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Thomas is now in the 4th grade and continues to enjoy his ALL (accelerated) class.  He is a naturally smart kid.  His math scores are in the 99th percentile compared against the national norm and all of his reading/fluency/comprehension scores are marked as “above goal.” It is still hard to interest him in reading just any book, but when he finds a series that he likes, he reads the whole series quickly.  Most of the time he just rereads his favorite books over and over again.  His favorite books series for the last few years is the 13 story treehouse series. He recently enjoyed reading Richard Paul Evans’s Michael Vey series and the Tom Gates series.

Thomas loves to play with friends and is often eager to play with a friend as soon as he gets home from school.  The ones he plays with the most at school and home are Christian, William, Davey, and Ian.  Periodically he gets a letter from his friend Kal who lives in Spanish Fork.  Thomas is always eager to write back and to set up a time to play together. Other friends that he enjoys playing with are Nate, Sean, Simon, and Louie.  Recently someone asked him if he has a hard time making friends and he responded “I don’t know” because he has never really had to put any effort into making friends. I guess there have always been lots of boys his age around and he just naturally relates to them and has fun.  I wish it were that easy for all my kids!

Thomas has developed a goofy playful personality that works well with his friends, but drives his older sister crazy.  He sings silly made up songs and does dance moves.  He has made up songs and taught them to all his friends at school.  He has even typed up some of his songs and printed out copies for people.

Thomas gets along best with his sister, Ila.  They have always watched out for each other and been there to cheer each other up.  They share books with each other and often play with friends together. They try to sit together on the bus and see each other at recess. I think it will be hard for them next year when Ila moves on to Jr. High.

Thomas reports that his favorite foods are chicken nuggets and pizza. He also enjoys grilled cheese sandwiches, eggs with toast, apples with peanut butter, and hotdogs. He hates vegetables of all kinds and considers being forced to eat them torture.  

He enjoys using his computer for a variety of things. He can do basic coding on scratch, set up or join Zoom meetings or Google Meets, and access school work via Canvas and other programs.  For his birthday he asked for a new keyboard and a second monitor.   His favorite computer games are Terraria, Stardew Valley, and TABS (Totally Accurate Battle Simulator).

Thomas enjoys building with Legos and he has enjoyed Hotwheels cars and tracks for years.  The thing he really wanted for Christmas was a new Hotwheels track.  We were worried that he’s starting to outgrow Hotwheels, but he insisted that he would play with it a lot.  He got the track for Christmas and did enjoy toting it around all day, but he hasn’t spent very much time using it.  It’s sad to say, but he might be getting to that age where toys just aren’t as much fun as they used to be.  It’s that transition age where you think you still want them, but have a hard time enjoying them for long.

Thomas enjoys playing chess with an actual chess board and online.

Last year I mentioned how he was getting used to masks, but was very particular about which ones he’d wear.  He’s still particular, but has lost his mask stamina.  Once he was allowed to take the mask off, he never looked back.  He will wear a mask when required for short periods of time, but if there’s an option to take off the mask, he definitely takes it.  He was the only family member who chose not to get vaccinated against covid. We forced the flu shot and he had a hard time with it.  The anxiety leading up to the shot and then the sore arm afterwards were enough for him.  When he was finally eligible for the covid vaccine he presented his case, explaining how all the friends who got covid got mild cases and he was more willing to get sick then get a vaccine.  By this point in the pandemic it felt wrong to hold him down and force it, so we honored his request.  Thomas did test positive for covid in January.  He had a fever one night and cold symptoms for about a week or two.

Thomas is my early riser.  He wakes up at 6:30 every morning, packs his lunch and has his lunchbox out at the bus stop (in our driveway) by 6:45.  The bus doesn’t come until about 8:53, but he gets really upset if he sleeps in as late as 7:00.  I love his independence and sense of responsibility and hope he continues to be so diligent into his teenage years.   

Thomas is particular about clothing.  He has his own school uniform.  He wears jeans, a t-shirt, and a hoodie to school every day.  He will not deviate from that outfit for as long as the weather is cool enough for hoodies.  He hates wearing coats and refuses to wear one, even when the temperature is well below freezing.  He claims the hoodie is warm enough, even though he wears it all day inside his classroom as well as outside at recess.  As soon as he gets home, he takes the hoodie off.  He does not like PJs and will sleep in his clothes every night unless we make him put on PJs.  He has always hated Pajama days at school.  I think he tolerates them now, but has never participated in one.  He hates all forms of dressing up.  Costumes for Halloween, school plays, or school activities are not acceptable in his book.

He likes cats.  I feel like he has been trained to be obsessed with them by his sisters.  He does enjoy petting them, playing with them, and observing them being ridiculous.  He enjoys cat memes and cat games with his sister.

Thomas loves to go across the street to his grandparent’s house for popsicles and treats.  He has been known to visit them several times a day.  He also loves to bring his friends to over for a treat as well. The frequency of visits and amount of friends he brings could sometimes be described as excessive by his mother.

Thomas inherited a BB gun from his great uncle through his grandfather.  He has been very excited about receiving the BB gun and can’t wait to shoot it for the first time. Once he heard that he was getting it, he asked about it nearly every day. 

Thomas races through all his assignments and art projects. He likes being done. He loves when I come into his classroom to teach art, but he does not want to take time to be neat or artistic.  

Thomas is a great kid and I’m lucky to be his mom.  Here is what I wrote about him last year.