Birthday Interview
Age: 7
Height: 3 feet, 10.75 inches
Weight: 49 lbs, 3 oz
(Measurements are approximate; due to the coronavirus his well visit was cancelled so we had to take his measurements at home)
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| Coronavirus also meant we didn't get to have the family birthday party that we normally would have, but as a plus we were able to spend the weekend at the lake cabin because everything else was cancelled |
What is your favorite animal? Zebra (this answer, however, has been different every year. I guess he hasn't officially settled into a true "favorite" animal yet!)
What is your favorite book? Elephant and Piggie (no judgement here. While the reading level is definitely on the easy side, the books are awesome)
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| Celebrating 100 days of first grade! |
What is your favorite sport? Football (this has also been a fairly consistent answer... Hopefully his interest remains in watching football and playing with his brothers because I'm not sure I actually want him to play competitive football)
What is your favorite thing to do with Mom? Go outside (aka his favorite thing is when Mom gives him permission to go outside)
What is your favorite thing to do with Dad? Play soccer
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| The boys got soccer goals for Christmas, and one weekend during quarantine Uncle Mike let them into the Avera Sports Dome to play. They were in heaven |
Where is your favorite place to go? Bowling alley
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| It's not the bowling alley, but when "bowling" showed up as an at-home gym assignment during quarantine, I knew we would have no issue getting that accomplished. Connor may have gotten this set for his birthday but his brothers play it just as much as he does |
What is your favorite vegetable? Carrots (this answer has also stayed the same, which kind of surprises me because he eats all vegetables really well so I would not have expected him to have a favorite three years running)
What is your favorite cereal? Marshmallow Treasures
What is your favorite treat? Hershey's
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| Hershey's was also his favorite last year, and I can only assume that it's a favorite because it's the chocolate we have in s'mores. I can't really think of any other time when he would have had Hershey's |
What makes you happy? Getting outside
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| And--unfortunately for Mommy, the getting outside is not limited to nice weather. Thanks to school and going out for recess in all weather, this kid (and his brothers) have learned to enjoy playing in the snow. I, however, do not enjoy it or the work required to get the boys ready to play outside. But I suppose I'll take this over them wanting to watch TV and play video games all day.... |
Who are your best friends? Kason and Oriya
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| These names are not new, but what is new is that Kason and Oriya have moved to New Jersey (cue all the tears). However, shortly after the coronavirus stuff started, they came back to their house in Sioux Falls to distance themselves from the New York "hot spot" (long story short--the move was originally temporary, so they were just renting, but they've decided to stay out there permanently). While we haven't been able to play with them (because #quarantine), they did come over and chalk the driveway for William's birthday, which was super fun |
What was your favorite part about last year? Going to the beach
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| I refuse to accept that the beach trip may not happen this year. I refuse to give up hope |
Well, like I said, the Coronavirus will definitely be a defining moment of this past year--especially in a "big picture" perspective. But he's had plenty of other big events this year, even if they are only just big to him. He lost his first tooth last fall (one of the bottom middle ones; he lost the other bottom middle a few months later), and I don't have any good pictures of him with a gap-toothed smile because he never had a gap. The adult tooth grew in behind the baby tooth, and by the time the baby tooth was out the adult tooth was pretty much all the way in. This was also the year he learned how to play the piano--not necessarily the right way, but he does a pretty decent job nonetheless. It all started around Christmas when he tried to copy Mommy and play "Joy to the World" on the piano (pretty much the only song I knew). That progressed into Daddy getting his hymnal out and showing William other songs and giving him a rough intro on reading music, but for the most part he stuck to songs he knew that he could "hear" if he was playing the correctly. From there we bought him a "teaching" book that has stickers for the keys, and the rest, as they say, is history. He blew through the songs in that book pretty quickly and even learned the music for the "Holden Evening Prayer" service that our church does for Lent after we printed it out for him (by his insistence, of course). I don't know if it will amount to anything long term, and honestly, he makes reading music and notes a mathematical thing (they all have numbers, not letters, to him, which definitely won't translate well to more complex pieces), but I'm going to enjoy it for every minute that it does last.
And now, just for fun, a little bit of a picture dump with a few other fun things about the past year!
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| He moved up to the all-day camp at the YMCA summer camp, and he loved it! He admitted that he usually avoids the camp photographer when he's out taking pictures (stinker!) but the photographer still managed to snag this one |
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| This kid is a fish. Lake or ocean, he loves the water and is constantly swimming |
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| William is seriously about as left-brained as they come (which is why I'm going to encourage the piano playing--even if he does make it mathematical--for as long as I can). When he discovered Lincoln Logs this summer, he was only interested in building the houses they had pictured on the container. And when I (mistakenly) commented that we could probably find directions for more buildings online, he immediately insisted that we print a handful of them out. He is like this for everything that is a "building" toy--Legos, Magnatiles, etc--he plays best with the toy when he has specific directions to follow and generally loses interest quickly if he has to just free-build with the pieces (which I think is part of the reason he loves puzzles so much--the "directions" for completing them are very systematic and precise!) |
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| William's school had a skate night in the fall, and this was the first time he had been on roller skates. He fell down soooo many times, but always got back up with a smile on his face. I was so proud of how determined he was to learn how to roller skate, and even though I wouldn't say he had it all figured out by the end of the night, he didn't give up or get discouraged once! |
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| For the most part, William is an amazingly patient big brother. He certainly has his moments with Garrett, but with Connor (and now Matthew) he is almost always helpful, understanding, and willing to sacrifice something of his own for them (and this is also true for his younger cousins). I think the biggest issue with Garrett is that they are almost too close in age--William sees him as more of an equal than a "younger" brother, and as such doesn't always treat Garrett with as much compassion as he does the younger two. |
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| See above caption. This may be one of my favorite things to have come out of this quarantine--William has gotten so much time with Matthew at this young age that he wouldn't have gotten if he had been in school, and I'm so excited for what that will mean down the road for their relationship |
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| #quarantinememories |
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| We love you handsome boy! It's been a big year, and while I certainly hope we don't have to deal with a repeat of all this coronavirus stuff, I know that as you grow every year will continue to be "big" for their own unique and wonderful reasons! |
