Spring has been a whirlwind. I feel as though since we hit the month of April until now, our family has been go go go. We had Oliver’s third birthday and Easter on the same weekend. The weekend following that we went to Disney. Avery started her first season of Tball and is totally crushing it. Chris is one of her coaches on the team which has been fun to watch as well. Then Avery turned 6 and celebrated with family and friends and before we knew it, she graduated from kindergarten and is now officially a first grader! I don’t like to leave out birthday posts on the family blog but because of how hectic our year has been this will be a combo birthday shout out. Kids, if you’re reading this when you’re older you know by now that mom is never on time.
Dear Oliver,
The comedian of the family. Kid, you seriously crack us up every day. This year your big personality grew even bigger, if that is possible. You are such a ham, or as you call yourself “a ham and cheese”. You love to be silly and make people laugh. You light up a room. The lover of poop jokes. You love the word poop so much that you discovered the “poop song” on our Alexa. Speaking of Alexa, this past year you were obsessed with our electronics - Alexa and our roomba that we named Wall-E. Why buy you toys when all you want to do is clean our floor with Wall-E and blast AJR songs on the Alexa?
You are confident and independent. You want to do everything on your own. You want so badly to help us with anything you can; chores like laundry and dishes, making me coffee in the morning, putting things together with dad, making lunch, etc. You love to come up with new games and always say “I have an idea…” You’re fearless. Your first day of skiing you jumped right onto the ski lift and skied down the mountain with zero fear. You tell us “I so strong.” every day.
This past year you have done nothing but wanted to keep up with your big sister. You always have, but this year your play skills have really developed. At times, depending on the day - many times, you push your sister’s buttons. But ultimately you just want to be just like her. When Avery is enjoying a hot cup of tea, you insist you want a cup too but never drink it. You love to play house, school and doctor with her. You guys play so often that you started calling her “Mama Avery” because everytime you call for her and I answer I would get a “No I talking to Avery!”
We love your sweet, sweet soul. For awhile you liked to tease us by wiping away our kisses that we gave you. But at night, our last kiss would always be “a kiss that stays all night” and you wouldn’t wipe it away. You have a kind heart and intuition. You get a pillow for Mimi to sit on when you play in the playroom, you leave me cards on my pillow, and when you help yourself to snacks you always grab a second one for your sister.
Life of the party. Rule breaker. Lover of popsicles. Master negotiator. We love you more than you will ever know. Happy birthday, Oliver!
Love, Mom
Dear Avery,
Oh my sweet girl. You have grown so much this year and have made us so proud. We have loved watching you this year - especially with your big year in kindergarten. You are so smart. You love to learn. You threw yourself into math and reading and embraced it all. Watching you go off to school with the amount of confidence and joy that you had every day was inspiring. You always came home with all kinds of new things to read, art projects, writing, and lots and lots of craft presents made by your friends at school. I loved hearing you try to remember all of the names of your new classmates at the beginning of school and by the end of the year getting to see the wonderful friendships that you have made with them. It was a little scary for me watching you go off to school but you took off without looking back. Your teacher described you as a role model, kind friend to all of your classmates and a confident reader. You are outgoing and compassionate. A bright light in any room.
You have not only been a good role model at school, but a good role model at home for Oliver. It has been fun watching both of your personalities; as they are so different. I can always count on you to follow the rules (almost always). You have taught Oliver how to pretend play, how to count, how to pump his legs on a swing, and how to write some of the letters of his name. He looks up to you so much. You guys can fight like cats and dogs sometimes, but I know you always have his back. He is your little buddy and I love the bond that you have with him.
You have put yourself out there for so many different activities this year. You loved trying some new sports - soccer and Tball. You have blossomed this year as a gymnast and have made some really nice friendships in your gymnastic classes. You work so hard and it has shown this year. I can’t wait to see what next year brings for you. Your heart was broken this year when we had to say goodbye to the horse farm that you took lessons at. But thankfully we found a new one that I believe will foster your love for horses and really make you appreciate the hard work that caring for horses entails. You have such a sweet soul and are so natural with horses. I look forward to seeing what interests you the most and what you really decide to pursue.
This year you made quite the impression on your bus driver. I truly did not realize the bond you had with her or her young kids who rode on the bus with her until your birthday when she wrote you a letter. She shared with us how tenderhearted and pure you are. She shared all of the things you taught her young kids when you engaged with them on the bus ride home. You had your friends on the bus but since you were the last stop, it gave you an opportunity to talk with them. You didn’t have to, but you did. And you did it all on your own. It made them feel special. And that's something about you that makes me the most proud. You just have a way about you.
You are sensitive. You are kind. You are empathetic. You are curious. You are one of a kind. As our oldest, sometimes I feel like we put a lot of pressure on you. Just know that as you’re learning, we are learning too. We love you more than you will ever know. Happy birthday, Avery!
Love, Mom
- How old are you? 6
- Who is your best friend? Evelyn
- What’s your favorite thing to do? Play games
- What’s your favorite color? Gold
- What’s your favorite food? Apples
- What’s your favorite thing to do with your family? Play outside on the playground
- What’s your favorite toy? My new Harry Potter castle
- What do you want to be when you grow up? A pilot
- What makes you happy? Having fun
- What makes you sad? If someone doesn’t want to play with me
- What’s your favorite movie? Harry Potter 3
- What’s your favorite book? Harry Potter 3
- What do you love to learn about? Reading
- What was your favorite thing about your birthday? Having a party with my friends from school
- Where do you like to go? To school.
- Who is your teacher? Mrs. Rankins and Mrs. Post
- What’s your favorite treat? Mint chip ice cream
- What’s your favorite song? My sight word songs from school
- What’s your favorite animal? Snake
- What makes you feel loved? Hugging and kissing
