Everett is 7!

{February 19th}

Our little peanut keeps growing up and just turned 7 years old!

We got to celebrate with Mimi and Papa at a birthday dinner at Maggiano's on his actual birthday.  And then we got to do a little friend party at the house with some friends from school.  Parties were hard for this winter baby- I didn't want to go anywhere that required the boys to wear masks so we were limited.  But he had fun just playing and it was a win!

We also surprised him with a night at the Gaylord which was also a hit.  So fun to celebrate and swim.  He even got brave and decided to go down the slides on his own for the first time- loved it!

He continues to be our sweet and sour kid and is the biggest lover and biggest fighter of the 3.  Overall his temperament continues to mellow and we continue to learn what sets him off.  We still think he has anxiety in certain situations (as well as some sensory triggers) and definitely does better when he gets lots of sleep.  He hates to be embarrassed or in situations where he thinks he will embarrassed and we are still working on cooling down on his own when he gets fired up.  

He still only wears athletic shorts and hoodies and refuses any kind of pants or jacket.  He will wear a ski coat/ski pants when he goes to play in the snow, but that's it.  We had a freak cold spell this year around his birthday and it got down to -23 degrees for a few days.  This buddy stayed strong and still wore shorts and a hoodie every single day.  For the most part we've given up the battle and just go with it.

He was my best eater as a baby and a toddler and continues to be my most picky eater now.  He refuses to eat cheese and any kind of meat (except McDonald's cheeseburgers). He will only eat pasta plain- no sauces or any kind of pasta dish.  Basically he eats fruits, veggies and carbs....which, I suppose it could be worse.  We can usually get him to eat a hard boiled egg or a protein drink with dinner and keep hoping he will outgrow this too.  We don't really fight it at home but its really hard to go out to eat a restaurant (as he usually won't eat anything on the menu) and he has anxiety around eating situations on his own because he doesn't like so much.

He loves school and is having such a great year so far!  We love his teacher (Braxton had her in 1st grade too) and besides a few hard mornings the first half of the year, he's been doing good.  He pushed back on reading at home a lot in the beginning and has also gotten more willing, but its still a battle some nights.  He just isn't as confident and self motivated with reading as Braxton was at this age.

He did so great skiing this year and we are so bummed we could only go two times.  COVID restrictions and a big project at Brian's job made it really hard to get up this year and I think he would have totally taken off if we could have made it up more.  Excited to watch him next year!

He's lost 4 teeth total this last year, and just lost his 2 front teeth in the last couple of months so we are loving his little toothless smile.

He is so creative and loves all things arts and crafts.  

He loves to ride his bike and has really built up his stamina.  Brian's been taking the bigger boys on longer rides so we can hopefully start riding to school and the other neighborhood pool this summer.  We've also given him more freedom to ride around our neighborhood loop on his own to go play with friends.

He continues to be my most snuggly boy and still loves a good cuddle session!  He's the best sleeper and goes to bed the easiest (a lot of time self selects and asks to go to bed).  He also loves to veg out and just watch movies more than my other two and always always always has to have popcorn while he watches. (his snack of choice!)