My Sweet Mikey Pie –

This is not how we pictured your big seventh birthday buddy. We were going to have friends and family to your favorite swim school to hang out, eat ice cream and swim. There would be Titanic decorations (that part I am not sad about – there are not many decorations celebrating the Titanic) and laughter.

Instead, we are limited thanks to a global pandemic. Daddy and I are going to try to make this birthday fun and we know you will take it in stride, like you always do, but man. It stinks. We hope you look forward to presents, ice cream birthday wishes over Zoom and, if the weather cooperates, a trip to Matapeake to get in the bay. You only turn 7 once!

It’s been an interesting year to say the least, Covid or not!

{Titanic} You spent a good part of the year obsessed with the Titanic. I think we’ve seen every documentary about it and read every book. For Christmas ‘you’ got a Lego Titanic and we didn’t realize it was teeny tiny Legos. Daddy painstakingly put it together, basically with tweezers, over the course of a week. Six months later we still threaten you within an inch of your life not to take it apart.

{Monster Jam} In March we went to your first Monster Jam. It was a little anxiety provoking at first because we were really high up and it was loud, but once the action started you were all in and frankly, never looked back. Ever since you have collected the diecast models, watched YouTube videos, ask everyone their favorite truck/stunt/driver, played the game for countless hours on your Nintendo Switch, and probably dreamed about it.

{School} We all absolutely loved your 1st grade teacher. She was so reassuring and helpful for everyone and really was patient with you. We were so lucky to have her during the e-learning experience. Speaking of … you did pretty well with that! It was a bit of a curve ball for everyone and we made it work. Your reading has come a LONG way, even if you say you don’t enjoy it. I firmly believe you just haven’t found the right book yet.

{Adventures} We had a bunch of adventures this year. We had a mini-beach vacation to Bethany Beach with our family – including Uncle Ken and Aunt Linda which was so much fun. We also explored Mommy’s old vacation spot Frontier Town. We loved seeing you hang out with your cousins on the sand like Daddy used to do with his cousins. We followed that trip by our family vacation to Ocean City for a week which was much needed. Grandma and Grandpa gifted you a ticket to the Polar Express in Baltimore and it was a really unique experience. Your first train ride AND it was to the North Pole!

{Hannah} Another little change was I spent much of your 7th year pregnant with your baby sister, Hannah! It’s been a journey and you’ve been there the whole way. You’ve asked great questions and seem really excited to FINALLY be a big brother. Just a few more weeks before you can put your superior baby holding skills into action.

{The Extras} You still aren’t much of a team sports guy, but you still managed to stay busy with extra activities, even if they were cut short with Covid. You continued swimming lessons and even though you told us many times, and spent lots of time stressing about it – you did NOT want to get your face under the water. But when it came time to do it, you didn’t hesitate. You also really enjoyed your art class with your friend and hip hop dance class.

Bug, you are a light and a joy. We love you so much and are so proud of you. Happy 7th birthday!

Love always,

Momma xoxo