You have now been 7 years old for nearly three months. I've been stressed about writing this blog post for nearly two months. I'm excited to be finally sitting down to do it. :)
It's been so fascinating to me to see how the personality traits we saw in you at a very young age (even at age 2) have continued over time and have developed. You are our sensitive, introspective, and inquisitive boy. It's been that way from the beginning and I'm thinking it will continue to be that way into the far future.
But really, I love that about you. I love your sensitivity, your emotions, your tenderness. You feel deeply but that means you love deeply. You hate to hurt others and often become very upset when you realize you've done so, even if it was an accident. You do your best to make sure that your daddy and I always know that you love us, through your hugs and cards and gifts and attention. You have so many children who consider you a friend at school, and I know it's because of your sweet, kind personality.
You are also a very cautious, careful, and responsible child. Although I wouldn't, I think I could leave you home alone for quite a while and you would be fine. You'd probably follow most of the house rules, even without someone there to hold you to them. You do not like to take risks, and you are very aware of safety, often cautioning us about "precarious" situations ("Mommy, make sure you put that candle up high so that the dogs can't bump it, and also put it in a bowl so just in case it does fall over, it lands inside the bowl and doesn't catch the house on fire..."). You are also a perfectionist, and become upset when something you've done doesn't meet your high standards. Because of this, we actually haven't even told you yet that you get report cards. We don't want you worrying about them any earlier than you have to.
Of course, your sensitivity can also make things harder for you. I'm trying to be careful with my words here, because you're at the age now where I don't want to say things that would embarrass you if you read them online. But I think you'd be ok if I said this: You struggle sometimes with participating in your extracurricular activities such as soccer, swim team, and piano, because they cause extreme anxiety for you (even though you do really well at all of them). I think it makes it hard for you at school as well, when you're the center of attention. We are working through this together, though, learning day by day and helping you find ways to overcome your anxiety when it keeps you from doing things you want to do. Also, certain things such as movies and parts of books or even comments that people say to you can really affect you emotionally. You will readily admit this to others and often tell people, "I don't like movies" if they ask to watch one with you. And you will tell us when we have hurt your feelings or said something that makes you sad. I'm so grateful you feel you can be honest with us and tell us what's going on. And we are working together on figuring out these emotions. We got this, buddy.
On the other hand, once you are comfortable with someone, you can become quite outgoing, goofy, talkative, and even a bit of a smart aleck. I also enjoy this side of you because it keeps me laughing and on my toes.
You started your piano lessons in April and have really been doing well. You are currently learning the difference between 4/4 and 3/4 time. You also just finished another season of soccer, with your daddy as the coach, and you're currently beginning your second season of swim team. You do well at all of these activities (especially when you're able to overcome your fears), and I love seeing you figure out how your body works. You've always been very attuned to the details of movement, and it shows as you're learning how to position your fingers in piano, kick a ball, or learn swim strokes.
You love to learn, build, and create. Your favorite activities are Minecraft, Legos, K'Nex, drawing, and making creations out of cardboard boxes. Your reading ability just recently shot through the roof, and now you've begun reading chapter books such as The Magic Tree House. You are loving this and it makes me SO excited because I am a book lover myself.
You lost your third tooth five nights ago (it was your first top tooth, the one on the right when we look at you), and you now have the cutest giant gap in the top of your mouth. It really makes you seem older to me, seeing that hole in your smile. It's going to be crazy when a giant adult tooth comes in! You don't get to see the missing tooth in these pictures because I took these back in the beginning of April, but I have plenty of other photos of it. :)
You and your little brother are best friends now and play together all the time. It really is so wonderful, and I feel so fortunate that you get along. Not that you never get into spats, because you do. But they're pretty infrequent and pretty quickly over when they do happen. I'm so, so grateful for your friendship and plan to do all I can to foster it and help it to stay strong as you both grow.
Your first year of elementary school has gone well. You've learned to read, as I mentioned, and also still love math and can do addition problems with fairly large numbers and also some simple multiplication problems. You do well at writing, but you don't enjoy it. You complain about how much you have to write in school, and I hate to tell you that it's going to be that way for the next 12+ years. You are tracked out right now, but go back to school in a week and a half. Then you'll be in school for three and a half more weeks before you have a week off and then begin first grade. I'm honestly very sad that you'll be leaving your current kindergarten teacher, because she has been an incredible blessing to us this year. Hopefully your first grade teacher will be just as awesome. :)
Alright buddy boy, I think that's all for now.
Love you SO MUCH!!!
Love,
Mommy