Dear Miles,

I don’t know if you’re immune to it somehow or if it still lies in your future, but for now, you seem utterly unconcerned with the judgments of your peers.  That’s an unusual thing, and I applaud you for it.  Your school had a week of themed days to celebrate City High’s homecoming, and you embodied each theme with gusto.  Not surprisingly, your favorite was Crazy Day.

I had one person ask if that was your real hair and I had styled it with extra enthusiasm, but no, it’s the famed wig we got from Skitter.  That wig has served many roles in our family, and I anticipate it will find future uses as well.  It’s not going to be part of your Halloween costume this year.  You’ve chosen to be a British gentleman, which I thought was pretty creative and funny.  You got some cool accessories (including a monocle, which Callum calls a harmonocle), and you’ve been practicing your accent.  Yesterday during our carpool to band, your friend Jacob reminded you that you need to pronounce the word lever as “lee-ver,” so I know you’ll be well-prepared if that comes up during trick-or-treating.  I don’t know how old kids typically are when they stop trick-or-treating around here, but I think sixth grade was my last year.  I wouldn’t be too surprised if you volunteered to take your little brothers out in future years, though.

You’ve continued your good habits in brothering.  We had some long car rides recently, including a trip to Mubby and Skitter’s house and a visit to Nana and Papa’s farm.  During those long drives, you spent a lot of time reading aloud to Callum.  He’s a big fan of the Captain Underpants series, thanks largely to your expressive reading.  Tobin and Callum both had conflicts that prevented them from attending Back to School night, so you went with me and visited each of their classrooms along with yours.  I could tell how proud you were of your brothers by how you talked to their teachers and wanted to know what they’d been doing in school and how they’d been progressing.

It’s been fun having Callum attend preschool at your school.  You’ve run into him around the school a couple of times, and that’s always something you’re both excited to tell me about when I pick you up.  It’s really special for Tobin and Callum to have a big brother who cares so much about them.  That’s not to say you never fight, because you certainly do, but outside the house, you’ve got their backs.

You’ve been keeping busy with Let Me Run, band, piano, and Family Folk Machine.  You recently played a featured trombone part in a concert we did at an assisted living facility, and you’ll be part of a brass ensemble in our November concert.  I appreciate how musically inclined you are—I think you have a naturally good ear, and you’re also pretty conscientious about practicing.  Our Family Folk Machine director sent me the brass parts for the song yesterday, and she noted that some of them were more difficult than others.  After I showed them to you and you decided which part you’d like to play, I replied to her with that information, and she emailed back to say that she’d rather you played one of the harder ones.  She said she knows she can trust you to practice and really master the part.

We had a fun night out seeing Elizabeth Warren a few weeks ago.  An advantage to living in Iowa in a caucus year is that it’s not too hard to see your favorite candidates in person.  It was a beautiful evening, which was good because the event was outside.  We got there early and had to sit around and wait for a while, but you didn’t complain.  Once she started speaking, you were so engaged and interested.  Fortunately for us, families with kids got to go to the front of the photo line, so we didn’t have to wait too long to get a picture.  I was really impressed with the time and attention she gave you.  She’s a former teacher, and I bet she saw in you the kind of kid she’d love to have as a student.  She even commented on your hair, which I’m sure will not help the case your dad and I keep trying to make for just a little trim.

Your current favorites:  Minecraft, pasta, puns and riddles, sleeping in, reading, and being as weird as possible.  You won’t admit that you like my hugs, but you don’t usually try to get away very fast.  Having gone on training runs with you in preparation for the Let Me Run 5k, it might be just your general preference for moving slowly, but I’ll choose to believe that you secretly enjoy a good mom-hug in the morning.

Love,

Mom