Happy Camper

Dear Sawyer,

Two years ago, you were supposed to start summer camp for the first time. Then Covid hit and you couldn't go to camp (or anywhere else) for awhile. Thankfully, you were finally able to enjoy this age-old childhood experience this year and had your first day of summer camp today! I had signed you up for camp all the way back in March and when I told you, you were so excited that you asked a million questions: What time will the camp bus come pick you up? What will they serve for lunch on the first day? How many kids will be in your group? What kind of ice cream do they offer? I had to tell you to stop asking questions because I had no idea since camp was still four MONTHS away!

And now camp has finally started! You woke up super early today at a little past 6am and were dressed, fed, brushed and sunblocked by 7:30am--a whole 50 minutes before your bus was scheduled to arrive! Starting at 7:40am, you kept looking out the front window and asking me if the bus was here yet! When it did arrive, you weren't nervous at all and just walked right onto it. And when you came home this afternoon and I asked you how camp had been, you replied, "It was a glorious day." Glorious! I am so happy you had such a good start to camp!

Love,

Mom

Loving Words

Dear Sawyer,

Our conversation tonight:

Me: Did you go to the bathroom?

You: Yes.

Me: Did you wash your hands?

You: Yes. Do I love you? Yes.

*melt!*

Love,

Mom

Sweeter Than Cake

Dear Sawyer,

You are always full of the sweetest compliments! Recently, you have been telling me, "Mama, you smell better than a flower, are more beautiful than a pretty dress and are sweeter than a piece of cake." Sometimes, you even add on at the end, "And you are brighter than a lightbulb." I mean, come on! Whenever you say that to me, my day instantly gets better!

Love,

Mom

The One

Dear Sawyer,

When I was brushing your teeth tonight, you told me, "Mama, if anyone else was my mama, I wouldn't be happy. You are the one for me." Awww, thank you, sweetie!

Love,

Mom

Baby Talk

Dear Sawyer,

You may be seven years old now but I do love that you still mispronounce a few words. You often say words like "fallded" instead of "fell" and you still say "waterlemon" instead of "watermelon." I will enjoy the waning baby talk while I still can!

Love,

Mom

You're Seven Years Old!

Dear Sawyer,

This past Sunday, we went bike riding with our neighbors who live across the street. We went on the Forest Park bike trail, which I had never taken you on because it has quite a few challenging hills. Our neighbors' kids have done the trail several times, as has JieJie, so they were able to handle the trail and go much faster than you. I stayed behind with you while they went ahead and while it took you longer to go up the hills and you got tired a few times, your positive attitude never wavered. You never complained that the hills were too hard, you never whined that the other kids were so far ahead of you and you never stopped trying. You pedaled as hard as you could and just kept pushing through all of the challenging sections. I was so incredibly proud of you.

I am so lucky to have you in my life and I can't believe you are now SEVEN! Happy birthday to my baby bear! You are such an amazing person and have so many wonderful qualities. In addition to being determined, you are cheerful, optimistic, enthusiastic, helpful, thoughtful and creative. You have a very curious mind and are constantly asking questions like: why is our bathroom designed in the shape it is, how do birds fly so high in the sky, why do they call it a bridge, are there pools of water that are bottomless? You love to read and I constantly find you reading morning, noon and night. It's a "problem" I have with GuhGaw and JieJie, too--you guys are such voracious readers that you dive into a book every chance you get, even if I have been yelling at you to instead brush your teeth, put on your shoes, go take a shower, put on your pjs and get into bed, etc. Sometimes, you even try to read while simultaneously walking down the street! Your teacher also told me that she often has to talk to you about reading the books from the classroom library before you have finished your assignments. I am probably the only mother who has to constantly yell, "Stop reading!" but I am grateful that you can spend hours engaged in a book and that while other kids are always asking to watch YouTube or play video games, you are asking me to go on Epic.com to read books. Your favorite books right now are ones about dinosaurs and books from the Dog Man and Wimpy Kid series.

Your other interests are (still) dinosaurs, the Octonauts series on Netflix, building things with Legos and PlusPlus puzzle pieces, dancing to BTS songs and drawing comics. I am always impressed with your drawings because you put so many interesting details in them! You have also started getting interested in chess but I'd say your biggest hobby is complimenting me! Here are some gems you have said to me recently:

"Mama, you make everything better."

"I think about you all of the time. Even when I'm at school."

"Sawyer, you look good." "Mama, you always look good."

"Mama, I love you and you always look so beautiful and everything you do makes me so happy."

"I'm sad when I can't see your face and your sweet smile."

"I'm so happy I'm your kid."

And I'm so happy I'm your mama! Happy birthday, sweetheart!

Love,

Mom

Crushing It

Dear Sawyer,

At dinner every night, you talk about all kinds of things: a fun fact you learned in STEM class, an interesting episode of "Wild Kratts" you watched during lunchtime, a plotline from the Wimpy Kid book you read, etc. Last night's dinner topic was a new one, though: You told us all about who has a crush on who in your class! I'd never heard you talk about crushes before and it was super amusing to see you animatedly say with wide eyes and a huge grin, "Riley used to have a crush on me but now she has a crush on Logan! Skye has a crush on Kenneth! Thoon has a crush on me . . . but I am NOT going to marry her!" So cute!

Love,

Mom