You're Six Years Old!

Dear Sawyer,

Last year on your birthday, I set my alarm for 6am to sneak into your room and fill it with birthday balloons but you foiled my plans when you were so excited for your birthday that you woke up at 5:30am. I did not learn my lesson. This year, I set my alarm for 7am (you usually sleep until 8am) to get ready for the festivities but you were so excited for your birthday that you woke up at FIVE AM. The sun wasn't even up yet!

You had good reason to be so excited, though. Last year, we had the Zoom birthday party for you since we couldn't see anyone in person but things are a little safer this year so we were able to have a joint birthday party with your best bud Kian! Presents + cake + an in-person play date with your friend = no wonder you couldn't sleep! And honestly, it was a gift for me, too, to see you happily running around the yard with Kian, throwing balls around and hiding in bushes. This pandemic has made me appreciate any and all glimmers of normalcy and pre-pandemic life so much.

Happiest of birthdays to my 6-year-old ray of sunshine! I love you so much for your cheerfulness and optimism. You always have a positive attitude about everything and you are such a sweet little guy to be around. For one, you always tell me how beautiful I am! You come up to me and say, "Mama, you're beautiful" at least half a dozen times every day. Your smiles instantly cheer me up and after I told you that awhile ago, you always make it a point to smile at me if you think I look upset. You give me the tightest hugs, move your dining room chair right next to mine so that we can be super close and ask me to cuddle with you every night at bedtime. Sometimes, you literally follow me all around the house because you "just want to be close" to me.

At 6, you still LOOOOOOVE dinosaurs. You read so many books about dinosaurs, draw so many pictures of dinosaurs and regularly roar and stomp through the house pretending to be a dinosaur (MuiMui often copies you when you do this, so I have TWO little dinos roaming around!). Your other interests: playing with cars, building things with Legos, reading books on Epic and ABC Mouse, drawing, riding your balance bike, going on hikes, having dance parties (you love BTS and your current favorite songs are "Levitating" and "Who's Laughing Now?"), playing with the water table, taking bubble baths and watching nature documentaries and Fuller House. You're still a picky eater but you eat a ton of string cheese and fruit. Your favorite fruit is watermelon and I love that you still pronounce it "waterlemon." In fact, you have been calling it that for so long that our entire family says "waterlemon" now!

Your biggest accomplishment this year was learning how to read! I always feel so proud when my kids begin reading on their own and you are reading so well! I am especially impressed with you because you have had to do kindergarten entirely from home. You started at a new school in September but you have never stepped foot inside or even met your teacher face-to-face. You haven't had very much solo interaction with her and have to watch all of her lessons on your computer screen. There are no cool projects or play time and it isn't a very fun way to learn. I know it has been a struggle to focus and do worksheet after (boring) worksheet but you always pay attention, participate and complete your assignments on time and I am so proud of your hard work. And it has paid off because you can read so nicely, not to mention write multiple-sentence essays about different topics and add and subtract big numbers.

I love you so much, baby bear! Happy birthday!

Love,

Mom