The box said for ages 9-14...

Ethan has always loved Legos. In the past this has meant that I had the opportunity to become a Lego engineer, but in the past few months (due mainly to his incredible progress from his eye therapy), he has really started to build the ships himself. On Christmas Eve he built his first ship by himself (with relatively little help). This one was within his age range and he did great!





Several months ago we saw the Star Wars Battle Droid Carrier at Target...this ship had almost 1400 pieces and the recommended age minimum was 9 years old. Ethan really loved this ship and we had to look at it every time we went into the store. James and I went ahead and bought him the ship for Christmas, figuring that we would be putting the bulk of it together. Were we in for a surprise! He went to work as soon as we got his Lego workspace set up. We helped him sort the Legos by color (as per the instructions) and he was off. By the end of the first night he was well on his way.







He took a couple of days off from full time building to play with Aunt Crystal, Uncle Dan, and Holly, but as soon as they were on their way back home, Ethan was back at work. Last night he had finished about 80% of the ship. He asked me to take pictures and "send them to all the grandparents."





This afternoon he finished his ship. And it looks AWESOME!





Except for the sorting, the occasional help from James or me to find a particular piece, and a rebuild of one wall that was injured during construction, he did the whole thing by himself!!!!! We are so proud that he didn't let the 9-14 advisory scare him off. He showed amazing patience and concentration as he worked long into the night :) He totally rocks!!



So, if you are wondering what is next for my budding structural engineer - he isn't planning on taking off much time between projects. Once he is finished savoring the moment (and playing with the spoils of his victory) he will be building Hogwarts Castle.