Seven. Seven?!? Seven seems big, seems old. I was ok with all the birthdays until after 5. Under 5 still seemed so young and sweet. I never felt that time was escaping me. But, seven. . . I am starting to catch glimpses of the man you will look like, the man you will become. You still have the sweet little face of a young child but I'll catch you in a certain light or concentrating on something and I can see the handsome glimmer of a man within the child. Or there are times, unassisted by the guidance of me or Dad, where you show great integrity or compassion and my heart swoons with pride. You are still very much a sweet, innocent, happy little boy but every year you get farther away from the constant guidance of your parents; and Dad and I are very proud of the person you are becoming.
From 6 to 7 has been a fabulous year. You are growing up but still very much our sweet little boy. You are a special, energetic, athletic, sensitive, funny, empathetic, fun, outdoorsy, creative, thoughtful, happy little guy. You light up our lives with your kind heart and boundless energy. You have a positive attitude about almost everything and you almost always choose love and kindness to deal with any issues. You continue to shower your family with unabashed love and affection. You are this amazing balance of toughness and sensitivity. You swim in the ocean in front of our house and the waves bash you into the rocks. You come out with cuts and bruises and a huge smile on your face every time. But you also feel so very deeply. A rude comment from a friend can really hurt your feelings. You get emotional in the scenes of movies where someone is hurt or dies (thank you Disney. Why does a parent need to die in EVERY SINGLE MOVIE?!?!) You hold me tight with tears in your eyes and say something like "I wish they didn't have to have this part in the movie." I agree, buddy. I totally agree. Dad and Tohi are sitting next to us, seemingly unaffected by the heart wrenching scene but you and me quietly hold hands until you feel better. I understand feeling things deeply. Me and you, kiddo, we are similar. It is a strength and a weakness at times. We support your tenderness and your toughness. We explain that it is very special to have a balance between such extremes.
You love your family. You love us so deeply and openly. I hope this never fades with age. You give us hugs and kisses and snuggles. If we let you, you would sleep in our bed every night. However, we don't and you happily sleep in your own bed most nights. But once in a while, after a midnight bathroom break you snuggle in between me and Dad and you let out a quiet sound of pure contentment, your energy saying "Ahhhhh, this feels right, juuust perfect." In fact, that was part of your birthday celebration! We let you stay up late and have dessert and watch a movie with just Dad and me and then we all went to bed together, in our bed! haha! You were in heaven.
You are an awesome big brother. Truly. You are crazy for your sisters and Conor and I have said more than a few times how fortunate we feel that you, and your kind and inclusive personality, were our first born. You include Tohi in your games and you love to swim with her. Your relationship is not always perfect but you guys are hilarious buds. You swim and wrestle and play all sorts of games together, changing the rules to make it work. You look out for her in social situations and are always kind and include her when playing with your friends. You are still crazy for our baby Frances. You sing to her and rub her feet and no one can make her laugh like you do. You are sweet and silly and just awesome. Those little girls are so lucky to have you as their older brother.
You love to swim. You are just crazy for the ocean and all that she brings to your life. You love to surf, snorkel, "spear fish" (that's in quotations because I don't think swimming around with a spear with Dad is quite "spear fishing" quite yet, but you are close!). fish, swim, boogie board, body surf, and swim some more. Lately, you and Tohi run down for an early morning swim first thing every morning. Like a fish that needs to wet his gills. Our little Pisces.
You are learning to surf. Dad and you head out to Wizards for surf mornings and I love to hear the excited reports of how awesome everything was. You usually tell me "it was a 10,000 star day." You continue to participate in Jujitsu and Taekwondo. You are learning new skills each week and it shows when you roll with the other kids in the class. You are interested in learning different techniques and growing your skill set. We talk about respect for yourself and respect for your opponent and we can tell you take that seriously and we are very proud of you for that.
You are doing great in school. Most days, we bust out the school day so we can play and swim. Lately the local kids have been swimming in front of our house almost every day and you run down and join them. You guys swim, boogie board, and body board in the big swell, crashing into the rocks like tough little island kids. Most of the kids speak only Spanish and I can tell its rapidly improving your Spanish. Nothing like playing as motivation for learning!
Oh Elwood, you are our special little guy. Our first born. You light up our lives with such love and happiness. It has been the best seven years of our lives. We couldn't ever express how much we love you. Happy Birthday, sweet boy.
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