Dear Jake-o, Jake-a, Iacopo,
Your birthday kind of snuck up on us this year. I don't know if it's because you're in that weird "tween" phase where you've hit the big milestone of 10 but haven't started the transition into teenagerhood (though you have the puberty talk coming up at school in a week or two, so I'm intrigued as to what you make of that!). I think it's also that you've been...not less excited about your birthday, but I think it holds less significance as you've started working out how to get your own money, and so your birthday isn't the only time during the year outside Christmas when you get things you want. We set you up with your first bank account so you could have a card to make purchases online and in person, and it's fun to send you electronic money in return for chores and completing Lexia levels. You continue to be a dragon hoarder, and you're very careful with your money (though if you can make someone else spring for something, you'll take that opportunity every time (looking at you, Nana and Papa!).
Your birthday party was a great insight into your friendship group. It was an exact repeat of your 10th party at Hilltop, down to the same guest list. You've made some solid friendships, and they're just a nice group of kids. You were never out of control, and you find joy in the small things, like bringing home an enormous bouncy ball from the arcade, or an exciting Pokemon pull. In a world where I ended up looking after three of your friends' phones, you aren't straining against our wishes for you to connect in person. Yes, you have a phone because you and Sophie have been taking the bus home alone this year, but it's often left around the home, and it's more frustrating for me to try and get hold of you in the afternoon if I need to ask you a question instead of trying to wrestle the phone away from you! Watching a few of your friends become absorbed into their phones at social events recently makes us more certain that we'll wait for as long as we can before turning on any additional features that will make your phone addictive.
That's not to say you're not immersed in technology. While the weekends will find you playing soccer in various locations or shooting hoops (or trick shot videos!) outside, you'll always default to playing something on your Switch, or watching Dude Perfect or Mark Rober on Youtube. Both of these make your mom and I happy, especially as it's a good overlap between what you want to watch, what Sophie wants to watch, and stuff that me and your mom don't mind watching with you. Indeed, we were inspired by the Dude Perfect Overtime show that we used it to structure our recent April vacation, which was a great success to give us a range of fun activities (Cool Not Cool for $10 in Walmart!) and days out (discovering that mom is insane at laser tag and bowling!).
This year has been frustrating for you in terms of your jaw and your teeth as we found out that you had some long term trauma in the joint between your jaw and your skull. You toughed out a hard surgery and you're still in a recovery period where you can't chew anything more sturdy than a hamburger. Fortunately burritos are still on the menu as your favorite meal (though no doritos!), as well as pancakes and ice cream, so you're not wasting away. It's hard to have conversations with your doctors about the future, however, as it's going to involve some major jaw surgery, and while you're working hard at your jaw exercises, I really hope that you're doing them as well as you can so we can keep that surgery date away as long as possible.
Coming back to soccer, it's been great to watch you think through what you want out of the sport. Last spring, you played at Rochester and were one of the better players on the team, which was a great confidence boost for you. It also served as a wake up call that you enjoy playing the sport enough to want to get better at it. You played rec in Strafford in the fall and fell in love with being a striker, and even when a whole bunch of your core friends were playing basketball, you asked us to sign you up for indoor soccer even with kids you didn't know. This worked out well, and it's led you to playing soccer in Northwood with 7th and 8th graders. It's hard work, but you're liking the challenge of having to prove yourself against the big kids (as well as learning how to dive when they use their size against you!). I also love that you're becoming interested in the wider world of soccer, and you're getting the hang of how the Premier League works, the intricacies of European soccer, and where Lionel Messi might play next season. I don't know if it's just a way you choose to connect with me, or if you find it as fascinating as I do, but I relish teaching you (informally) about one of my biggest passions.
Lastly, let's just talk about how joyful it is having you at home these days. You have the capacity to be a sassy 11 year old trash talking me as you beat me at Mario Kart or Fifa repeatedly, but you're also a thoughtful kid who spends an hour on their mother's day card to include as many types of plants on there as possible. You are a wonderful brother to Sophie, always engaging with her in your games and play, and you always speak positively to her. The two of you are still very close, which I love to see given some of the relationships that your friends have with their siblings, and I hope that as you go through the upcoming puberty related changes that you always make time for her.
I'm proud of the kid that you are, the friends that you've chosen, and the conscientious and responsible student we hear about from your school. You always get great reports from parties, sleepovers and playdates, and you're the kind of kid that every parent wants their own child to be friends with. Summer is coming up, and I can't wait to see what adventures we get up to.
All my love,
Dadda
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