Family Madsen Blog: Liam 6+

I've been behind on the blog again, and want to write down some of the updates on Liam since August 2022.

First of all, Liam turned 6! He had a nice birthyday, celebrating with the boys from his class. It was the first time having his class home, and it went really well. For dinner we went out for pizza here in Skjern. The following weekend we had an "ice cream" themed party for Liam and his cousin Celina, who has the same birthday. It ended not really being much of a theme party, besides the cake and some homemade decorations, but Liam was happy!

Otherwise notable things in Liams life since he turned 6 are:

- He is thriving in school. He enjoys his classmates and has lots of friends he likes to talk to and spend time with. He is a very fast learner and is excelling in math, and learning to read some small danish words as well! He feels a bit mixed about homework. Some days he takes it out himself and really gets into it, other days he whines and cries about having to write 20 letter T's....all in all I would say he enjoys school both socially and academically.

- Liam is done with school at 11.15 on fridays. I am glad fridays are my days off, otherwise it would be hard to be able to be home so early. One friday, Benjamin and Silas had playdates after school, so Liam and I decided to have a day date together. We went to the beach and camping ground near by where we played mini golf, ate ice cream, played on the playground and walked down to the fjord. It was so lovely to spend time with him 1 on 1 again, after so many years of having at least 1 day a week for just the two of us. I found out he is SUPER brave when it comes to climbing, and I had a few shocks to my system as Liam just hopped around on the jungle gym at the playground.

- Since a little before his 6th birthday, Liam has been biking to school in the mornings without an adult. He just bikes with his brothers and takes care of everything himself. He has even biked home by himself somedays, when there aren't any brothers to bike home with. He likes the independence and you can see the pride in his eyes when he walks in the door.

- This fall Liam started playing team handball. He has a fun time running around with his friends, and learning how to jump and throw. Unfortunately he broke his collarbone at the end of October, and had to take a 6 week break. But he is back at it now, enjoying training, but not quite feeling ready to play in official games yet.

-To add details to the collarbone story. Liam was swinging at school and when he jumped off the swing he landed flat on his stomach. He complained about it hurting to the teachers, but finished the school day. He was supposed to bike home with Silas that day, but his teacher called me and said that Liam had fallen, and was complaining of pain in his shoulder, so she didn't think he could bike home. I then went up to school to pick him up, and he was crying and holding his shoulder, right by his collarbone. Liam is usually quick to shake off bumps and bruises, so I knew I needed to take it seriously. We went to the DR and they thought he needed an X-ray. All the time, the other 2 boys are home alone. When we went to the X-ray area, the whole IT system was down and we waited and waited. Finally they said we should go home and come the next day. Liam was in such pain, so it was quite frustrating. On the way home we went to the pharmacy to get some childrens painrelief. The pharmacy was OUT of the childrens kind...so we drove to a different town and while I was paying for the medicine, the X-ray technician called and said the machines were working again, so we should come back. Back and forth with a boy who was in lots of pain. To finish the long story, the X-ray showed his collarbone was broken and he was given a sling to wear for at least 2 weeks and then was to take it easy, no running, biking, handball, climbing, etc for 6 weeks. This proved to be very difficult for Liam, age 6! The day after his fall there was a class party where they could jump in a soft pit full of soft "lego" bricks, run on airtracks, etc. All his classmates were running and tumbling, having a great time, and Liam had to just watch. It was heartbreaking for both Mommy and Liam. He DID NOT want to wear his sling at all, so that was also a fight! Luckily now the 6 weeks are over and everything is back to normal. We couldn't believe this happened to Liam. Silas had done the exact same thing in Kindergarten, jumping off a swing and landing and breaking his collarbone...what are the odds??

- Liam and I had another fun Mommy and Liam day! Benjamin and Silas were both at a FDF camp (Like girl/boys scouts in the US), and Søren was working an entire saturday, so Liam and I decided to head to Esbjerg for a day of fun. It was just the weekend after he broke his collarbone, so our options were much more limited. We ended up in Esbjerg at the mall, where we ate lunch/brunch at a restaurant, did a bit of shopping, and went to the movies. The movie, in my opinion, was not very good, but Liam liked it and we enjoyed our popcorn and candy! Afterwards we had to get back home to Zoey and we just enjoyed a nice evening at home together.

- Just before Christmas, Liam lost his 2 front teeth. After much persauding I got him to make a video saying "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth." He has been asked everywhere we go if he has lost teeth and if the new ones are coming in. Liam is in a phase where he completely ignores people if he doesn't feel like answering them, so that has happened a lot! His adult teeth are on their way in now. I feel like it was a big thing to have my baby boy lose his front teeth, then again, everything is bigger with the youngest!