My Cute Companion

Dear Sawyer,

Tonight at bedtime, you asked me to hang out in your room for a little bit. I asked you if you wanted to talk, just the two of us, since we hadn't had much one-on-one time in awhile and you said, "Yeah, plus I just really like your company." You are always so sweet!

Love,

Mom

You're Nine Years Old!

Dear Sawyer,

Airplanes can fly because the engines use propellers or jets to propel the planes forward. The first dinosaur was a plant-eater the size of a kangaroo. The largest diamond ever found weighed 1.37 pounds and measured more than four inches long.

These are just a few of your favorite facts from your National Geographic book Why? Over 1,111 Answers to Everything. We have had that book for years and I see you poring over it all of the time because you have such a curious mind and love learning about all of the why's--why do people have fingernails, why do leaves change color in the fall, why is the Golden Gate Bridge orange? I love that you have such a thirst for facts and I love that you are constantly starting our conversations with "Mama, did you know . . ." You absorb all of the information you learn at school and from the books you read and you love sharing it--I learn something new from you every day. Happy 9th birthday to my walking encyclopedia!

You are 9 years old! One minute, you were a tiny 3-year-old who loved dinosaurs and playing with cars and the next minute--well, you still love dinosaurs and playing with cars, but now you are a bit taller! And you have many more interests and hobbies. You like reading about engineering feats and interesting weather-related phenomenon; you like watching nature documentaries with Daddy, you like building elaborate structures with Legos and Keva planks; you like playing chess and basketball; you like hiking and exploring new trails with me; you like going on bike rides; one of your favorite activities is looking for rocks and throwing them into the ocean; you enjoy watching water flow, whether it's a waterfall, stream or even just the kitchen faucet while I'm doing dishes. You also still like to draw and make the most amazingly detailed pictures. When you grow up, you want to be an architect.

Your favorite foods are still pizza and my sausage barley soup (but without the vegetables, haha). You like to put everything seasoning on, well, everything. You love fruit, especially "waterlemon" (yes, our family members all still call it that because of you!), blackberries and Asian pears. You like our dance parties. Your favorite song is "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa and your favorite line from it is "how can we not talk about family when family's all that we got." When you recite that line, sometimes your voice wavers and you get emotional. I really like that you feel things, whether you are talking about your friends or a thought that you had about the planet. You are a very sensitive kid and you embrace your emotions, which is one of your biggest strengths.

Another one of your strengths is your continued love of reading. Yes, you love reading nonfiction books but you also devour stories inspired by Greek mythology and historical events. You are still a fan of Dog Man, Wimpy Kid and Wings of Fire, and you also like the Boxcar Children and Gregor the Overlander series. Also, it is STILL difficult to get you to get ready for school, come downstairs for dinner, do your nighttime routine, etc. because you constantly get distracted and lose yourself in a book but as I've said before, that's not the worst problem for a parent to have!

You are such an inquisitive, joyful, funny, kind and sweet kid and I love watching you be you. I am proud of you, Baby Bear, and I hope you had a terrific time celebrating your birthday today. I love you so much!

Love,

Mom

Rocking Out

Dear Sawyer,

We went to the aquarium yesterday and I gave you a snack and water bottle to put in your backpack. At one point, you left your backpack on a bench and when I picked up the backpack, it was heavy, like way more than just a snack-box-and-water-bottle heavy. I know you tend to squirrel things away in your bags, so I wasn't totally surprised, but I decided to see what else you were carrying around and when I unzipped your backpack, there was an actual ROCK inside. You'd found it the last time we went hiking and put it in your bag for safekeeping--and kept it there. I can't believe you walked around all morning with a heavy rock in your bag!

Love,

Mom

Good Night Kiss

Dear Sawyer,

Here is our nightly routine: 

1) We say "Good night/I love you/see you in the morning/who's my favorite baby bear?/me/who's your favorite mama?/you"

2) We clap twice and do Korean heart with both hands

3) We do sign language for "I love you" with both hands

4) We point to our eyes, draw a heart in the air and point at each other ("I love you")

Yesterday, though, you added a bit where you ask me to come closer and then give me the sweetest kiss on my cheek. As you've gotten older, you don't kiss me that often, so it's very heartwarming when you do. When you kissed me tonight, I pointed out that you don't kiss me that much and you said you missed it. I did, too, and am so happy you added a kiss to our routine! And I will remember to kiss you more all the time--especially while you still let me!

Love,

Mom

Getting Dirty

Dear Sawyer,

At dinner, we were talking about how Daddy likes to garden. Daddy said, "I like to play with dirt." You jumped in and said in a slightly high-pitched tone, "Hi Dirt, I'm Daddy. What do you want to play today?" Daddy and I laughed SO hard!! You funny!

Love,

Mom

Light It Up

Dear Sawyer,

Can something be sweet AND morbid? The other night, we somehow started talking about the concept of reincarnation and I asked you what if you came back as a bug. You asked me what kind of bug I think you'd come back as and after a minute of thought, I said, "I think you'd come back as a firefly because you're always lighting up now." You smiled the sweetest smile, so I could tell that you liked my answer. And then you said to me, "If I die before you and come back as a firefly, I'd keep landing on your hand because that's good luck." Oh. My. GAAAAAAAWD. What is this liquid welling up in my eyeballs?? Then you went on to tell me that you'd put a sign on your back that said "Sawyer," so that I'd know the firefly was you. I asked you how you'd write the sign since you'd have no hands and you genuinely looked stumped, hahaha! I said you could get all of your firefly friends to fly in formation to spell out "Sawyer" in the air and you said you'd tell them to spell out your first, middle and last name just so I'd know for sure that it was my Sawyer. Goodness! Such a cute/funny/creative/heartbreaking conversation all in one!

Love,

Mom

Michael Mistake

Dear Sawyer,

You like playing basketball, so I signed you up for a basketball class in the neighborhood and you had been going every Sunday since October. You seemed to look forward to it and you always said you had fun in the class, so I was surprised when you told me that you don't want to sign up for the next session. When I asked you why not, you explained, "I like playing basketball, but just with my friends. I don't want to be on a team like Michael Jackson."

Jordan. You mean Michael Jordan. Hahaha!

Love,

Mom