Sloan,
As the month of August began, you were well aware it was your birthday month and you were bursting at the seams to get to celebrate. One day in early August I was taking a picture of you with your sisters, and then you said, "And now just me, because it's August, and it will be my birthday." You are a boy who loves to celebrate, and so it makes sense that as your seventh birthday inched closer you were just so excited.
This was a HUGE year of growth for you, not just physically but in so many ways. You completed a whole entire year of regular school, and you LOVED it. You truly enjoyed your days with your classmates and teacher, and you grew in your patience and listening as little rambunctious boys often do when they hit the school days. You made a lot of new friends as well, and you continued to be a good friend to those around you. Kindergarten is also always fun because by then end you are learning how to put letters together and enjoy the magic of reading. You have always loved, and still love, to sit and listen to stories-- whether that is your dad telling you bedtime stories (his are the best!), or me reading you book after book, or listening to The Chronicles of Narnia on your Yoto player-- whatever form it takes, you LOVE stories. Because of that, I just know that once reading really and truly "clicks" for you, you aren't going to be able to get enough of it! At the end of the school year they held a little Kindergarten graduation. When it was your turn to come to the mic you said: "I want to rise up for Jesus by being a race car driver and an Olympic gymnast. My favorite part of Kindergarten was my friends, my teachers, PE, Chapel...and that's it." You have never tried gymnastics, but this has remained steady on your list for awhile :)
If anyone ever comments about seeing you around school or church or anywhere, there general comment is, "I don't think I've EVER seen that boy NOT happy!" As your parents we do get to occasionally see you sad or upset about something, but it is SUCH a rare occasion. You truly are our "joy machine" and we can't imagine our days without your consistent exuberance for life or your ability to wake up happy every single day. And while you definitely have an ENERGY for life, you are a cautious boy, too. You love to run and play and move constantly, but you are always aware of your surroundings and don't like to push boundaries that feel unsafe. I think this is a great trait to have. Because of this, you were slow to master your bike. But finally this summer we took you to a parking lot and kept pushing you to try again and again until you felt confident you weren't going to fall. Once your initial nerves passed you took that parking lot by storm. It was funny because the other day I mentioned that experience, saying something about you being nervous so we took you to the parking lot to "learn to ride your bike." You very quickly and very confidently said, "I already knew how to ride my bike." You did, but you needed a few more reps for confidence on your own, and I think it is funny that you reframed that event in your mind to us just taking you there for fun ;)
Because you learned how to ride your bike, you decided to do the triathlon with your sisters this summer. We actually tried a new one in a small town by us. You were really excited and you did such a great job on the swim (you are a very strong swimmer!), and unfortunately part of the bike portion had gravel, and we hadn't really practiced on any gravel and you wiped out. You got a pretty big cut on your knee, and once I got to you, you were pretty sad. So we walked down to the track where the end of the race was, and you decided to walk across the finish line with me, and we talked about how I was like Lightning McQueen helping The King. I was so sad you didn't get experience the pride of doing the whole thing that you had been so excited about, but I'll never forget that moment, holding your hand while you still had your helmet on and walking you to the finish line.
You still stay the funniest things and keep us laughing. One day you hadn't played outside yet, and so I told you you needed to go outside and you retorted, "I was outside for, like, 5 clocks yesterday!" You also informed me that, while you love school, that "school day is a lot longer than church day." I have to say I agree with you-- the weekends sure have a way of flying by, buddy! Once in the car you were looking at a book of Presidents, and you said, "Have there been any girl presidents?" I told you there hadn't been and then I asked if you thought there should be girl presidents. I honestly didn't know what you might say, given that you live with three older sisters who like to lead you pretty fiercely. But you thought about it for awhile and then said, "No." I asked you why and you said, "Boys are more serious." I just had to laugh; of all the things you could have reasoned, seriousness was not the one I would have thought you'd land on! You can also still just be the sweetest and most thoughtful. One night your dad was putting you to bed and you put your hand on his chest and said, "Hey Dad... thank you for everything you've done for me." What an incredibly sweet thing for a 6 year old to think, notice, and say out loud to his dad.
Speaking of sweet: Sloan, you have the sweetest heart inside you. You know that I love sea turtles, and when you had a special shopping day with Nana the very first thing you asked her if you could buy was a little miniature sea turtle figurine for me. You were so excited to give it to me, and I keep it on my desk at school to remind me of you throughout the day. You named him "Seven," since you are seven it would help me remember you :). You love spending time with your people-- you love any time your sisters give you their attention, but you especially love when Dad plays with you. This usually involved some sort of jumping off of furniture, or "Ninja Warrior" moves, but he is the best and is happy to oblige you even it means getting down on the floor again and playing cars again. You also want to go hunting with Papa, but have decided you don't want to shoot a deer, but rather CATCH a squirrel. If anyone could do it, it might be you.
When we moved you were such a joy and ballast for us all in the midst of the change. You reminded us that as long as we were with one another, we were home. It's funny to think that it's the youngest in our family, but I do think you are glue for us, loving us each in your confident and special way, always pulling us back towards fun. You told me the other day that you really want to go to Jerusalem and see all the places that Jesus was when he was alive. What a dream that would be, to get to make that trip happen for you one day. I love your little heart, and when I told your teacher this year that I hope you grow in your love for Jesus, she said you already have such a passionate love for him that she can see. And it's true. I just have a feeling you're going to light up the world for him in big ways.
As always: your dad and I hope you understand the why behind our no-s. We hope you feel safe in the boundaries we set. We hope you feel freedom in the wide open places we lave for you. We hope you see God in our actions and words. We hope when you leave our little home for good and go out on your own that you'll look back on this simple little life we had together-- chaos and mistakes and messes and all-- and see that it was grace that held us together; that yousee that it was God's daily bread that provided it all.
Happy seventh birthday, Sloan Lee! We will always come for you, and there is nothing you could ever do to make us stop loving you!
