year 7


Dear Trey,

Another year has passed.  When I look back at pictures from last year, I can’t believe how much you have grown.  I swear you’ve grown a foot.  But the biggest difference is that you have lost that “baby face”.  You look like a little boy now.  When I see pictures from last year, I feel like there’s a black hole of missing pictures that would explain the growth between baby face and little boy.  But alas, its just you, my sweet boy.  You refuse to stop growing, no matter how hard I beg.  
You are still obsessed with TV.  Limiting screen time is our constant battle.  You still love the classics: Tom and Jerry, Looney Tunes, Scooby Doo, Mario Brothers.  We were the Mario cast for Halloween- you were Mario, dad was luigi, Addie was princess and I was toadstool.  Super fun but it was SUPER cold this year!  You and your friends Graham and Aiden made up your own super heroes, which is adorable.  You are Lightning Boy, Graham is Lava Boy and Aiden is Ice Boy.  Sadly, we have yet to get you three together so you can play as a team. 


You completed Kindergarten and started First Grade.  Still thriving at Hawthorne Elementary.  Your favorite subject is Math- you take after your daddy with that.  You are learning to read.  I love that you read signs to me when we’re out and about.  Daddy and I have been in the habit of spelling things when we talk in front of you.  Our secret code no longer works!  For example, “Are we doing B-A-T-H tonight?”  And you pipe in and say “I know you said BATH!” 


Your speech has improved.  You seem to be speaking more clearly and pronouncing words more effectively.  Problem is you have to compete with Addie who never stops talking.  She particularly likes to talk to me when you want to talk to me- we’re working on that.  You just started saying “Chick Fil A” correctly. Part of my soul died a little with that one.  I loved your pronunciation of “chicken a fwey”!   Your sense of humor is coming out.  You have been known to throw out some pretty good one-liners.  I love laughing with you. 


One of my favorite conversations with you occurred in the car.  You piped up out of no where and started talking about Martin Luther King, Jr.  You said “you know what mom?  If Martin Luther King Jr wasn’t alive, Cameron and I wouldn’t go to the same school.”  Again, this conversation was out of the blue so it took me a second to figure out the context.  As the conversation continued, I gathered that your best friend in school this year is African American.  You had figured out that had Martin Luther King Jr not played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement, you wouldn’t know your best friend.  We talked about what you like about Cameron, how much fun you have with him and how skin color dowsn’t make a person who they are.  We talked about what it was like in the 60’s.  We talked about what we as a family would’ve done in the 60’s- how we would have fought for the equality that is deserved for everyone.  I pointed out that my favorite quality of yours is your loyalty to your friends.  How you love them, even when they don’t treat you well.  How you have been known to befriend kids that need friends.  I have no doubt in my mind that you would have been a friend to Cameron in the 60’s.  You would have welcomed him into your life with open arms even then. 


We got the backyard re-done this year.  It was so fun to watch all the machines tearing up the decks and flattening everything out.  You even got to explore one of the big machines.  You loved playing in all the dirt before the sod was put in.  About a month ago we got a playscape put up.  The moment it was done, you climbed up the outside of the tube slide and onto the roof!  You love to sit up there!  You are always climbing.  If there’s a way to climb your way somewhere, you’d rather climb than walk.  I’m constantly shaking my head and saying you were “built to conquer”.    


You have struggled in your big brother role this year.  Addie is into everything and LOVES her big brother.  As a little sister myself, I totally get it.  Big brothers are the best.  We admire everything about our big brothers.  We are always watching and imitating.  For you in particular its difficult because Addie is two and two is hard.  She wants to be involved in everything you do.  And if you say no, she lashes out with the fury of a mama bear- you currently have three scratches on the back of your neck from an encounter with her.  One thing to learn, buddy: get out of the way!  You are an instigator and stick around for the results.  I’m constantly telling you that you don’t need to sit there and take a beating.


Last year my word for the year was “pause”.  I promised you that I would work on my over-the-top emotional reactions.  I didn’t like the way that I was talking to you in the heat of the moment.  I’ve worked really hard on that this year.  I think God taught me a lot as I focused on “pause”.  Funny thing was there was a while where you were very thrown off.  You were used to me yelling and I stopped yelling.  I think you were very confused.  That was eye opening for me.  We’ve adjusted to our new normal- I’m not saying I react perfectly but I think things are greatly improved. 


This year’s word is “New”.  One of my favorite verses is Lamentations 3:22-23 which says “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”  I find so much comfort is the fact that His mercies are new every morning.  As a parent who is learning as I go, that is a concept I can rest in.  I feel like God did a lot of work in me last year but I still have a ways to go.  This morning I was encouraged at church as we are starting a prayer focus (FYI- we completed a prayer focus in 2012 when I got pregnant with you).  God brought Isaiah 43:19 to mind.  “See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”  I’m excited to see the “New” things He will do this year.  Part of my “New” I promise to you is an investment in you.  Addie takes a lot of my attention and energy.  I feel like you often get the short end of the stick.  But we will discover “new” together this year.   


You are a miracle from God and He has big plans for you.  I can’t wait to see those plans unfold.  I love you my sweet boy. 



Love, Mama

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