Dear Finn,

Dear Finn,

Oh Finny boy it is unreal that you are 8 years old.  I miss your squishy, round face.  Your face that lit up the room with your smiles and your insistence on doing everything, "a self!".  I miss your rough and tumble wrestles and stunts and your basketball obsession.  I miss the little boy you.  You're SO big now.  And its so awesome to be your biggest fan through all your years and watch how the list of things I love about you doesn't really change, it just keeps growing.  You still light up the room with your smiles and giggles and goofy sound effects.  You still want to move and wrestle constantly, you're just a lot bigger now!  You are still obsessed with sports, but your favorite sport of the moment is baseball . You are an adventurous, pleasant, easy-going, confident, loving, kind, smart, FUN boy.  We all adore you and we're excited to see what new things we'll get to learn and love about you in your next year.

During the spring you played baseball again with your dad as coach.  You loved it.  You get frustrated when you can't pick something up as quickly as someone else or when you feel like something is unfair (which we find to be the case much more often if you're hungry or tired...).  You're a great baseball player. You hit hard and you run fast.  Obviously you like hitting the most, but you try really hard to stay focused in the field too so you can be a contributing player on your team.  

During spring break this year we traveled to Thailand and Malaysia with our good friends the Browns where we played with elephants, you discovered a new love of zip-lining (you were TERRIFIED before that first line but once that was behind you, you were ecstatic!), kayaked in sea caves, played in huge waves, met some jellyfish and so much more all with some great buddies.  

We stopped in London on the way home to repat and you saw your first West End shows!  I was so proud of how much you loved them.  We spent weeks prepping you with the story and the music of Les Mis and doing presentations about different aspects of the productions.  You saw Les Mis, Wicked, and the Lion King and you loved them all.  You have a surprisingly tender heart for such a rough and tumble boy and it's such a beautiful asset.  Knowing that you feel deeply and love deeply makes my heart proud.  We had a super busy repat and spent time in Denver (where you did your first little lacrosse camp and LOVED IT), Utah, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire.  I think you would really love playing lacrosse if we could figure out how to start a group here without it taking over our lives.  You shone knowing that you playing lacrosse made your daddy proud.  

Another summer highlight was going on the ultimate dad date to a Red Sox game while we were in New Hampshire.  You got a ball tossed to you in the stands because you made a big sign.  You came home with a hoodie and a hat and a host of other little things and being the sentimental boy you are, they're all instant treasures.  Reminders of a magical night with your dad at Fenway.  That experience made your love of baseball grow even more and this fall, in addition to playing on a team again, you've attended several training sessions with a coach who travels to run training sessions and have improved so much in discipline and skill.  

We spent Saudi National Day weekend in September in Paris.  You loved Paris but Paris Disneyland won your heart.  You couldn't stop crying on our walk home on the last night in the parks.  Saying adorable things like, "This is my last ride.  I better savor it!" with your eyes brimming with tears.  Or, "I'm going to miss this place so much.  It makes my heart hurt!"  Or not wearing shirts that you wore in the parks for weeks because it made you too sad to be reminded that it was over.  Oh Finny.  You were tall enough this time to ride all of the big rides and I LOVED riding them over and over with you.  Space Mountain was probably your favorite.  It was intense in Paris and you could have ridden it all day and often remarked at how some of the slower paced rides were not as fun.  It's moments like this, when I get to do things that I love with my kids that I feel like it might be all right if you grow up a little bit because big kid Finn is super fun to be around.

We went to Austria before Christmas and you turned 8 on our last day of the trip.  You took three days of ski school and you took to skis like a fish to water.  No fear.  Total control.  You got frustrated when you made mistakes but you kept at it.  At the end of the last day of school they had a little ski race.  My momma heart was flying watching you swerve around those gates down the slope after only a few days on skis in your whole existence!  It makes me so proud watching you learn new and difficult things.  To face obstacles and push through to develop new skills.  So proud.  They got your race bibs mixed up so they were calling Tate's name over the speaker as you came down the hill and you were so frustrated.  Sure that since they had mixed up your numbers that when you won, because you were pretty sure you would, that Tate would get the credit.  Generally, confidence is not an area of weakness for you.

This year you're in second grade with Mr. Cager as your teacher.  He can be pretty strict and definitely keeps you in line.  Not that you need it.  You're a good student and, while you can be goofy and silly at times, generally do quite well in the classroom.  This year we started to notice that you might be struggling just a bit in reading.  You'd miss or substitute words or skip several lines of text.  We were lucky to get you in to some tutoring with Ms. LeNae in our group and for the last couple of months we've been meeting with her before school every day.  You've never seemed the least bit bothered by this addition to your schedule, nor do you seem the least bit insecure from the news that you may have some sort of learning challenge having to do with reading or writing.  We'll see what happens as the year progresses but thus far you're just happy being you and all that comes with it.  And that is as it should be, because all you are is pretty marvelous.  

You auditioned last spring and made it into a children's choir on camp that you sing with once a week with Tate and a few other friends.  Ms. Kelly is so great and you all come out of practice with big smiles on your faces having had so much fun making music together which is just awesome.  You even got a solo about a month back and you were SO proud of that fact.  We can't wait to hear your first concert in about a month.  

Also last spring you and Tate auditioned with us to be in "A Dickens Carol" and we all got in.  It was so fun to watch you be excited to audition and how much you talked about it afterward.  How hard you tried during rehearsals to remember everything we asked you to do and to not miss a reaction or line.  You could be pretty silly too, wrestling with your brother or playing around with your friends.  But overall, for such a crazy busy fall, you were a rock star.  So many afternoons of rushing from one activity to the next. Dinner when you got home at 7pm or dinner in the DTG house kitchen from a tupperware.  And when performance time came you absolutely lit up on stage.  You were tired at the end of 8 shows but also sad to see it end.  You had a little bit where you stole Paul Weitzel's wallet in the opener and he let you keep the wallet at the end of the show.  You treasure that thing as a reminder of the times you had in the play.  It's so sweet. 

You're still a great eater.  You'll try most anything we give you to eat.  You still prefer fruit to most anything.  You don't love vegetables or most healthy meals really, but if we ask you to eat your dinner you do.  You still don't love sweets.  You'll eat the occasional cookie or candy but you don't really need cake or brownies or much of any treat really.  Your Halloween and Christmas stocking candy go largely untouched for about a month until eventually it just gets thrown out.  

You've been such a good piano student this year.  You get out of bed and get your technique done before breakfast and then we sit down to work on songs at lunch or after school together.  You definitely get frustrated from time to time if it's taken several goes at a section to get it right.  But once you get it right it's like something clicks in your brain and all the frustration and angst never was.  Now everything's good.  You've learned and played difficult songs this year for recitals.  Never a complaint about practicing.  Never a complaint about performing in then recitals.  You don't ever seem to be nervous.  You just do your thing and it's so musical and you're trying so hard that it just melts the audience to a puddle.

You're a very friendly boy.  You have some good buddies in scouts and in your classes at school and church.  You love playing with friends but you also love being home and playing with your brother.  You're such good buddies and always have each other's backs.  It makes my heart smile to watch you two.  Tate sometimes reads to you from the top bunk at night and it's one of your favorite things.  Your sisters adore you.  You are more than pleased to help me entertain them with a story or a wrestling match or to make up some obstacle course for them if I need to get dinner ready or work on something with Tate.  You are so sweet to them and they're huge fans of you.

You are in a phase of policing to make sure things are fair and good.  If someone breaks a rule, you tell us.  If someone gets one more or less of something, you point it out.  If someone is doing anything they shouldn't be, you make sure it's remedied.  It's SO hard for you to not be the parent or the coach or the teacher.  It itches your soul when something you want to be righted just needs to be let go.  But sometimes, little guy, it just does. 

Oh Finny boy, you're a light in our family.  You have your challenges and frustrations but most of the time you're just more than happy to be.  And we're beyond thrilled that we get you on our family team.  You're a great cheerleader and you can tell when someone needs cheering on.  You can teach and softly coach your sisters if they are in the mood to learn something from you.  You give the greatest hugs when we need a little lift.  You're patient and you just follow, happy to be, when someone else in the family needs some attention.  Kiddo, we're amazed by you.  We admire your attitude and your strength.  Your determination and your joy in life.  Our family is what it is because you are who you are.  We'd be lost without you, dear Finny.  

I look around our house and see pictures of cute little baby or little boy Finny and that Finny seems SO long ago when I see how big you've grown and the boy you've become.  But you've always been you.  So much wonderful you.  And it just keeps getting better.  I'm excited to see what new part of Finn I'm going to fall in love with in the coming year.  I adore you, my boy.

The world is yours, Finn.

Love,

Mom