Big Boy: 7 years old

My first born turned seven this today. I can't even begin to describe how crazy this is to me. So much has happened in seven years. He has grown and changed so much since that first day I held him. This 7th birthday was unique as are all the birthdays celebrated during the pandemic. Parties and plans have been canceled for everyone. But William was not going to let this dampen his excitement about his birthday. He declared months ago that we would be having a Pokemon party - just for the four of us.

And so on Saturday, we put up a homemade Pokemon birthday banner (thanks to the help of a Cricut a friend let me borrow) and watched the Pokemon Movie and ate a Pokemon cake with ice cream. We let him open one present early and held off on the rest until his actual birthday. (So this morning at 7:30 a.m. he opened the rest!) And at the end of the day he was so happy and felt so loved. Just as he should on his special day. 

He requested the candles be the flame that come out of Charizard's mouth.

William is growing as fast as ever. The jeans I bought six months ago are now getting to too short. He is now 52 inches tall and 53 pounds. His feet look huge. I've been saying these things for 7 years . . . and I'm sure I'll be saying them for another decade. He isn't going to stop growing anytime soon.

William loves legos, Pokemon, and duplos. He loves being read to. Throughout sheltering in place, we have been reading books by Geronimo Stilton, about a mouse solving mysteries. And since the library has reopened (for curbside pickup) we have been reading new ones nonstop. Thankfully Stephen likes them too! His favorite shows are Wild Kratts and DinoTrucks. And our newest "toy" has been letting the boys pay video games with Dad - MarioKart is a favorite now.

He has been doing first grade virtually for the last six weeks and although he doesn't love it (or even like it slightly), he does participate without too much fuss. When the zoom classes run long he gets upset and asks to leave early. And he doesn't like showing up for the class before the teacher. He is very prompt on his own and I barely have to remind him to "go to class." He learning a lot about responsibility this year - signing in to his zoom class on his own and deciding when he wants to do his homework. There aren't any forgotten lunches or homework left at home right now. He misses recess and seeing his friends in person. He was so looking forward to playing soccer with his class (and beating the new kindergarteners). That will have to wait. Still no word on when they can go back to in-person learning. 

During this season of being home so much more than we are used to, we've added a few chores to William's list. He is now big enough to take out the trash which we give a "commission" for. He was so interested in earning more money that we even had him washing dishes, but his interest was very short lived with that one. And the level of cleanliness we expect in the bedroom has gone up a bit. 

As William gets older we are seeing him explore boundaries and experience bigger emotions. When he was young, he was fairly compliant and went with the flow. Now, he is very willing to put up a fight to get his own way and complain when it doesn't happen. He tends to show a bit of anxiety when we are running late or things are uncertain. I'm seeing more of myself come out of him all the time in this area. He also has new fears of spiders, fires and death that lead to long conversations and prayers.

Pandemic life and fire season have certainly changed our year. And he is old enough to know that things aren't quite right. Thankfully he handles it like a champ most of the time. 

My first born turned seven this today. I can't even begin to describe how crazy this is to me. So much has happened in seven years. He has grown and changed so much since that first day I held him. This 7th birthday was unique as are all the birthdays celebrated during the pandemic. Parties and plans have been canceled for everyone. But William was not going to let this dampen his excitement about his birthday. He declared months ago that we would be having a Pokemon party - just for the four of us.

And so on Saturday, we put up a homemade Pokemon birthday banner (thanks to the help of a Cricut a friend let me borrow) and watched the Pokemon Movie and ate a Pokemon cake with ice cream. We let him open one present early and held off on the rest until his actual birthday. (So this morning at 7:30 a.m. he opened the rest!) And at the end of the day he was so happy and felt so loved. Just as he should on his special day. 

He requested the candles be the flame that come out of Charizard's mouth.

William is growing as fast as ever. The jeans I bought six months ago are now getting to too short. He is now 52 inches tall and 53 pounds. His feet look huge. I've been saying these things for 7 years . . . and I'm sure I'll be saying them for another decade. He isn't going to stop growing anytime soon.

William loves legos, Pokemon, and duplos. He loves being read to. Throughout sheltering in place, we have been reading books by Geronimo Stilton, about a mouse solving mysteries. And since the library has reopened (for curbside pickup) we have been reading new ones nonstop. Thankfully Stephen likes them too! His favorite shows are Wild Kratts and DinoTrucks. And our newest "toy" has been letting the boys pay video games with Dad - MarioKart is a favorite now.

He has been doing first grade virtually for the last six weeks and although he doesn't love it (or even like it slightly), he does participate without too much fuss. When the zoom classes run long he gets upset and asks to leave early. And he doesn't like showing up for the class before the teacher. He is very prompt on his own and I barely have to remind him to "go to class." He learning a lot about responsibility this year - signing in to his zoom class on his own and deciding when he wants to do his homework. There aren't any forgotten lunches or homework left at home right now. He misses recess and seeing his friends in person. He was so looking forward to playing soccer with his class (and beating the new kindergarteners). That will have to wait. Still no word on when they can go back to in-person learning. 

During this season of being home so much more than we are used to, we've added a few chores to William's list. He is now big enough to take out the trash which we give a "commission" for. He was so interested in earning more money that we even had him washing dishes, but his interest was very short lived with that one. And the level of cleanliness we expect in the bedroom has gone up a bit. 

As William gets older we are seeing him explore boundaries and experience bigger emotions. When he was young, he was fairly compliant and went with the flow. Now, he is very willing to put up a fight to get his own way and complain when it doesn't happen. He tends to show a bit of anxiety when we are running late or things are uncertain. I'm seeing more of myself come out of him all the time in this area. He also has new fears of spiders, fires and death that lead to long conversations and prayers.

Pandemic life and fire season have certainly changed our year. And he is old enough to know that things aren't quite right. Thankfully he handles it like a champ most of the time.