Dear Finn,
Oh my Finny bug I can't believe you're 6 years old. We moved to Saudi when you were just 2 and now you're 6! So much has happened in the last 3 and a half years and you just keep rolling with it and growing more funny and happy and goofy with every second and we all love you to pieces. It's so strange this year to see all of our kids and realize how much we've grown and changed as a family. Tate will soon be 9. You're 6 and the age Tate was when we moved here and the girls are the age you were when we moved. So fast. So so fast.
This year of your life we've visited Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Germany and France. You're a dream traveler. Sometimes you get tired and you show it but you're easily distracted and persuaded to keep going. You took two surfing lessons in Sri Lanka and it was one of the coolest experiences I think we've had as a family. You and your brother had so much fun and tried so hard and were able to get up on those boards over and over. Your dad and I were so proud of you two. You've had a lot of those moments this year. Lots of firsts. And the moments of those firsts that make us the most proud are those when we see your grit and determination to master something. You get this look in your eye that tells us you're going to dominate this thing and pretty consistently you do.
This fall you played soccer, t-ball, and basketball and had swimming lessons. You were a busy boy but you loved it. I don't even know which sport was your favorite. You loved them all. We had a few discussions about what it looks like to be a good sport. You've learned not to call people "Loser" even if they lost (that was confusing for you), and how to not get angry and to congratulate the winning team if you didn't win. That's a hard one for you. You do NOT like to lose. Even if it's just your own team, divided in two running drills, you don't like to be on the "losing" side of that drill. You're a lot like your dad in that way. It's going to be something that will be hard for you, but you have enough desire and fire that you'll not be the sort to give up when you do, occasionally, come out on the losing side. Your Dad coached you in t-ball and basketball and you loved that. You just thrive on a little attention and cheering on. Once in a while you'd look at me on the sidelines trying to keep Taryn and Kenna busy during soccer and say, "Hey Mom. Would you cheer for me?" You take pretty well to being coached because you know it means you'll get better. And you like that. You like things that you can work at and then win because you earned it. We got out a game a few weeks ago and you stopped me before I opened it and said, "Mom, is this a game of hope? You know, like 'I hope I win'? Because I don't like games of hope." That's you in a nutshell. You don't even want to mess with a game of chance. A game of "I hope this spinner lands on a big number". That's not your thing.
Both your K4 teacher and your Kindergarten teacher have commented on how big a heart you have. That you're a loyal and kind friends and you're a great reader and student. You're very smart and you've come a long ways in the last year on your reading. We try to still practice every day but sometimes in the rush to activities and fitting in piano practice after school, it gets a little lost. You have the same Kindergarten teacher as Tate did, Miss Karr, and you were SO very excited about that. She adores you. She tells us stories about the funny things you do and say. You're such a funny boy. You love to make people laugh. The one thing Miss Karr says you could improve on is remembering when to turn off your goofy side when you're working with partners. It's hard for you sometimes to turn off the silly when you have a captive audience. Your sisters and I have missed you a lot this year as you've gone off to all day Kindergarten. But it's hard to be too sad when we still get to see you at lunch and when you're so clearly thrilled with going to school. You haven't complained about getting on that bus once. You love school and you're so happy going and learning all day.
You're a fun buddy and play pretty well when you have friends over. Your favorite things to do are outside. Moving and running. Jumping off of swings, riding bikes, pretending to be pirates or ninjas. You had a big carnival birthday party this year with tons of games and a bunch of sweet friends. We're proud of how kind you are to people and that your ability to feel for other people is so strong. You can play with pretty much anyone, older or younger than you, boy or girl. Doesn't matter. You can usually find some way to play together. You're a kind, sweet boy with a really good heart.
We started practicing the piano this year. You're excited about it because you like to see the results of your work. You like that if you stick with a scale or a song for just a few run throughs, that you'll have it down. And then it's an accomplishment. Something you can show to Dad when he gets home from work, or Tate and get his approval. You like to collect these things you can do and it makes you happy to have talents and skills in your pocket. You're doing really well at the piano and you're trying to stick with it when songs get hard because you have the vision of how you'll feel once it's yours and you've got it down. You played in your first recital in December and enjoyed doing your practice performances and performed flawlessly even though you were a little nervous.
You like to collect little things you find. You'd come home from K4 last year nearly every day telling me, "Mom, I've got a surprise for you in my backpack!" And it would be a piece of rope, a bottle cape, a stick, some sequins, a piece of tile or something else that you found on the playground or on your way to the bus and you keep it and treasure it for a few days. You also LOVE to find coins and claim them as your own if you see them anywhere in the house or outside.
You love food, but I think you'd be pretty happy if you could eat fruit all day every day. Your favorites are probably apples and pears. But you love them all. You're pretty good at trying anything I put in front of you. You like soups and pastas, you don't love chicken because it just takes you a while longer to process it and get it down. You like sweet treats but you don't really crave them or ask for them very often. You LOVE to help me cook and bake. When you were in K4 we'd bake something almost every week and you loved to bring a chair to the counter and help me put together something new and then share it with friends or neighbors or teachers. You really wanted to buy some cinnamon oil in Sri Lanka insisting that we could find something to make with it. So we did. Home made taffy and lollypops and you were so thrilled. When grandpa came to visit for Thanksgiving, you made rolls with him and it was a very sweet memory. Watching your little hands figure out how to roll the dough into a ball just like Grandpa. You are a great kitchen helper.
You're a great helper around the house too. When it's chore time I just ask you to do it and as long as you don't get distracted on the way, you're on it. No complaints. You can clean a bathroom with very little supervision, water the garden, dust and vacuum. You're a big help and a great example to your little sisters.
Your siblings love you, Finny. You're such a great big brother to your sisters and little brother to your Tate. You'll play with your sisters, give them rides on your back, wrestle them softly, and make the goofiest faces to make them laugh. You and Tate get along so famously it's almost a shame to invite anyone else over. You'll build new lego inventions, usually robots of some kind, tell each other stories, and just disappear into a new world together. You very rarely argue. But you do know how to push each other's buttons once in a while. You guys are the biggest blessing and your dad and I just love watching you love each other. We're so glad you're such good friends.
It's all just flying by and I love every second I get to spend with you, my boy. You still ask me to snuggle you when I turn out the lights at night and most of the time I just squeeze in there next to you and you say, "so...what should we talk about?" Like you just don't want me to leave. I can't think too long or hard about how fast you're growing or it makes me so sad because I love little boy you. But the amazing things about you just keep getting stronger and clearer and you love to please us and your Heavenly Father so much that I just know the next years of your life are going to be just as wonderful as the ones gone by. I'm honored and excited to be there for the ride, Finny boy. I love you with a love as enormous as your giggle.
The world is yours, my boy.
Love,
Mom
