My dear Callum,

You are such an enthusiastic participant in life. I don’t know if it’s just a natural stage in your development or it’s related to the early pandemic years when you didn’t get to do much outside the house, but these days, you’re ready to jump into anything you can. Yesterday at Family Folk Machine, you were singing with all your little heart and doing the movements with gusto. You’re not a terribly experienced basketball player yet, but you’re trying hard and having fun with your teammates. You also decided you want to do soccer instead of baseball in the spring, so I got you signed up for that. We need to work swimming lessons into the mix at some point, too, but that probably won’t be until summer.

I got an email from your teacher this morning with an update on your progress as a second grader. She had nothing but wonderful things to say about you, both socially and academically. I was never too worried about the academic end, since you haven’t struggled in that area, but I was nervous about you adjusting to full-time school. According to Ms. Hill, you’re doing just fine. She says you participate fully in all class activities and really enjoy interacting with your classmates. That’s exactly how I hoped this school year would go for you.

Another important development: you and Tobin have taken on the challenge of trying new foods. That makes me so happy and proud. I’m glad you and Tobin can be teammates on that project, because Artemis is certainly no help there. You’ve had better experiences with some foods than others (tater tot casserole was not a big hit), but you’ve been making an effort to try all the things I put on the dinner table. Your latest challenge is that you want to go a week with no sugary drinks, the one exception being family cocktail hour on Saturday. We decided you could have special dispensation for that one, since it’s an important family bonding event.

You took a strong interest in Lunar New Year this year, probably because you learned about it at school. We made some Lunar New Year-inspired paintings together, made Chinese almond cookies, and went downtown to see the big inflatable rabbits. I think they’re related to the Year of the Rabbit celebration, so we tied the events together. You really enjoyed them, especially the interactive features. Each rabbit had a QR code that you scanned with my phone, and that launched you into a text conversation with them. You learned all their names, chatted with them, and had a good time.

We also did a few other things downtown, including a trip to the library. We haven’t spent a lot of time in the library lately, and you had fun finding the book that you’d put on hold with your very own library. You and I also watched some of a Lunar New Year presentation that was going on there while our other family members looked around at other things in the library. We ended up not staying long because it wasn’t as compelling as the lure of the enormous rabbits outside. When we described it to your dad and siblings later, I was trying to explain how a group of women were doing these slow steps and arm movements, not quite like tai chi. “It was supposed to be, like, elegant,” you said. It was pretty elegant, but it was also crowded, so we hopped like bunnies out of there.

You are so funny and witty. I feel like I burst out laughing almost every day from the funny things you say. I’m not sure how many of them are funny on purpose and how many are just funny because they come out of your little mouth, but either way, you’re a hoot.

A recent highlight:

Your current favorites: chicken wings, the Betty Birney books featuring Og the Frog, art projects, your Happy Birthday drinking glass, watching YouTube videos, playing Scratch games with Artemis, and playing card games and chess with your siblings, playing with your homemade weapons, and reading bedtime stories. Usually I read to you, but sometimes you read to me too. I don’t know how much longer you’ll want me to cuddle in bed and read to you, but I’m glad I still get to do it.

You are so much fun, and I’m so happy to have you in my life. You’re doing such a good job being eight.

Love,

Mommy