My sweet Callum,

You’re one hundred months old now. I know non-parents laugh at how parents describe their children’s ages in months to the extent that it’s weird (e.g., “My 28-month-old knows a lot of words”). I don’t do that on a daily basis, but one benefit of writing you a monthly blog entry is that I keep track of those numerical milestones when otherwise I wouldn’t. One hundred months is a nice number to think about. So much has happened in the last one hundred months, in our family, in our world, and of course for you.

We have our Family Folk Machine tenth anniversary concert later this afternoon. You’ve been around almost as long as FFM, and you’ve been a part of it one way or another your whole life. In fact, your fetal nickname, Little Potato, was inspired by a Family Folk Machine song. Interestingly, you’re not a huge fan of potatoes. You like French fries of course, but in a meal of steak frites, you’re more likely to focus on the steak.

In preparation for the concert, I’ve been reflecting on the last decade, and you’re a huge part of that. Every kid brings something special to a family, but you’re truly an irreplaceable member of ours. You bring wit, humor, and thoughtfulness to every conversation. You are sweet and affectionate. You are tender-hearted, and you often come to me to confess minor transgressions that happened months ago. I hope they don’t stress you out too much, because some things seem to stick with you for a long time. I always assure you that I still love you, that nothing you could say or do would ever change that. I think you enjoy that reassurance, because sometimes you preface or conclude your confessions with “But you still love me, right?” The answer, of course is yes: always, yes.

One thing I appreciate you is your ability to be equally comfortable on your own or in a group. You had a doctor’s appointment last week, and your dad and I took you out to lunch afterward. The restaurant we went to has a nice playground nearby, so we stopped there before heading home. At the playground, you played happily by yourself for a while, but when you happened upon another kid around your age, you engaged with him happily and naturally. School has been great for you in that way. I was never terribly worried about your social development, since you’ve grown up with siblings and neighborhood friends, but two years of online school does have its drawbacks. I am so happy that the school year has gone well and you’ve developed good friendships and socialization skills.

The academic side has been going very well too. The annual school spelling bee is coming up after a several-year hiatus, and you’ve been doing a good job studying in preparation. Your teacher gives glowing reports about your work in the classroom so far. We’re still waiting on the results of a standardized test that will determine whether you will be in ELP next year. I hope you’re able to do that, because you’ve really enjoyed your enrichment class (a pre-ELP special class for kids whose teachers recommend them). In any case, you approach school with an attitude of fun, focus, and dedication. I love that it’s been a good experience for you and hope that remains the case for the rest of your education.

You have a fairly big medical procedure coming up next week, at least by eight-year-old standards: an upper and lower endoscopy (aka colonoscopy). You’ve been having some GI problems for quite a while, and the doctors have noticed that your weight has flattened out. We’ve tried a few strategies already, like eliminating certain food groups, adding probiotics to your diet, and adjusting your fiber levels, but nothing seems to have made much of an impact. We want to figure out what’s going on in there in order to learn the best way to take care of you and make sure you’re absorbing all your nutrients. You have enough people in your life who’ve been through it that you’ve gotten a lot of reassurance, but you’re not thoroughly enjoying the preparation process. I hope at this time next month I can update with more specific information about how we’re moving forward. It’s going to get worse before it gets better, but we have access to a great team of doctors who are dedicated to helping you. Plus, you get unlimited popsicles the day before the procedure.

Your current favorites: watching Scooby Doo with Tobin, chicken wings, steak, playing baseball and soccer, playing the new Zelda video game, the Humphrey book series, school, wearing mittens and shadowboxing, our cozy bedtime rituals, cocktail hour on the balcony, and playing with friends. Your allergies are sure to get wild any day now, but so far they haven’t been too terrible, so we’ve been able to enjoy spring a little more than usual. You’re also doing a lot better with getting your special anti-allergen eye drops than you were in previous years. That helps a lot.

Your body brings some challenges, but you’re such a sweet and smart little guy, I know we can find solutions and strategies. Thank you for your continued cooperation and all the joy you bring to our home. I love you so much.

Love,

Mommy