old tchotchkes, you laughed and wondered why you would have kept these things. You said we could throw them away, but then, I could see your 4-, 5-, or 6-year-old self getting upset that you would throw away old crayons or Chuck E. Cheese prizes, and I might have just kept them there. When it comes to these keepsakes, you and I are a bit similar after all!
-You take medication for anxiety. I think this started around February/March, but I can't be sure. You had been going to Nurse Sarah quite often, complaining more of headaches and stomachaches, not wanting to go to school... these had been fairly common issues in the fall semester for years, a pattern that we had seen and would improve once your teachers really got to know how bright and ahead you were and could finally challenge you in school. But it wasn't getting better in fourth grade, so we took you to Dr. A, and he helped us "bring down the temperature" on your anxiety. I don't think you'll need them long-term, and neither does Dr. A, but for now, they're really helpful. I do wonder if your poor sleep exacerbated your anxiety. We will have to see how it goes and what he recommends for how to wean you off the medication. You've always been nostalgic, deep thinking, a little anxious, and emotional- and you come by those characteristics very naturally! I'm the exact same way, and it runs deep in our genes. But, better sleep will certainly help!
-I absolutely love watching you play baseball. You're playing on the RoughRiders team now - the same team we called the Pirates last season. Coach Jerod is great, and you're making friends with new boys who love cheering you on (although I don't love your "Cookie Monster" nickname, which you apparently got when you wore Banner's old Sesame Street gangster shirt to practice one day).
-You love: Brawl Stars, soft drinks, going to 7-Eleven, popcorn, broccoli, hanging with your "friend group," baseball, watching shows as a family (Glee is the one we're on now, but we've done Ted Lasso, Friends, and Lost in the past year), Greek mythology (but probably because Fortnite released those characters recently), GFC, ziplining, roller coasters, cooking with me, sitting in the front seat, playing with your brothers, cuddling with Tova, sleeping in our bed, Subway, Freebirds, building Lego sets, and swimming.
-We went for your well check with Dr. B at the end of last week, and. you're doing great. We did discuss your weight and your overeating, and this is something you will work on. You've been going to the gym with Dad sometimes, and you know you need to cut back on the soft drinks that we allow you to have at special events. We will help you with this! You are 57 inches = 55th percentile. You weigh 111 pounds = 93rd percentile. Dr. B suspects you will have a big growth spurt this year.
-For your birthday, we took 11 of your friends to a RoughRiders game to watch you throw out the first pitch of the game! It was so fun. LOUD, but fun! You invited Myles, Bryson, Harper, Derek, Ryan, Levi, Luca, Nami, Nico, Bennet, and Hayden. Grandma, Papa, Zaide, BeeBee, Banner, Knox, Dad, me, and of course, you were also there! We had a private suite that Dad had won at an auction; we ate baseball cupcakes after a hot dog, chicken tender, and hamburger dinner. It was a blast! We also sang "Happy Birthday" to you with the family at our anniversary video viewing party, and then on your actual birthday, Dad and I brought you lunch to school, and then we went to Magic Time Machine for dinner.
Quinn Redding, you are my easiest child. You are so cooperative, respectful, obedient, caring, affectionate, responsible, and attentive. You are inquisitive, insightful, creative, inventive, and so full of great ideas. I rarely have to ask you twice to do something, and you are the first to volunteer to help me with whatever is needed. You have your priorities in good order, and you know to do the things you don't really want to do - but must - first. I often have to check myself and make sure I'm not asking you to do more than your fair share. You're just the only one of my boys who doesn't make a fuss about it, so I find myself asking you to do the quick thing I need help with. That's not fair to you, and I am well aware of that. I promise you I'm working on it. You and I are the only ones in this house without ADHD, and we sometimes lean on each other or check in with each other when the others in the house aren't listening or paying attention.
This week, you asked me how many months before summer break. I answered, "Eight," but went on to tell you of course that included two weeks of winter break, a week of spring break, and a week of fall break. You said, "No, I know. I just wanted to know how much longer I have at Hightower. I don't want it to be over." This, of course, was not what I was expecting, instead thinking you wanted summer break back. I told you to just savor the year, enjoy what you have left rather than worrying about it or being sad that it's "only" 8 months. This last year of elementary school is going to be hard for you because it is just that - the last. You had a hard time leaving Anshai and knowing Pre-K was over, that a new chapter would be starting. Like me, you are well aware of time marching on and wanting to capture it before it's gone all too quickly. Change is hard, growing up is hard, saying goodbye is hard. But I hope you will enjoy this celebratory year ahead of you knowing how lucky you are to have had this time at your beloved school, with your beloved teachers and friends. I also know you are going to be successful in the next chapter and go far wherever you go! I am so grateful to be your mom - to support you through these challenges and changes, to cuddle you each night, to watch all your accomplish, to cheer you on in every endeavor, to care for you when you need it most, to hold your hand through every chapter.
I love you so very much, My Love. I wish you a very happy birthday and many more to come!
Love,
Mom
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| Saying goodbye to 10 |
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| Last sleep as a 10-year-old |
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| Night before 1 vs. Night before 11 |
If you watched Glee (and can remember!), you’ll understand why we had: Grilled Cheesus, Cheerios, Rachel Berrys, slushies, tots, Breadsticks (that also happened to be (Emma) Pillsbury), Lima beans, bake sale cupcakes, Coach Bieste bars, little elves, grapes and sanitizer wipes, and Fondue for Two! We had such a delightful time chatting the night away! 
