This guy. He brings so much laughter to the whole family. He really did a lot of growing up this past year! He still has his bad moments and still has his temper but it’s getting better. He more than makes up for it with his jokes, dance moves, and smiles though. He is loving and affectionate and so sweet (when he wants to be lol).

Because of the quarantine, he’s had to spend a lot more time with his sister. He drives her a little crazy at times but they are also each other’s best friends right now and I am so grateful they have each other!

He’s always been super clingy to me but amazingly enough we were able to leave him for a week for the first time ever while boyrobot and I celebrated our anniversary in Iceland. It was at that point it really hit me that he’s not a baby anymore!! He had a great time with his sister and cousins.

He started his first year of public school. We decided to put him into TK and he had a great teacher named Mrs. Hamasaki.

He also started playing flag football this year. He played in the fall and the spring (although the spring season was cut short :()

He had a lot of firsts this year including his first piano recital. I won’t post the picture showing him crying and terrified beforehand. Afterwards, he was so proud of himself and said he “loved” piano. lol. It taught me a lesson that my kids can do hard things and that I should push them to do things out of their comfort zone.

For halloween this year he was a praetorian guard from Star Wars

At school, Max is becoming quite the math geek! Here he is getting his first award for math

One of his favorite hobbies is definitely cooking or baking. He is ALWAYS asking to help! This is from when we made homemade pasta from scratch!

Birthdays in quarantine aren’t the same but we tried to make it as special as we could. His one wish was that boyrobot and I play Minecraft with him so I decorated our house with a Minecraft theme when he woke up. I can’t believe it but I totally forgot to take pictures! I created a nether portal doorway and had balloon spiders and creepers!

Luckily the beaches were open so we took him there to celebrate

Things I want to remember about him right now: his cool dance moves, his animated facial expressions, how smart he already is, his positivity, his honesty, his sweet cuddles, and his pure and unadulterated love. It’s been so special to be his mama!

Here are the answers to his birthday questions this year with my comments in parentheses.

1. What is your favorite color? silver (this is literally the first time ever I have heard him say silver is his favorite color lol)
2. What is your favorite toy? my bike
3. What is your favorite fruit? watermelon (always and forever! STILL)
4. What is your favorite tv show? Mewtwo Strikes Back
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? chicken
6. What is your favorite outfit? My fancy red, white, and blue checkered shirt that doesn’t fit me anymore
7. What is your favorite game? Roblox
8. What is your favorite snack? Blueberry puffs
9. What is your favorite animal? foxes
10. What is your favorite song? That’s going to be tricky because I have 100 something favorite songs
11. What is your favorite book? Pokemon Encyclopedia
12. Who is your best friend? Emma
13. What is your favorite cereal? The ones that have marshmallows in them
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? ride my bike
15. What is your favorite drink? water
16. What is your favorite holiday? My bday
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Mama
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? donuts
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? the blue place (Gen – a korean bbq place across the street from our house)
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? just a dad with no work (lol)