She's 8!

As you turn eight I think back over your year of being seven, wanting to take a few moments to mark the occasion. The biggest thing I will remember about your being seven is that it was the year you went from calling me primarily "Mommy" to just as often, (if not predominantly) calling me "Mom". When you were little there were times you would utter "Mom", almost like you were trying it on. You would then discard it, as if it didn't quite fit. I knew the day would come and I still treasure the "Mommy"ies that are scattered throughout your language, all too aware that they are fleeting.

You continue to be enamored by words. This year that has meant a huge increase in writing everything; lists, ideas, plans, agendas, apology notes, texts (complete with emojis) - all of this as well as stories and information text and opinion pieces. Books are still constantly around us, most recently you have checked out a Star Wars recipe book and Harry Potter, so you can read it yourself (which you sometimes read softly to yourself, outloud, with accents!)

Last summer you had a pretty typical summer, for you; Sealth, Seabeck, Hi-Liners, and camping. You also got to go to Sound View. The summer you were seven is marked by being the summer you mastered building a fire, log cabin style, on your own.

You started making lunch for our family on Fridays. This is pretty cool! You generally make sandwiches and include fruit and veggies as well as something to drink. You then clean up the kitchen.Your other chores include setting the table, clearing your place, and putting your dishes in the dishwasher throughout the day. When you help cook or bake, washing dishes in the sink comes with the territory. In order to celebrate your birthday, this week you made the brownies for Brownies and the cupcakes for your class.

With a pool outside our door (and another two to choose from, depending on the position of the sun and which friends you are going to swim with) it is no surprise you have turned into a fish. In addition to swimming around for fun or completing laps, you can also be seen diving to the bottom to retrieve anything that might find its way down there, treading water, being tossed around by Daddy or a friend's dad, swimming underwater without goggles, keeping the little ones entertained, squirting jets of water, or diving off the edge.

Christmas included a week at Whistler where you loved learning how to downhill ski. You keep telling me you are ready for another ski vacation. Spring Break was a bunch warmer than Christmas and included a few days in Bangkok before we spent a week and a half in Myanmar. You and Grandma Cathy shared a room and all four of us enjoyed the adventures. Earlier in the year we went to Ethiopia for Hajj break. You take traveling in stride and it makes planning adventures easy, so we'll keep doing it!

A stage, be it in your room by yourself, the living room with guests, or the big stage in the auditorium - they are all places you love to perform. Your love of musical theater has especially grown this year; Hamilton, A Chorus Line, Cats, The Music Man, and Carousel are your biggest favorites at the moment. You absolutely nailed your solo (with Daddy accompanying you on the piano) of "Gary Indiana" at the Talent Show on your ultimate day of being seven. Dancing is part of what you love to perform as well, and Dance Club has afforded you several opportunities throughout the year.

Exercising your creativity and design thinking have been areas you have developed this year as well. Maker Space became a thing for you and often your room (and the downstairs as often as you could get away with it) overflowed with your creations.

I love you and can't wait to see what eight brings!