Sweet girl,

You’re 7. SEVEN! I can’t believe it! This turned out to be quite the birthday for you as we celebrated amid the COVID-19 quarantine situation. The thing is though? You were so joyful all day. You didn’t complain about not having a party with your friends – in fact, you were thrilled with your birthday car parade.

You started your birthday morning by wrapping up a stuffed animal in a bag with your sister’s name on it & giving it to her so she wouldn’t feel left out. And that, Peanut? It’s the perfect example of your giant golden heart! You’re caring & kind & smart & loyal & thoughtful.

You played soccer this year and absolutely loved it! We did another year of dance, and while you enjoy it, you’ve decided to stop dance so that you can continue soccer & possibly try something new. You’ve become obsessed with watching Wild Kratts and are constantly giving us “creature quizzes” or telling us facts about animals. You are so smart & remember so many facts!

You have quite the range of facial expressions – and my favorites are your whole-face smile and when you try to make a face but are fighting back a grin. I never want to forget that!!

Recently you have started to ask if you can learn how I edit photos & if you can help me. Then, when we were out taking these birthday portraits, you asked to use my “big camera.” You did such a great job & were so excited to be taking photos like me. Seeing that joy you felt doing something I love made my mama heart just about burst. I was so impressed with the fact that you were asking questions & paying attention to what I was teaching you about light. You caught on quickly and it just makes me so excited to watch you learn new things & find your passion. I have no doubt you’ll master whatever skills are required for it.

You love:

• Wild Kratts
• Cooking & baking (you’re obsessed with baking with daddy, and making meals from Raddish Kids & you are a great little chef already!)
• Building houses/castles with your magnet tiles
• Swimming
• PB&J for breakfast
• Building forts with every single couch cushion in the house (this has happened pretty much daily during quarantine!)
• Your first grade teacher – it was sad to miss out on the end of the school year with her, but you still love her so much!
• Reading chapter books at bedtime (especially the Purrmaids series)
• Planning celebrations & parties for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, birthdays, etc.
• Talking on FaceTime with your friends
• Drawing & painting
• Doing science experiments
• Shopping at Justice
• Chewing gum (thanks to Oma!)
• Culver’s
• Going to the beach (like your mama!)

 

Most of the time you’re not so sure of nature – resulting in a lot of this kind of face:

I get a lot of this kind of face too…. I swear sometimes you’re 7 going on 17!!! (And that photo on the right? That was you telling me to hand over my camera so you could take more pictures with it!)

…and more demands for me to hand over the camera!

You are beautiful inside & out, Peanut!!

Sweet girl, as always, I am so so so thankful that God chose me to be your mama. I love you, I am proud of you & while I told you I was cancelling your birthday because I didn’t want you to keep growing up so fast, I have to say I absolutely love seeing you grow up. I love seeing glimpses of what our friendship will be like when you’re older & it makes me so happy.

I love you to Pluto & back, deeper than the ocean & wider than the sky!!!