Theo turns 9

Theo started 3rd grade at Congdon Park Elementary in fall 2021. He is 57 inches (4' 9", 95th percentile) and 72 lbs (76th percentile) with a BMI in the 40th percentile, hence his soccer friends gave him the nickname "skin and bones." For his birthday this summer we decided to take a few kids to Duluth's Zero Hour Escape Rooms. Theo and his friends were "trapped" in a sinking ship on Lake Superior and had to solve two dozen riddles, locks and codes to escape to the lifeboats. They had so much fun and made it out just in time! We went back a month later to do another escape room. 

He started last year in hybrid learning for 2nd grade and then was in distance learning with Seth for a few months before going back in person. He jumped ahead a grade in math and gets speech help to help him slow down when he talks and pronounce his "R's, S's and Z's" properly. He was officially diagnosed with red-green colorblindness (deuteranopia) and now it makes sense why his preschool coloring seemed a bit off but overall it doesn't seem to bother him. He was on the Team Duluth Alpine Ski Team and got a taste of real powder skiing at Lutsen Mountain this winter. He played soccer for Gitchi Gummi U10 tournament team this summer and Congdon Park soccer recreational league this fall. He enjoys playing center defender (the 4 spot) and has a good left foot (like his mom). He got a new mountain bike for his birthday and loved mountain biking camp at Spirit Mountain this summer and fishing camp at Hartley. He got to play a few 18 hole disc golf courses with Seth this summer at Mont du Lac and Blue Ribbon Pines. He had his first backpacking trip on the Superior Hiking Trail and slept overnight under the stars with Mommy. He is very active, adventurous, and all around a good kid. 

Theo loves his cousins. He idolizes David Rocheford, his big cousin, and enjoys swimming in the new Weber cousin's pool. He did his first front flip off the diving board. He loves fishing, tubing, swimming, and tried kneeboarding for the first time at the cabin, too, but won't try water skiing. 

Here is his birthday interview (hope you enjoy some of these answers as much as I did):

• What did you do for your birthday? I forgot... oh yeah we did an escape room
• What’s your favorite color? Greenblue (not green or blue but one word like on the crayon, greenblue)
• What’s your most and least favorite foods? Beef fondue; asparagus and cauliflower
• What do you want to be when you grow up? Professional disc golfer or soccer player
• Who's your best friend? I can't answer that because I have too many: Bode, Fritz, Elliot, Oliver, Harrison, Alden, Asher, Daniel
• What’s your most and least favorite subject in school? Math is best; writing is least favorite
• What’s your birthday wish? To get a lot of pokemon cards and have a bouncy house
• What’s your favorite song? Unity by Fat Rat
• What’s your favorite TV show/ movie? Octonauts and Wild Kratts
• What is your favorite book? Ripley's Believe it or Not
• What’s your biggest pet peeve? Being mean to me and not being included in games like football or when people change the rules of the games like four square
• What would you do with a million bazillion dollars? I'd probably buy a bunch of pokemon and donate a bunch of money to charity for homeless people and then save some for college
• Who is the coolest person you know? Why? I have multiple: Messi - a famous soccer player, Paul McBeth - a famous frisbee golfer, and Mommy and Daddy
• What’s the yummiest thing mom/dad makes? Mom - brownies and banana bread; Dad - beef fondue
• What’s something new you learned since your last birthday? How to measure triangles and use a protractor
• What’s your best piece of advice? Never leave anyone behind or exclude people
• What’s the best thing about mom/dad? Mom - she's a doctor and makes a lot of money so we can go on trips and have a nice house. Dad - he is the best chef in the world. 
• What are you scared of? Mainly the dark and ghosts
• What’s the most fun thing you did this year? Probably going to Rocky Mountain road trip and going to Mount Rushmore, Rocky Mountains, Badlands, Wind Cave and seeing bison cross the street, pronghorn antelope, lots of elk, bighorn sheep and moose.
• Who do you look up to? Why? Mommy and Daddy because they are good role models and they don't yell very much 
• If the world was ending tomorrow, what would you want to do today? I would get on a rocket ship and fly to the moon
• If you could be any animal, what would you be? A jellyfish that can't ever die
• What’s the last thing you ate today? Chicken from a chinese restaurant
• Anything else you want to do before you turn 10? Go to a big water park, go to a new place that I haven't been (like Hawaii) and have a good school year!