Dear Sweetpea/Boots/Pope/Sofa,
It's funny writing the list of nicknames that we have for you at the moment, as you have learned your own name, and any attempt to call you one of these is met with "I not Sweetpea, I Sophia". Even cuter is your attempts at your surname (sorry about that - it'll get easier with time!), and you now pronounce yourself "Sophia FWolfson" - the Forbes part will come soon I promise.
This has been a massive year of growth for you, in many different and delightful ways. Most noticeably is your language, which we've always had concerns about, but since January you've made such amazing progress. For a long time, we had to repeat everything back to you to a) make sure we had understood you and b) let you hear how it should be said. More and more frequently, I can have a full on conversation with you without having to check in that I've got what you're saying. This makes me feel like I'm truly to getting to know you, and what a delightful journey that is turning out to be.
You are at once wickedly funny with a great sense of humor and also a kid with a true heart of gold (I would put "girl" instead of "kid", but you seem pretty insistent that you're a boy right now). You take pride in saying and doing things you know you're not meant to do, but knowing that you're cute enough to make people find you charming instead of rude. When we saw Mommy in the airport, you ran up to her, gave her a massive hug and said "Hello, Kelsey" because you knew it would get you a tickle. You laugh freely and easily, especially when Jake is involved and the two of you seem to have the best time playing together, even if you do sometimes refuse to share things with him.
Whenever anyone mentions helping, I can guarantee you'll shout out "me too" and you love to be involved in any activities from watering the plants to preparing the dinner. You can't stand to see people being upset, and when I rough house with Jake, I have to make sure you know that we're only playing and that I'm happy playing the game with him. We were at Granny and Grandpa's Italy house last week, and you thought it was the best fun to play "showers" with the grown ups. What made my heart melt was when you told me to turn around and close my eyes when you poured the water gently on my head, and then checked in with me "that ok, Daddy?"
You like to take your time, and you can play independently for hours on end. Walking with you when we don't have anywhere else to be is delightful as you'll stop and talk to me about all the things that you can see and hear. In fact, just spending any time with you is glorious as you take delight in the small things and you make everyone slow down around you to the point where they have to live in the moment with you. Please let this be a skill that you keep with you as you grow bigger and faster.
This year is a big change for you. You'll be going to Miss Gina's for daycare, and given that you already know a lot of the staff, I don't think this is going to be a big challenge for you. You're also going to another pre-school 2 mornings a week for help with your speech, and I can't wait to see the difference that all of these changes make. That's not until September though, which gives us the summer to relax and slow down together.
Love you my little munchkin,
Daddy
Friday, 22 June 2018
Thursday, 24 May 2018
Jake at 6
Dear Jake-o,
What a year! I feel that I write that each time round, but it's crazy to see what each 12 months does for you all round. You're now well over 4 feet tall (which makes you taller than one of my 4th grade kids!) and you're becoming used to the fact that you're going to be one of the tallest kids wherever you go. You manage your height well, using those long legs to run fast and climb, and you're unbelievably wiry and strong for a kid of your age. It's currently t-ball season, and you absolutely love smacking the ball into the outfield, and then running as fast as lightning (your words, not mine!) around the bases. I hope that baseball continues to be a passion for you, though I'm not sure that I'll coach you when you start to get into the serious business! For now, there's nothing more fun than pitching balls to you at home and watching you crush them over the house, or into Sophie's window (good thing Papa bought us a bunch of soft balls).
Speaking of Sophie, this year has seen you really step up as a big brother to her. I listen to you playing with her, and you speak with such a kind and careful voice, changing your words and your tone to make her feel happy. You play lovely games with her, and you're so patient with her desire to play with the same toys that you play with. I love how you call her Sofa and help her out, especially getting yoghurts for dessert at dinner time. Long may this cuteness continue, and I think as she gets more and more words you'll find that she's an awesome playmate (most of the time!)
Speaking of playmates, our biggest pleasure this year has been watching you develop a set of close friends, all by yourself. Jack is your current favorite, and the two of you are hilarious together. You just seem to know how to make each other laugh, how to play sensible games together and how to generally have fun in each other's company. You like hanging out with Willy too, and you have a much more rough and tumble relationship with him. I'll treasure my memory of you two playing leaf monsters in the fall at the pumpkin launching farm forever.
School has been a wonderful experience for you. If I'm honest, I was worried that you'd find it tough, but you've really worked out who you are as a learner (hard working, a listener, a thinker) and how to make school work for you. You tell us all sorts of interesting math facts, and you're beginning to be able to work some stuff out that you're not being taught (you came down tonight and told Mommy that if you were 40, she'd be 70!). You've learned your alphabet so well that Mommy and I can't do our usual trick of spelling words that we don't want you to know because you sound stuff out in your head and make really good guesses! You can also read a whole bunch of sight words, and you read your first book (all about sea otters!) to me, and then to your class. I could not have been more proud of you on that day.
You are still a massive animal fan - peregrine falcons are your favorite bird, and jaguars are your favorite animals. However, you have interests in all sorts of different places - space, dinosaurs, monster trucks and art, to name just a few. You love to learn everything you can about these things, and find delight in the ridiculous details, like that chickens are dinosaurs in disguise or that you'd be 24 on Mercury. Our story times are a mixture of fiction and non-fiction (which you can tell the difference between) and most of our time is spent discussing the books and answering your questions.
To wrap it all up, you're a pretty smoochy kid. You've worked out how to tease people gently, how to play games with strategies to win and strategies to deal with losing, how to have fun and rein it in, how to ask for what you need and how to show kindness on a daily basis. What a year. It boggles my mind that you're 6, and that you can do all of these incredible things. Imagine what you'll have learned by the time I write again next year!
Love you, little bear.
Dad
PS your current life goal is to be a space scientist. Mom says you can't leave the planet without her. You're currently negotiating how many space rocks you will need to bring back to keep her on Earth. Dad says dream big, little bear!
What a year! I feel that I write that each time round, but it's crazy to see what each 12 months does for you all round. You're now well over 4 feet tall (which makes you taller than one of my 4th grade kids!) and you're becoming used to the fact that you're going to be one of the tallest kids wherever you go. You manage your height well, using those long legs to run fast and climb, and you're unbelievably wiry and strong for a kid of your age. It's currently t-ball season, and you absolutely love smacking the ball into the outfield, and then running as fast as lightning (your words, not mine!) around the bases. I hope that baseball continues to be a passion for you, though I'm not sure that I'll coach you when you start to get into the serious business! For now, there's nothing more fun than pitching balls to you at home and watching you crush them over the house, or into Sophie's window (good thing Papa bought us a bunch of soft balls).
Speaking of Sophie, this year has seen you really step up as a big brother to her. I listen to you playing with her, and you speak with such a kind and careful voice, changing your words and your tone to make her feel happy. You play lovely games with her, and you're so patient with her desire to play with the same toys that you play with. I love how you call her Sofa and help her out, especially getting yoghurts for dessert at dinner time. Long may this cuteness continue, and I think as she gets more and more words you'll find that she's an awesome playmate (most of the time!)
Speaking of playmates, our biggest pleasure this year has been watching you develop a set of close friends, all by yourself. Jack is your current favorite, and the two of you are hilarious together. You just seem to know how to make each other laugh, how to play sensible games together and how to generally have fun in each other's company. You like hanging out with Willy too, and you have a much more rough and tumble relationship with him. I'll treasure my memory of you two playing leaf monsters in the fall at the pumpkin launching farm forever.
School has been a wonderful experience for you. If I'm honest, I was worried that you'd find it tough, but you've really worked out who you are as a learner (hard working, a listener, a thinker) and how to make school work for you. You tell us all sorts of interesting math facts, and you're beginning to be able to work some stuff out that you're not being taught (you came down tonight and told Mommy that if you were 40, she'd be 70!). You've learned your alphabet so well that Mommy and I can't do our usual trick of spelling words that we don't want you to know because you sound stuff out in your head and make really good guesses! You can also read a whole bunch of sight words, and you read your first book (all about sea otters!) to me, and then to your class. I could not have been more proud of you on that day.
You are still a massive animal fan - peregrine falcons are your favorite bird, and jaguars are your favorite animals. However, you have interests in all sorts of different places - space, dinosaurs, monster trucks and art, to name just a few. You love to learn everything you can about these things, and find delight in the ridiculous details, like that chickens are dinosaurs in disguise or that you'd be 24 on Mercury. Our story times are a mixture of fiction and non-fiction (which you can tell the difference between) and most of our time is spent discussing the books and answering your questions.
To wrap it all up, you're a pretty smoochy kid. You've worked out how to tease people gently, how to play games with strategies to win and strategies to deal with losing, how to have fun and rein it in, how to ask for what you need and how to show kindness on a daily basis. What a year. It boggles my mind that you're 6, and that you can do all of these incredible things. Imagine what you'll have learned by the time I write again next year!
Love you, little bear.
Dad
PS your current life goal is to be a space scientist. Mom says you can't leave the planet without her. You're currently negotiating how many space rocks you will need to bring back to keep her on Earth. Dad says dream big, little bear!
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