Tanner turned 9 on June 28, 2020. He had an adventure packed birthday, and was lucky enough to have some family guests join in all the fun.
His day began at the camp site with our family of four and Uncle Matt and Aunt Johanna. We enjoyed a yummy breakfast and played around the camp ground. Then, we packed everything up and came to our home. Without wasting much time, we got on to the next adventure of swimming at the pool in our complex!
Tanner rode on Uncle Matt's shoulders in a game of chicken against Dallin and Jeremy. The six of us had fun playing Yellow Submarine in the pool, too. It was a really hot day.
Next up was the presents party online with Nana, Papa, Gramz and Grampz. Tanner was elated. Birthdays and gifts are really special to him, and this was by far the highlight of his day.
Then it was time for the cake. Jeremy made it special, completely from scratch.
We also had pizza! I forgot that Dallin decided to wear his special knit sweater from his great grandma Robertson. It was really random and really sweet.
Then, Matt and Johanna taught us how to play mulke! Our best neighbor friend joined in the fun, too. Tanner didn't want to have his birthday without this friend.
I crocheted Tanner a special shoulder pouch for his walkie talkie, since he doesn't like to carry it in his pockets. He was really amazed that I made it while we were camping.
Tanner couldn't wait to start building with all his new legos.
For his birthday service, he decided to give his special one-of-a-kind copies of his comic book that he made with his whole heart and soul during Comic Camp to a few select people. This included grandparents, our next door neighbor Jacobo, and a few aunts and uncles that are interested in comics.
He wanted to wait until he could give to these individuals in person.
Here's a shot of him giving to Gramz and Grampz.
Now for some milestones!
Milestones and Highlights June 2019 -June 2020
- Moved from MN to San Diego
- Went boogie boarding for the first time, and grew to like it
- Enjoyed his first basketball league, which was at the YMCA. (even wrote about it for his big personal narrative writing project at school)
- LOVED his first time at San Diego Zoo Camp and had his first zoo pass
- Lost his 3rd, 4th and 5th teeth
- Went to his first Padres game
- Saw the home that he lived in from birth to age 22 months
- Went to Second Grade at McKinley Elementary, which he often reminded us was the 5th school he has attended since his 3-yr-old preschool (he has attended a different school building every year).
- Was baptized and confirmed a member of the church
- Sang a solo at his baptism and at the church primary program
- Enjoyed visits from the Robertsons, Zavorals, Garretts, Hills, Clarks and Brolsmas during the school year
- Created and founded Fort TOD
- Helped with the school play Aladdin
- Got a bigger bike
- Rode his bike with Jeremy all the way to Mexico, 19 miles total
- Went to Colorado for Great Grandma Robertson's funeral
- Became a stronger swimmer, which included learning how to do real dives into the pool
- Attended Lego Engineering class and Chess Club, where he received a 2nd place trophy
- Got better at drawing and writing. Often wrote more in school than required, including some chapter books just for fun, during writer's workshop
- Excelled in school. His favorite subjects were writing, math, science, social studies, art, gardening, and PE. (Not a fan of reading this year). Qualified for the GATE program in 3rd grade.
- Led his own basketball team nearly every day at recess
- Made new friends including our neighbor Owen, our YMCA basketball friends Noah and Norman and his school friends Silas, Timothy, Jackson and Cole
- Learned how to pogo stick, with record jumps of over 250 jumps in a row
- Did an act on the pogo stick for the school Variety Show
- Was among the first kids in the world to be forced to do zoom school
- Learned how to skateboard
- Learned how to play Minecraft and is very good in creative mode
- Finished studying the entire piano primer level books
- Started writing his own comics and LOVED Comic Camp
- Grew 2 and 3/4 inches and one shoe size
- Always gave us something to think about
Our Tan Man
Tanner is such a wonderful kid. The thing that sticks out to me as his strongest quality is his creativity. He loves making his own Lego sculptures, Minecraft worlds, sand castles, sand pools, drawings, and just about any other type of artwork you can name. For a couple weeks, he was very focused on designing and making his own shields for fighting, which is just one of the dozens of projects he is constantly busy with. He is extremely meticulous with whatever he is creating, and gets frustrated if it doesn't look exactly how he envisioned it. He is also constantly creating new games, ideas for inventions and businesses, new stories and comic series to write, and on and on. A common phrase we hear from him is "we should make..." and "I want to create..." This little boy's mind is always creating something!
Our kiddo loves making plans. This is probably why he often ends up as the leader when he plays with other kids. He plans for parties, games, events for the day, or tasks we need to do. He likes to makes lists and charts to help him plan,. If we don't know our plan for the day, (which has happened a lot during Pandemic life) he often feels lost and says, "I don't know what is going on" OR "You have to tell me sooner so that I know!" And boy, oh boy, we adults sure wish we could these days!
Tanner was really excited about anything to do with plans for Fort TOD. He constantly planned out rules, coded messages, maps, cleaning days, and projects revolving around this fort club. Here he is planning and leading out a circuit game with friends.
Tanner is extremely smart with names, dates and definitions. After hearing the name of a historical figure, a science term, or the date of an important event, he remembers it. He has a large vocabulary and likes making up new languages, too. We often hear him say "Did you know..." followed by a fun fact that he remembers from a lesson or a show.
One reason he can memorize names and dates so well is because details are important to Tanner. From how his hair and socks look to how he writes and draws, Tanner is very particular about details. When writing about things he cares about, he uses beautiful handwriting, trying to make it look perfect. In his drawings, he adds fun details to the scenes, and they totally enhance the stories and characters. I'm excited for him to discover ways that his great attention to detail can help change the world, along with all his other attributes I'm writing about.
Our T-Dog is athletic and competitive. His favorite sport is still basketball and his favorite team is still the Kings. Oh yeah, that's another thing he memorizes a lot--athlete names and their stats. He also loves watching football and playing mini football games with Dallin and Jeremy (and sometimes me!) in our complex. Baseball is another sport he enjoys. He taught Dallin some new ways to catch and throw a baseball, which was really adorable. He also has gotten really good at bike riding around town with Jeremy. (Note that during the first few months of the Covid shutdowns, Tanner was not very excited to much of anything, including sports. It was a really tough time).
Tanner is musical. He is always tapping a rhythm on the kitchen table, or beat boxing and making chants. He's very good at singing too, but every now and then avoids it. He might be starting to think that singing isn't as cool. He has been saving money for a DJ mixer to make his own hip hop/beat box music. I figured out he was getting bored with my same old songs, so I started adding more of my Broadway CD's to our car trips around town. He sits and listens intently. He also has this amazing way of recognizing composers by hearing their music. One day he asked me to play music by several different composers without telling them which composers they were, and then he could guess. Between Bach, Beethoven and Mozart, Tanner knew the correct composer every time, even with songs he's never heard before!
Tanner is a sensitive kid, in every "sense" of the word. This shows up with his SPD issues with smells, textures, and proprioceptive needs, which is still often makes life hard for us. The best we can do is keep trying new tools to help him. Along with that, he is also really sensitive to thoughts and emotions. GAD plays a lot into that, of course. Every now and again we see other emotions take over which are exciting and startling all at the same time. When he is excited, he is extremely excited. He jumps and cheers and we think his lips will stretch off his face from his huge smiles. When Tanner is sad or angry, he is extremely sad and angry, which is hard to help him work through. When he is anxious, he most often goes into fight mode.
While it is very difficult, there is something really neat about all this. We've realized more and more how Tanner is very articulate with describing how he feels or why he feels certain ways. I've been enjoying our therapy sessions and our moments to talk where he can pin-point how he gets from point A to XYZ in his thoughts and feelings. Sometimes, he can even identify his subconscious thoughts (something most adults struggle with!). This is a really special gift. He is also sensitive to the Spirit, and when he seeks God's help, he gets answers to his prayers and has told me about trying to hear the Holy Ghost and how God speaks to his mind.
Mr. Tanner Zavoral has become more and more interested in adult conversations. I noticed during his 8 year old year, he stuck around the dinner table at parties and gatherings a lot more often to hear what all the grown-ups had to say about things. When Jeremy and I try to have private conversations, he spies on us and brings up our discussions in the coming days, which has forced us to be much more cautious when speaking in private!
Our Little One is a loyal friend and loves companionship. Having someone to talk to and play with is really important to him. He even wants someone to be with him while he does stuff around the house like chores, drawing, school work, etc. (A lot of this is because of his anxiety). His Love Language of Quality Time has taken a forefront this past year. He seems to be his best self when someone is doing something with him one on one. His other love language is Gift Giving. He treasures the gifts he is given and is very thoughtful about the gifts he gives.
Moving to San Diego and then going through the Covid shutdowns has been very challenging for Tanner. It was really hard for him to leave all his friends and familiarities in Minnesota. Then right as he was starting to have more meaningful connections at school and church, the world shutdown. At the time of his 9 yo birthday, and even now, he is only getting a fraction of the companionship and stimulation that he had during our normal lives. As his parents, it has been extremely difficult to work through this pandemic knowing that the one thing Tanner really needs--ample activities with his peers-- is the one thing he cannot have. And he needs it so much more than the average kid. Many prayers and fasting have been made on his behalf. Hoping there are brighter days ahead for him.
Tanner is a great big brother! Okay, okay, I'll admit that Tanner often pesters and hurts Dallin. And there's many times where Dallin isn't so hot on playing with Tanner. But for the most part, they are best buds! Tanner does a lot to support and help Dallin. He teaches Dallin new things, like the meaning of words or whether something is true or false. Every now and then they play "math school" together, where Tanner is the teacher and Dallin is the student. Also, Tanner is always looking out for Dallin's safety when they are playing outside or on outings. He reminds Dallin to wear his helmet, buckle his seat belt and watch out for cars. Even though loves his little brother.
Here's a "brother game" Tanner and Dallin invented together around Tanner's birthday, where Tanner is the bucking bull and Dallin is the bull rider.
While this kid has been dealt some tough cards, I am constantly amazed at his unique mind and the things he teaches us. We love our Tanner David so very much!! It was really fun to celebrate him on his birthday!
