Dear Tate,
You're seven now. And somehow seven seems so big all of a sudden. You're a tall boy now. No longer a toddler or a little boy. You're a boy. Every year you get bigger and older and just a bit more independent. You let go of my hand a big more willingly and hug me for just a second shorter. And while I sometimes miss having you a little bit dependent on me, it's pretty cool to see you sit down and read books on your own, or work on homework pages or take a bus to school by yourself. Every little bit of growth and independence I see you develop is pretty fun to watch.
You started first grade this year and you seem to really love it. You read incredibly well and you love it. We decided last year, when you turned 6, to start reading the Harry Potter books to you. You absolutely love them, which is so fun! We just finished reading the third book together. At first we just read to you at night but now we'll read a page and then you'll read a page. You devour stories that you like. You'll come home from library day at school with three new books and sit down on the couch and read through all three right away. Earlier in the year you went through a Mo Willems phase. We don't even own any of his books but you read all of them at school. Including a biography on Mo Willems. And you'd come home telling us about the stories and drawing his characters into your pictures. Lately your favorites have been graphic novels like Jedi Academy or Ricki Ricotta's Mighty Robot. You're getting better and better at writing too. You do a lot of writing stories at school and you remember such small details about our trips or make up amazing details about fiction stories you create. It's really fun to watch your mind work and then see it show up on a page.
You are still a picky eater. You're a picky eater with wonderful manners though so it's hard to put up a fight. We still kind of cater to what you'll eat for breakfast and lunch and then we make something more healthy and more diverse at dinner and you usually choose to skip it. I don't know how you aren't more grumpy and hungry at night, but you're not. You'll just say, "no thank you mom, but thanks for making this for dinner." And if I try to bribe you with treats you say, "No thanks mom. I don't really need dessert, but thanks for asking." Every once in a while you'll try something new. If it's too adventurous it makes you gag but once in a blue moon you'll find something new you like. You LOVE hot dogs. You probably ate two brats a day when we went to Germany before Christmas and you could not have been happier to have that option constantly available while we were wandering through Christmas markets. Mac and cheese is still a favorite as well as pancakes, peanut butter and honey, turkey sandwiches, quesadillas and pizza.
We don't watch a lot of TV around here. Some days we end the day with a short episode show or a few minutes of a movie. Sometimes we let you watch a show with Finn after you finish homework and practicing while we get ready for dinner. We just discovered Octonauts, and even though it's a little young for you, you love all the animal facts and I love that you and Finn are interested in it together. It's provided hours and hours of fun make believe play between you two. And we just recently discovered Rescue Bots, which has been another hit.
You have some good friends. Some from the group and a few from school who have invited you to their parties and you come home talking about how you play at recess and they say kind things to you. It does our hearts good to hear about positive and fun interactions with friends. It's really hard to send out little kiddo out into the world and just hope that the world will be kind to you. Luckily, when on occasion someone isn't kind, thus far you've been able to brush it off like a champ. "Don't worry, I just ignored him mom." Well done, Tate. I'm glad that so far your confidence isn't shaken by what others say. I hope it never is. You're a kind, cool, fun boy and I'm glad you have good friends this year. We had your birthday party on your birthday this year after school. You invited 10 kids and all but one were able to make it. You wanted a Harry Potter party and we made slime, cast spells, took silly pictures and pretended that we were in Hogwarts for the night. Everyone had a really fun time and it was awesome to see the fun kids you've picked as your favorite buddies.
This year has been a crazy busy year of travel for us. You've taken all the changes in stride which has us thrilled. After you turned 6 last year we went to London to watch your Dad run a marathon, we went to Dubai when Nana and Grampa came to visit, then we went all over the U.S. for repat and on a Disney cruise in the Mediterranean on the way home, and when we got here your Dad had us moved into our new house on main camp. Then we went to Oman over Eid and to Germany before Christmas. Any one of these shifts in time zone or sleeping arrangements, or place we call home could have rocked your world but you're just happy as can be looking forward to the next adventure and you LOVE having a much shorter bus ride on main camp and I LOVE having you come home for lunch every day. Life here really is much easier than it was on Rakah. It feels a lot more normal. It's still not normal, of course, but it's much better.
I started teaching you piano about a year ago and at first it was pretty difficult. The discipline and long stretch of sitting still was not your favorite. I think it's been really good for you. But I think learning an instrument is good for everyone. There are still days when you are extra tired after school and you have a hard time sitting and keeping your tired brain focused on practicing, but for the most part you're doing much better. You know all your flashcards from high C to low C and you're getting them pretty fast. You can learn most songs in your lesson book in a day or two and you love mastering a song. You want to play it over and over for everyone who will listen when you've got one figured out. You have a really good memory and a good ear. You've just discovered that you like to try to figure out the notes for different theme songs of shows or songs from musicals and play them over and over again.
In the past year you've taken little group tennis lessons on Rakah which you liked and showed a lot of improvement. It was so fun to watch you figure out how to time your racket with the ball and get just the right angle and force behind your racket to send it sailing. Once we moved here we signed you up for a gymnastics class. It was fun, but it wasn't really gymnastics yet. Maybe we'll try an older class next year. And you've had some private swimming lessons with a YW in the group. You love being in the water so much. You're a little fish, spending much more time below the surface than above. Learning strokes and having to do the same motions over and over isn't your favorite, but you're learning.
You have such an enthusiasm for learning and collecting information. You'll learn jokes or facts about the world, or melodies and they'll stick with you. Watching you discover new passions is one of my favorite things. Whether it's chasing pigeons in piazzas with your brother, reading a new book, drawing a new picture that tells a complete imaginary saga, or finishing a lego creation, your enthusiasm and focus for things you love is catching and so endearing. You're such a smart boy, Tate.
You've developed a really fun bond with Finn this year. You guys play together so well. There are occasional squabbles, you are brothers after all, and you've just figured out how to push his buttons but you don't choose to do that very often. Finn is always so excited to see you at lunch and can hardly wait 'til you're done with homework and practicing so you can play together. You're such good little buddies and it makes my heart so happy to see you two get along so well. I hope you always do.
I love you, Tate. You're getting so big. In just one year you'll be old enough to be baptized. You seem to be growing in your faith this year too. Remembering to pray when you lose something or feel sad or scared. Praying over food and giving insightful answers during FHE. Your heart is so good. You're going to do such great things in life, kiddo. It's pretty awesome to have a child who I admire. There's so much about who you are and things you say every day that make me stop in my tracks and think, "wow, I should be more like that!" Having kids is great that way. We're supposed to be teaching you guys, but most of the time I feel like it's the other way around.
Thanks for being such a good big brother and a great oldest child. A kind boy and a fun friend. Thanks for coming to our family and making me a mom. Thanks for giving me compliments and noticing when I need a hug. You're a wonderful kid, Tate.
Happy birthday, my boy. I love you so so much!
The world is yours,
Mom
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