Total Package

Today is Donald's 12th birthday!  I can't believe that he is growing so fast.  He has changed so much in the last year and is growing out of the childhood phase.  He makes me laugh so much and I am so grateful that one of my best friends is also my son.

His sense of humor cracks me up!  The other day we were on the pool deck and he was getting ready to get in the water for practice.   He pulled his sweatshirt off and I said "Hey, look at those washboard abs!" (It's kind of an inside joke because everyone keeps commenting on how he is getting a swimmer's body and he always responds by lifting his shirt and saying "washboard abs!").  After I said it, he responded sarcastically, "I know, I have a nice body."  So I said, "And you are so humble too."
Then he concluded with a smile, "I am the total package!"  So now our family and his coach have decided his nickname is Total Package (TP).  I think we might get t-shirts made.  We are going to chant it at swim meets.  I just think it would be the coolest thing if in 5 years we were all at the Olympics cheering on TP with our TP shirts and TP groupies.  :)  See what happens when you try to boost a kid's self esteem, sometimes it snowballs out of control, but, I am loving every minute.

 Our swim team tradition for birthdays is called the gauntlet.  Everyone else lines up along the lane lines while the birthday boy swims down the center and they splash him with their kickboards.  It's fun to get all the attention sometimes and the three dozen donuts that I brought to practice made it even better.

Happy Birthday TP!  Love you!