Dear Little Man the Elder,
I was supposed to write this almost a week ago on the eve of your 7th birthday, but things have been a little crazy. So here I am writing this a week after you turned 7. You will forgive me I am sure when you look back at what the last couple of weeks have been like for our family that you will understand the delay.
So how was six? For all the rough of 5, 6 was a much smoother year. We watched you mature in so many ways. Even if it is not your favorite, you are trying harder in school, and we are seeing your desire to help those around you begin to bloom. You seemed to have an easier time making and keeping friends this year as well. We also began to see lots of success of you catching up what you were missing from kinder.
We know that your increased success this year was due to two people, Mrs. R and Mrs. H. Without them, I am not sure what we would have done. Mrs. R was the most amazing first grade teacher for you to have. She was just the right mix of loving and structured you needed. She helped you overcome some hurtles, and she was a big advocate to helping us get your needs identified. Mrs. H worked with you to find out what worked for you, and she had the same combo of loving and structure you needed. She and Ms. P were so good at getting you to stay on track and show your true potential.
Six is the year we finally found out what was going on in your head. In November after extensive testing, we learned you were Autistic. You are considered to be in at a high function level, and it was hard to diagnosis because you are so highly verbal. Once we knew this, a lot of things clicked into place, and we started to see you progress more in school when we started working from a different perspective. We still have a long way to go with working on this, but we at least feel like we have a hold on things a bit more.
You continued on doing dance, but we switched from ninja class and swimming to cub scouts. You found your new passion with this. You were so proud to wear your uniform the first time, and it was exciting for you to do acts of service. You learned so much from this avenue. I think your favorite events would be a tie between your first camping trip and pinewood derby. You were so excited to get second out of the Tiger cars. You cannot wait until the new session starts to learn all about being a Wolf. You also got your first taste at theater this summer with a camp. You got to be a baby hyena in Lion King Kids. You did a great job considering you were out the first two days of camp with strep. It was an experience to say the least, and I am pretty sure this bug has bitten you since you have asked to do more already.
Daddy and I finally caved a bit on what we let you watch, and you got to finally see the MCU from start to finish just in time to see "Avengers: Endgame" come out. You are nuts for the Avengers now, and we even had an Avengers birthday party with a special guest appearance by your favorite, Captain America. You were so over the moon. Not that this has stopped your love for Ninjago; I think we have seen all the sessions at least 3 times between the time you turned 6 and 7. You also discovered Percy Jackson this fall, and we have been making our way through the first and second book series on the way to and from school. However, HP is still a major contender. Daddy and you have been steadily working through book 5 over the last couple of months.
The first big change this year was moving from the home you had known since birth. Since we were expanding our family, we needed more space. We ended up in a house that is almost 1000 sq. feet bigger than our first home! We live in a neighborhood where you have access to not only parks but also swimming pools which you love. There is a great family with four kiddos across that street that are enjoying to get to know. All you asked for was we get a house with stairs, and you got your wish. Added bonus is the stairs equalled the perfect HP closet for play once we get it all set up. Your new room is so big that you can fit your bedroom furniture and a couch in it! We also have a whole landing on the second floor that you use a playroom. Somehow with all that space, toys still manage to migrate downstairs though.
Year six was a year of travel for you. We went back to Disney in October for a short trip. We had so much fun at the Halloween Party as a family, and you were finally tall enough to ride one of my favorite rides Space Mountain. You loved it so much especially riding it in the dark. We originally were going to surprise you with this trip, but we told you about two weeks beforehand because we had to cancel the Disneyland trip you knew about. We originally thought you would want to go to Animal Kingdom since we spent so little time, but you were wanted the Magic Kingdom. This time you were more interested in the rides than characters, and we only meet Baymax. You were really brave and tried lots of new foods at the Food and Wine Fest. In November, we took a trip to California because we had a wedding to attend. You got to put your feet in the ocean for the first time, and you are definitely becoming a pro at planes. In December, we did a staycation for my birthday at a local hotel, and now you are in love with hotels. I think we have spoiled you a bit much on them because you are like we must stay in hotels now. We had hoped for a trip to the coast, but we may have to stick with another staycation.
In February, we had such a big change in our family when we welcomed Mr. L to the house which is why you are now dubbed Little Man the Elder. We had been a waiting family for 9 months, and we always expected a baby from the start. You ended up with a toddler brother, so some of the adjustment things came earlier than expected for you. You have done so well though. It is hard to go from being just the three to having a fourth who takes lots of time. You have weathered it as best could be hand, but there have definitely been some growing pains to say the least. I get this transition more than Daddy at times because I have been there. You and I have become very close over the last couples of months since Mr. L leans more toward Daddy. You have your moments, but you are such loving big brother. It warms my heart to see you get a chance to do this since you have wanted it so long.
I feel bad ending this on a more somber note, but I know I need to add this part so later you know how much you meant to her. My letter was so delayed because your beloved great-grandma M has been very sick. It all started in February with her heart stuff, but it has progressed to her kidneys. At the end of May, she spent a long stay in the hospital, but she was released with everything being okay. Unfortunately, she went right back in, and on your birthday, we had to arrange for her to enter hospice. It is a long slow process, and this is the first death you will remember and impact you. We had to have that talk, and you are handling in your own way. You were so brave to go visit to make sure she knew you loved her. I put this here not to spotlight your brave but also remind you how much she loved you. She talks about you constantly when I am there, and she has your pictures to look at. There is no time line when things will stop for her right now, but I know she is said to have missed special moments already for you. I know you will keep her alive in your heart always, and you will need support to help you get through this hard start to 7.
It is time to close this all out. I think I rambled a bit more than normal, and there seems a lot of icky here. However, I know you will overcome as you always have. While it has been rough to start, I am sure 7 will turn out to be as amazing as 6.
Love, Mommy
