Little Man is 7 Today

Dear Little Man

Well, this really isn’t the birthday I expected it to be. This year is so different to every other year as we’re spending your birthday in lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic. We’ve been at home for over 7 weeks now and life has changed massively since I wrote my last birthday letter to you.

But, the pandemic is only one part of this year, and a very recent part. No doubt I’ll talk more about it next year when I say how you kicked off being seven stuck indoors and how things panned out after that. But for now I want to do what I always do, talk about the person you’re becoming, the year you’ve had and everything we love about you. This year writing this letter is making me much more emotional than usual as it’s all those little things we’re focusing on at the moment, every tiny positive in life.

This year you started Year 2 at school, your last year of Infants and it’s strange to think that you may not go back to the infant campus, that you could finish your infant days being schooled at home.

You love school. It makes you happy. Your aim each day is to get things right, learn something new and make your teacher happy. I’m sure you succeed every single day. You know so much, soaking up information. You love space, history and knowing more about the wider world. You can read incredibly well and are amazing at maths. School and learning are some of your favourite things.

Your love of Thomas has been overtaken by other loves this year. You still won’t part with your Thomas toys and you still say how much you love Thomas and his friends but you haven’t watched Thomas on the TV in months and the majority of your beloved Take n Play toys have ended up in the loft.

Instead you love to build things. Lego is your absolute favourite and Lego Space sets have been your biggest discovery this year. You’ve also properly found Geomag and Magformers and are always building something or creating things. Paper aeroplanes, assault courses for toys or dens in your bedroom. You love to make things and your imagination knows no bounds.

You love food and have such a good appetite. There aren’t really any meals you don’t like and only refuse to eat a few things – salad leaves or onions, peppers and mushrooms if you can see them on your plate. You love pasta, love pizza and would do anything for a hotdog. One of your favourite things is a picky lunch or dinner on a blanket in front of the TV. You really can’t go wrong with a carpet picnic.

This year you lost your first teeth – four of them in fact. But, you have spent the best part of the last year with no top front teeth. We’re still waiting for them to come through and have got used to your beautiful, gappy smile. You found losing teeth hard, worrying so much and it was all just so new. There were tears and you kept each tooth in your mouth as long as possible, refusing to really wobble them or have help to get them out. Each time you lost a tooth we were so relieved and you were instantly happier.

You are still a sensitive, emotional little boy. You get upset easily, worry about things and sometimes have incredibly huge reactions to very little things. But, most of the time you are happy, carefree and so funny. You make us laugh, make us smile and give the best hugs.

You have always given fantastic cuddles and you still come and wake us up in the morning to have a cuddle in bed before we get up for the day. Those ten minutes are still my favourite time of the day and something I really miss when it doesn’t happen for whatever reason.

Your sister is still your most favourite person. You always want to spend time with her, play with her, look after her and have sleepovers with her – where you take turns to sleep in each other’s rooms. You are incredibly close, you love each other unconditionally and your relationship is getting stronger as each year passes. You have made so many memories together this year.

The last twelve months have seen you travel a lot, with so many days out as a family and a few holidays too. We went to Mauritius last summer which was the furthest any of us had ever been – and 12 hours on a plane. You tried snorkelling but were happiest just swimming or playing in the sand.

We also went to Rome, where you ate your body weight in ice cream and walked thousands of steps each day with no complaints. We had a couple of nights in Nantes at Puy du Fou too which was incredible – you loved it, especially the Vikings.

This year you have found a love of football – and got a proper football goal in the garden. You have started to love gymnastics and do pretty amazing roly polys too. This is the second year you haven’t broken any bones – much to our relief!

This year you have grown so much, in personality and size. You’ve going into age 7 clothes, are 127cm tall and noticeably taller than your sister. You have size 13 feet and are in perfect proportions. In the summer your legs go like little brown hot dogs and your hair goes blonder in the sun – it’s something that makes us smile every year.

Your best friend left school a couple of months ago which has been a big adjustment for you but you have another really close friend at school and you just seem to get on with everyone. The whole family love you, all your school friends appreciate you and the teachers love you too. You really are a wonderful and much loved little boy.

So, Little Man, today you are seven. It’s always felt like such a big age and I can’t quite believe that my baby, my youngest, is seven already. But, it’s a real joy watching you grow, seeing you learn and being there to see everything you accomplish. We love making memories with you.

The last seven years have been a whirlwind. They have been full of holidays, days out, laughter, fun and dreams. They have gone by in a blur and it feels like yesterday you came flying into the world 16 days early, unable to wait any longer. Those seven years have been amazing Little Man. You light up our life, you make us smile and you give amazing cuddles. You are a huge part of so many lives and one incredible little boy.

I promise we will celebrate your birthday properly when lockdown is over, we will invite all our friends and family over and make a day all about you. We’ll go to Legoland, we’ll get McDonalds and we will do whatever you want to do. But for now, you have us, a Sammy the Sausage Dog cake and the top gifts from your wish list. We’ll have pizza for dinner, watch a movie and build Lego until we cannot build any more. It’ll definitely be a different experience this year!

Happy Birthday Little Man. Always know just how loved you are.

Lots of love

Mummy and Daddy x