My baby is 7 now and definitely can’t be called a baby anymore!!! He also finished up Kindergarten which is so unbelievable to me as I can still remember the day we came home with him. Parenting is so bittersweet. I love seeing the person he is growing up to be but I sure do miss when they were so tiny too! Luckily Max hasn’t grown out of the “mommy is the best” phase and is still a huge mamma’s boy. ???? He’s still super skinny but his love is SO big! He is happy go lucky kid except when he loses or when he thinks someone is upset with him. He is super optimistic and everyone’s cheerleader. He LOVES math and learning facts in general. He says 80% of everything he knows is from YouTube lol.

These two are still the best of friends. Max is super supportive to his older sister and in turn Emma is like a 2nd mommy to him when I’m not around. They really take care of each other and I love seeing their relationship grow!

His favorite things to do are to go camping, stay in a hotel, or POOL TIME!

Part of the reason he loves the pool so much is because we put him in private lessons so he’s finally more comfortable in the water and getting water in his face! It’s so cool watching your kid overcome their fears and be super proud of themselves

If there’s one thing about this guy….he’s super silly and loves to make you laugh ????

This was a big year for Max…he started Kindergarten! But it was during covid :( so he started it out virtually. For most of the year his teacher was Mrs. Tanga and then for the last quarter when they went back for in person he had Mrs. Waldshmidt

I loved his Kindergarten class….all of the kids were so friendly and Max would tell me how he was friends with his whole class! For the first time ever, he made some best friends in his class too (Oliver and Andrew). :) His favorite thing to do at school was play tag and swing.

For the first time, we really didn’t dress up for Halloween since it was semi-canceled with Covid. But we did have plans for him to be a glow in the dark stick man but never got pictures of it. Here is our annual picture we take every year with our Halloween blowup lawn decoration.

We went camping in October and did tie dye shirts. Max became obsessed with his and wore it for the better part of the year ????

For actual Halloween, we spent it in Joshua Tree with friends and Max discovered he LOVES to rock scramble. So now when I look for hikes, I try to find ones where he can climb on some rocks!

Having some xmas fun with his sis

We started a new tradition this year and made wontons/dumplings for New Year’s Eve/day! One of Max’s favorite hobbies is cooking or baking.

The past year was filled with SO MANY bike and scooter rides! This one was at Newport Back Bay….a really lovely path!!

If there’s a rock…Max is climbing it ????

In the past, Max would usually cling to his sister but he really grew into himself this past year when we would hang out with our friends’ kids. This is him reunited with our family besties after a year of quarantining and Max is finally starting to play with Jackson more. It’s so cute!

We started Max in Taekwondo during quarantine and he absolutely loves it! He just passed his purple belt a few days ago!

I think Max’s favorite memory from the past year was when we visited Austin and saw his cousins. It’s his favorite place in the whole world!!!

This kid is always making funny faces and is so expressive!

Max LOVED it when we posted kittens for a weekend. This one was his favorite.

This is 6. For Emma’s 9th birthday, we turned her 9 balloon upside down ????

A day at Legoland with friends

Finally near the end of the school year they let the kids back full time! All of their desks had plexiglass and were spaced 3 ft apart.

Max really advanced in his reading and math skills this year. He started reading chapter books and doing multiplication and division (thanks to the influence of his sister!)

Since his birthday was on a Tuesday this year, he spent most of it in school and then Emma had a ballet recital in the evening. We tried to make it special by surprising him in the morning with a roomful of balloons and a birthday sign. Excuse the bed hair ????

Dear Max,

You are lucky number 7 this year! You have shown me how flexible and resilient you are with the crazy year we endured this past year during covid. I love how you are a total mamma’s boy and promised me you will be my baby forever ???? In many ways, you’ve grown so much this past year…making friends on your own and being more independent, but you still love being the baby of the family and relish the attention that we all shower you with. You still hate to lose and can turn on the tears in an instant but I’m happy you’re still willing to try and push yourself to do new things. You are sweet, loving, and thoughtful. You’re into Marvel movies, playing games on your iPad, and traveling. You are smart beyond your years and you amaze us with the facts you know and the concepts you pick up so quickly. I can’t wait to see what you will accomplish this upcoming year!

Love,

mom

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

1. What is your favorite color? white (I swear it’s a new color every year and always a surprise!)
2. What is your favorite toy? iPad
3. What is your favorite fruit? watermelon (always and forever! STILL)
4. What is your favorite tv show? Big Time Rush
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Blue place (which is the local AYCE Korean joint that he doesn’t know the name of but they have blue lights so he calls it the Blue Place ????)
6. What is your favorite outfit? Maroon, diamond shirt (replaced his tie dye shirt!)
7. What is your favorite game? Chess
8. What is your favorite snack? Mamma Chia (he ate this for snack every day for school this year and never got sick of it!)
9. What is your favorite animal? snow owl
10. What is your favorite song? Comeback Kid by New Politics
11. What is your favorite book? Harry Potter
12. Who is your best friend? Andrew
13. What is your favorite cereal? rice crisps
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? ride my dad’s electric scooter
15. What is your favorite drink? water (I had no idea he replied this last year too….I didn’t know he liked water so much?? :))
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas because I can meet my cousins and open presents
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Mommy
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? strawberry Nutella crepes
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? the blue place
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? a dad. or nothing (lol same as last year)