Last but definitely -

NOT least - A-Dog! Seriously - do you think he needs a hair cut? Good luck convincing him! We don't argue about hair. There are so many other things I can come up with to argue about, hair is not one of them.

A-Dog is not your typical almost teenager though. Yet. I'm sure we will be getting a nice dose of it soon enough, but for right now, we are going to sit back and enjoy this kid!

The boy has always loved baseball. LOVED IT. By 2 years old he was hitting pitches that were tossed to him, not just hitting off a tee. He could spend hours playing invisible baseball (where you throw air and subsequently catch air - and believe or not, it was possible to not be good at this game. Really.) It was an obsession and by the time he was 3 or so, figured out that Sportscenter was the best show on TV.

But now we spend the better part of our lives watching him play real baseball with an actual ball. He is loved by all his teammates and his coaches. He brings a positive attitude to this game that can often be frustrating. He pretty much plays year round with a few breaks here and there.

For as intelligent as A-Dog is (because he is in National Junior Honor Society, a gifted program at school and has never had anything but A's on report cards...see why I don't argue about hair???) the boy lacks common sense. I've always said it can't be taught, so trust me when I say, I stand by that statement.

I mean look what happened to him:

He nearly got eaten by a stuffed tiger at the Wildlife Museum.

And THEN....

he was taken out by an alligator...or is it a crocodile? I don't know- it all happened so fast! Thank goodness there was no blood! What a mess that could have been!

But truly, common sense is one of those attributes that he must have traded for good hair, or his awesome sense of humor. I think for now, it was worth it - but boy, it might prove valuable at some point in his life!

For now, we will just have to spell it all out for him and just not rely on him to get us out of a burning building or anything. We do have 3 other kids that could do that. As long as we all find our 'buddy', we should all make it out : )!

A-Dog, we enjoy you each and every day! Thanks for being awesome! I love your sense of (dry) humor and I love that you think I can be funny sometimes!  I love making you laugh and helping you find humor in life!  May you find success in all you do (remember our talk about what success is?). We love you! and...GO METS! GO THUNDERCATS!!!