You're Eight Years Old!

Dear Sawyer,

When I was in high school, one of my classmates had a theory that every person is his/her "true" self at the age of 8. According to her, that is when you have fully developed your personality and it is before societal pressures and stigmas affect how you think you should behave. There is obviously no science behind this and just from personal observation, I know that parental guidance and peer pressure influence behavior way before kids turn 8. However, if my classmate's theory is correct and you are your "true" self at age 8, then I am very proud of you because you turn 8 today and you are one awesome 8-year-old. Happy birthday, Baby Bear!

When I think of you, the first things I think about are your sweet smile and infectious laugh. You are such a happy guy and when something cracks you up, your laugh is so full of joy and amusement that it's hard not to laugh along with you. It's especially cute when you find something so funny, you laugh and slap your knee! And like many other 8-year-old boys, you laugh extra hard at potty humor!

In addition to dirty jokes, you also still love love love to read (your current favorite series are Wings of Fire, Wimpy Kid and Dog Man), build things with Legos, Plus Plus blocks and Keva planks and play with cars and dinosaurs. You enjoy drawing and spend lots of time drawing elaborate, detailed, three-dimensional drawings of vehicles, dinosaurs and houses (fittingly, you have told me that you either want to be a paleontologist or architect when you grow up). You like to play chess and are in the chess club at school. At home, you often play chess by yourself and even record your moves. You are a friendly kid with lots of buddies at school and you like to play soccer with them during recess. I have never let you play many video games but you are really into Minecraft and could spend all day playing it at the arcade--which is why I am acquiescing and taking you and your friends to Dave & Buster's this weekend to celebrate your birthday!

You are very polite and thoughtful and your teacher always tells me what a gentleman you are. You are a curious thinker and you're always wondering about why things are the way they are and what would happen if they were different. You are grateful and appreciative and thank Daddy and me for the things we do for you. You are also the most loving son. You always tell me that you love me and hug me all of the time. You ask me to say good night to you before you fall asleep every night and still like cuddling with me. And you always tell me that I'm beautiful. I am so lucky to have you and I love you so very much!

Love,

Mom

Beautiful The Way You Are

Dear Sawyer,

When you came home from school today, you said, "Mama, you look beautiful. You could go on a date like that." I was wearing a t-shirt (albeit my favorite koala t-shirt) and gray leggings and asked, "I look beautiful in this? It's so casual." You replied, "It's not your clothes that make you look beautiful. It's how you are." O. M. GEEEEEE!

Love,

Mom

Questions & Answers

Dear Sawyer,

I asked you some questions for fun and here are your answers:

How old am I? 42.

What is my favorite color? Purple.

What is my job? To be a mama.

What do I cook the best? Sausage soup.

What do you like to do with me? Draw.

Why do you love me? Because you are sweet and funny and you take care of me.

What is something I say a lot? Don't fight.
What makes me happy? When we are good.
What makes me sad? When we are bad.
How tall am I? I don't know, it's not like I measure you every day.

What am I really good at? Drawing, you're the best artist ever.
What is my favorite thing to do? Cook.
What is my favorite food? Scallops.
What is my favorite drink? The Coke that Daddy buys.
If I could go anywhere, where would I go? To France.
How do I annoy you? You don't.
What is my favorite TV show? I'm not sure, I guess something on Netflix.
What is my favorite music to listen to? BTS.
How much do you love me? Bigger than everything in the whole world.

Love,

Mom

A Kiss Is Just A Kiss

Dear Sawyer,

I was wearing a Carnegie Mellon tank top and you asked me what Carnegie Mellon is. I told you that it's the name of the college that Daddy and I went to--and I added that if we hadn't gone there, you would not be standing where you were. You then said, "I know that you need the DNA from two people to make a baby . . . but how do you get the DNA together? Do you just kiss?" Um, yep! Just kiss!

Love,

Mom

Roll This Way

Dear Sawyer,

You and MuiMui have literally thousands of dollars worth of toys and books. Minecraft Legos, Keva planks, Hot Wheels cars, Peppa Pig dollhouses, DC Super Hero Girls action figures, Barbies, TWO play kitchens and play food . . . it's a lot. And yet, today I watched as the two of you viscously wrestled over a PAPER TOWEL ROLL. You were fighting over who got to play with the PAPER. TOWEL. ROLL. *sigh*

Love,

Mom

A Taste of Everything

Dear Sawyer,

One of your favorite things to eat for breakfast is an everything bagel topped with peanut butter and everything bagel seasoning. It's not for me but you love that combination! And then today, you had a pretzel roll with cookie butter and everything bagel seasoning. That is a lot of, um, interesting flavors all together!

Love,

Mom

Secret Language

Dear Sawyer,

You are still my little sweetheart, always telling me how beautiful I am and how much you love me. You are constantly saying things to me such as:

"These [store-bought] cookies are good but yours are better."

"That sunset is beautiful but you are more beautiful."

"She looks pretty in that dress but you'd look prettier."

You: "This pasta is the best thing you ever made."

Me: "The plain pasta? All I did was boil water and put the pasta in it."

You: "Well, if Daddy boiled the water, it wouldn't taste as good."

That last one was a bit ridiculous but you are still so sweet to say so many nice things to me! I love that you tell me that you love me several times every day and that you have even devised a secret code to tell me. A few months ago, you informed me that every time you look at me, smile and squeeze your eyes shut really tightly, it's code for "I love you." And you do it all of the time, on top of telling me verbally. Thank you so much, Baby Bear! I love you so very much, too, and am so lucky to have a little boy who makes me feel so special!

Love,

Mom