Josh Turns Seven

Dear Josh,

You turned seven last month. It's weird for me, because while you still feel like my baby boy, you are so smart and mature in some ways that I feel like "seven" is too young for you. I tend to expect a lot from you because I know how capable you are, but I have to remind myself that you're also just a little boy, with childlike sensitivity and determination that are still hard for you to control.

I love so many things about you. I love your focus and your drive, when something is really important to you. Right now, that's video games, building, and reading. I love that you love to read, and that you want to know everything about what interests you. And even though I'm supposed to get mad at you for this, I secretly love that you stay awake long after you've been tucked in to read Harry Potter.

I love that you play with Jude and teach him new things. I love that you are sweet as sugar with Adele and that you try to help her learn to walk. I love that you give me the biggest hugs and kisses at bed time.

I love that you are determined and even stubborn. It's not always easy when I'm trying to get you to listen to me, but it will be a very good trait when you learn to apply it well. I love your independence and ingenuity. Those bookmarks you've been making and selling at school are proof of your ambition. And I know you want to be a diamond miner when you grow up, but I'm still pretty certain you could be a rockstar engineer with that amazing brain.

I love your missing front teeth and your hundreds of freckles. I love the back of your tan neck against your super blond hair. I love that you hold my hand when we walk together. I love that you always prefer shorts and flip flops, just like your dad.

I love to hear you laugh, and I love that you are easily entertained by knock knock jokes.  I love to watch you hit a baseball and shoot a basketball.

I love that you are cautious, and that I don't have to worry about you hurting yourself everywhere we go. You help keep our family safe, especially your little brother.

Joshy, I'm so happy to have you in my life. You are a super cool human. Love you times a million!

Mom

P.S. The rest of this post is all about the many ways (and many days) we celebrated your birthday.

First, we took Creeper brownies to your classroom and everybody gave you the sweetest birthday compliments before letting you take the coveted first bite.

Ms. Nyberg sure loves you!

Here are the friends that came to your party: Zeke, Sophie, JD, August, Miles, Brandon, Kian, Jack, and Jude.

Your real birthday was on Sunday, which also happened to be Father's Day, and also happened to be the last day we could celebrate Daddy's birthday before leaving for Redding without him the next day. So you were kind enough to share the attention.

You were also really nice to let Jude help you open presents. We did it first thing in the morning!

Adele kept trying to grab the phone while I took pictures of you. Silly baby!

You really wanted chicken pot pie for birthday dinner, so Daddy taught you how to make it. You're already a great chef.

I won't post all your birthday videos here, so ask me about them later. Here's just one, so you can hear your cute seven-year-old voice and see how excited Jude and Adele are for you.

Happy birthday, my favorite seven-year-old!

Life with Two Children

In May, Matt took Jude for a little trip to Arizona. They saw all of Matt's family and met our new nephew Taylor! Matt was even able to participate in his baby blessing.

That week, Matt had some work in Phoenix during the day, while Jude played with Grandma Cheri. When Matt came home, he left our boy behind for Grandma Camp. Jude was gone from me for eight days! We really missed each other, but it was a good break for both of us, and a nice time to catch up with Josh and Adele. 

Matt flew in just before school got out, and Josh was so excited about a surprise pick up from Dad.

With only one child at home, I was actually able to go out to lunch with my friend. Imagine that! We spent most of this day walking around Queen Anne with Alexe. From lunch, we walked over to pick up Josh from school, and it was so nice outside that we just kept going. Alexe took us to some swings at a park with an amazing view. I got a great work out pushing the stroller up all the hills.

Adele stared at Duke most of the time.

  Josh got super hot and tired from the long walk, but you wouldn't know it from this happy face.

Meanwhile, Jude was having no fun at all with Grandma.

I'm telling you, going back to just two kids seemed so EASY. Jude is the most challenging kid right now, and being the middle child, he fights with Josh and beats up on Adele. When he's missing, it's eerily quiet at home, and just ridiculously easy to go out. Of course I would always rather have my Jude with me, but it was a strange week without him. Everything felt off and reminded me of him.

Just a girl and her dad sharing a cherry stem for dinner at Lunch Box Laboratory.

Finally, Grandma Cheri brought Jude back on an airplane, and everything was back to normal! We dragged her to our "cold" beach one day (note the sweatshirt) to celebrate with friends, who were also feeling Jude's absence.

Courtney feels very Zen when Jude is around to occupy her four-year-old.

Adele also feels Zen at the beach. Here she's about to relax into child's pose on these comfortable rocks.

I'm not a huge fan of playing on rocky beaches, but this was one was really pretty. 

Josh disgusted Grandma all week by wiggling his loose tooth in her face, and it finally came out! 

MAY I unload the rest of my May photos now?

These pictures are barely two months old, but it seems like Adele has grown a foot taller since then! This is when she was super proud of herself for standing up on her own, but was too chicken to take any steps.

These are some popular summer outfits that Grandma Sara sent in a package. Packages always win.

These are the cute neighbor kids who came over to play pretty much every day after school. Ava, Ashton, and Alex make my kids want to play outside and use their imaginations, and I'm really grateful for that. 

My dad flew into Seattle to visit a client, and asked us to come meet him for the ten free minutes he had before dinner. Adele immediately clung to him and screamed when we had to take her back. I might have screamed a little too. I wish I could see him every day, even for just a few minutes.

Adele has started some new things, like piano composing and Otter-pop tasting.

She has also warmed up to Alexe quite a bit. And not just for her dog.

I'm sure I have a million pictures like this, but I just love how Jude rests his head on Josh's shoulder while watching him play iPad games.

We saw this fascinating sight after school one day and had to check on that bush every day afterward. Still have no idea what was happening here because I stink at Googling the things I say I will Google.

Jude got to have lots of play dates with his BFF Zeke while Josh finished up first grade.

Adele insists on feeding everything to herself, so the messes have multiplied.

I was pleasantly surprised to find peonies blooming in my backyard for a short two weeks!

Remember those cute neighbor kids? We walked home from school with them most days. Jude and the twins usually ran way ahead and scared all the traffic, while Josh and Ava sometimes held hands and pointed out bugs to each other. They are the cutest.

Their babysitter made moon sand for the kids once. It was a fun mess.

We went to the zoo with a friend while Josh was at school. Adele climbed almost all the way up this slide before Jude barreled into her and took her down. She is a really tough baby, thanks to him.

This is how after school down time goes. Josh does a quick chore so he can play a video game, while Jude watches, and Adele climbs all over them to make sure she's included.

Here are a couple pictures of Josh's class that I thought he might like to see later.

We walked to the ice cream shop with Alexe and Duke one night. Jude is seriously in love with her. He asks about her all the time and does not like her to go home ever.

Here's a pretty good picture of Josh's missing front teeth.

And here is a flashback to the days when it wasn't too hot in our non-air-conditioned house to sleep with blankets and pajamas on. May was nice.