Thomas at 12
Thomas is in his last year of elementary school (6th grade). He is enjoying his 4th year in ALL (accelerated class). Most of his classmates have been in the same class all 4 years which means they know each other well and have a lot of inside jokes. Thomas has become good friends with many of his classmates. His current best friends list includes Nate, Ian, Matthew, William, Davey, and Christian.
He’s looking forward to Jr. High, maybe mostly because he will be at the same school as his sister Ila. He is also ready for a change of pace and a new experience. He is not looking forward to getting up earlier (Jr high starts over an hour earlier than elementary school.)
Thomas gets up and gets ready for school completely on his own. He packs his own lunch and makes his own breakfast and heads out to the bus stop. Usually he is up and ready early enough to play on his computer before school. He communicates with his friends and plays with them online as well.
Thomas’s favorite computer games are Terraria, Stardew Valley, Starbound, and Raft. His favorite books are Keeper of the Lost Cities, The Unwanteds, Mihael Vey, and Artemis Fowl. Thomas likes to play card games like Poker, Egyptian Rat Screw, Uncultured Swine, and Golf. He likes to play Jackbox Games and Chess. He enjoys jumping on the trampoline and swinging on our backyard swing.
In January Thomas left primary behind and joined the Young Men’s organization. He is excited for all the new opportunities. He was glad to go to the Temple for the first time almost as soon as he could. He thinks passing the sacrament is really great. He is serving as the 2nd counselor in the Decon’s quorum presidency.
Thomas likes to be silly and joke around. He has made up a variety of little songs and taught them to his friends at school. Some of them are modifications of well known songs, but he has his own original creations as well. His longest and most creative jingle is about him working in a variety of jobs, but losing each job by doing crazy things.
He has a good relationship with all his siblings. He enjoys a special bond with Isaac since they’re the only boys and they share a room. He has always been tight with Ila who is closest to him in age. When either of them has a friend over, they always include each other. He likes to play a made up choose your own adventure game with Nicole which he calls “the Bakerling Trials.” He enjoyed discussing plot ideas with Charlotte as she was writing a short story for her creative writing class and he was so impressed with her story that he retold her story for his school storytelling competition. He also shares Charlotte’s fascination with weapons and desire to own a variety of them. One of his favorite things is walking with his siblings to the local grocery store to buy treats.
Much like his siblings, Thomas is an avid cat lover. He enjoys petting cats, watching them do ridiculous things, and wearing cat themed clothing.
Thomas enjoys being with family. He loves that he can visit his grandparents across the street whenever he wants and has been known to stop over for frozen treats regularly.
Some new experiences from this year included getting to fly a small airplane, working the concession stand at a BYU football game (and the Stadium of Fire/Journey concert), flying to Texas for a weekend with his mom in which he learned that he loves moving sidewalks, and learning to tie his own tie.
I am glad that Thomas is part of my family and I love him tremendously. Here is what I wrote about him last year.