Carson's 7th birthday!

Carson, you're SEVEN?! How is this possible?! At the absolute most, you should be turning five in my mind! You're no longer a baby or even a little kid; you're this big, mature, wise-beyond-your-years kid.

Literally just about every single day since Sawyer's birthday back in July, you have come up with ideas for your birthday. "Mom, can we do ______ on my birthday?" Present ideas, meals, activities... You came up with them all! In fact, you came up with enough to fill up your next hundred birthdays! 

I did my best to fit in as many of your requests as possible. :-) For breakfast, We had sprinkle pancakes. For lunch, we did egg pancakes and sausage. And for dinner, also following your request, we got Culver's and root beer floats. 

Daddy had to work this morning, so we did presents right away when you got up. I actually woke up first, before my alarm, because I hardly slept last night I was so excited for you! I kept waking up all night, checking my alarm clock to see what time it was!

The first present we gave you was a candy cake. Not a cake with candy in it... But literally a bunch of your favorite candies stacked together like a birthday cake! I got the idea from you in a way because you told me a while back that you didn't want a birthday cake; you just wanted a lot of candy! You and Sawyer were ecstatic to say the least!

Grandma took you birthday shopping yesterday, which she is always sweet enough to do for the grandkids. Part way into your drive, you basically asked if Sawyer could come with you guys. I'm always touched by your thoughtfulness of thinking about Sawyer and his feelings, even on a day meant just for you. You ended up picking out a boomerang and some cool little rocks, and you picked out a little pencil sharpener for Sawyer.

Anyway, back to this morning, you and your brother had a blast opening presents! It's kind of become a little tradition to buy a few small things (mostly gum haha!) for both you and your brother on birthdays and such. You and Sawyer were super pumped about the gum varieties I picked out, and it definitely showed in your facial expressions! You also got a nice water bottle, rescue bot transformers, and a magnetic dart board that I think Daddy and I are more excited about than you! Haha! We also got you Sonic Team Racing, a race car video game you've been asking for for your birthday for months.  Daddy and I love it too because it's reminiscent of Super Mario Kart, a racing game we played together when we were first married living with Grandma and Grandpa. 

We skipped school for the day, saving it for Saturday...so we spent the morning playing with your new things. And after lunch, we went to your sports class at the YMCA, where you guys played field hockey. I am always in awe of how quickly you and Sawyer pick up on sports and how competitive and determined you two are on winning! Maybe I shouldn't be surprised by the competitive part, but I can't imagine playing any sport as aggressively and wholeheartedly as the two of you do!

One of your other birthday requests was that you get to spend it at Isaac's house, so that's where we headed next! And since it's science Wednesday and you've been asking to do it on your birthday for weeks now, we also did the diet Coke and mentos experiment! It worked pretty well, and you guys loved it! The expressions on your faces from the pictures Katie took are priceless.

Before you knew about the candy cake, you had asked if you could take chocolate chip cookies over to Isaac's. So, in addition to lots of candy, there were also lots of cookies. The result was some very crazed children! You included!

After Isaac's house, we got our Culver's dinner. Once I had ordered the food, you started talking about how you didn't want a root beer float because you wanted to get more candy for our game night later with Daddy. I was a little quiet the ride home because of the situation, and when we got to the driveway, I looked back to see your head hung low. I asked what was bothering you, and you almost tearfully replied, "I was just being really ungrateful for you getting me Culver's for dinner." My little heart exploded for your genuine remorse, and we talked about how it was okay and how I was really proud of you for recognizing your own misbehavior. This is one of the areas you have matured beyond your years. You are so cognizant of mistakes you make and things you end up doing to correct it. 

When Daddy got home, we did our game night... Full of Sonic racing, and it was the best. :-)  Snuggling you tight in bed tonight, you were so appreciative of everything I did today. You and Sawyer both did such an amazing job being thoughtful of each other's feelings today, and most especially your mom's feelings today. Anytime either one of you started to bicker with the other, you guys stopped the issue on your own and found a solution.  And anytime you guys were about to ask me something or maybe say something that would be a little hurtful or frustrating to me, you again stopped yourself. Even something as simple as stopping yourself from asking your never ending question of, "What are we going to do tomorrow?"

My sweet Carson, you have grown up in so many ways! For starters, you've lost FIVE teeth now, and it makes you look SO much older! You lost your very first tooth way back on December 3, 2019 ... and it was quite literally so! ... You literally couldn't find the tooth you lost at school during lunch!

You are an absolute fish in the water. On February 29th, 2020, You swam half the length of the pool at the YMCA all by yourself! And by the end of summer, you were diving off the dock, swimming out a little bit, turning around and swimming back to shore! Right now in fact, you and Sawyer are taking swimming lessons from Levi at the Y. You are eager and excited every time, and you are fearless with what Levi asks you to do!! Last week, when Levi had you swim the length of the pool with flippers and a kick board, you decided all on your own that you wanted to do it WITHOUT the kickboard! You swam back and forth the length of the pool several times like that!

You started writing a bike without training wheels back on April 26th, and you've since mastered some intense speed that freaks me out a little bit!

Carson, you are naturally so good with little children. You've always been good with Sawyer, but even with friends like little Hudson and little Finn, you are always so gentle. You're always mindful of when they might need some help or of things you can do to cheer them up. I love how you even bend down to talk to them at their level. It absolutely melts my heart how tender you are.

You are so incredibly smart and hard-working, and that has become even more evident since starting our own homeschool for this year. Your math skills especially blow my mind!

And anytime something happens and I am sad, I can almost always find you cleaning something in the house to help me feel better. Sometimes it's the dishes, sometimes you're sweeping, or sometimes wiping down doors and cabinets. One day you told me how you actually really like to clean because it's fun and you also like to do things to make it easier on me. Oh, how I love you, my sweet boy!

Sometimes at night when we snuggle, you scratch my back... Especially if you know my back is hurting. Sometimes you wake me up in the morning by gently kissing the tip of my nose. Sometimes you still say words in a really cute way... Like calling a spare in bowling a "sparrow." Sometimes you call peppermint ice cream "pepper ice cream."

But always, you are the sweetest, most loving little boy. You always tell me that it's okay when I make a mistake because everyone makes mistakes. You always forgive me when I mess up as a mom. You always bring a smile to my face and the faces of everyone around you. You always are a good friend... to everyone. You are always quick to apologize when you realize you've made a mistake, and you are honestly always trying to do better today than the day before. 

Carson, you always have my heart. My whole heart. You always have me and your daddy and so many others who love you so much. Happy 7th birthday my sweet little boy!