Barrett is 8

I am on a roll this year with being a bit late on my birthday posts, so I figured I'd just keep the streak alive. Barrett, you turned 8 last Wednesday. And, since we didn't want to break your streak of birthdays at the lake (this was the 4th year in a row), we figured we'd stay at the lake all week. In true form, you wanted a long boat ride for his big day. He also requested ribs for dinner and an ice cream birthday cake. And, we were able to deliver on all 3 despite the overcast weather and mommy having to work most of the afternoon.

Over the past year, you've continued to become more confident in who you are and what you really enjoy. You love being active, weather it's playing hockey, riding your bike, playing basketball, or literally just running around the yard, you still need to burn off physical energy, or you are bouncing off the walls. You were doing a great job with hockey before the stay-at-home orders went into place because of COVID. But, every time you think there is a chance you might get to skate or play hockey, you get so excited. I can tell you really miss playing. I can really tell how much you love it by how much you are missing it right now. In fact, you miss it so much and want to be so ready to play again, you've been running laps in the yard and doing squats and pushups to stay in shape.

The interim, COVID-friendly sport of choice is bike riding. You are on your bike constantly. And, up until your birthday, you had a bike that was clearly too small for you. You were always peddling twice as fast as everyone else to keep up, but you did it. You're a hard worker, and love riding so much that you didn't even seem to care. But, when we rode 15 miles on the Katy trail on Mother's Day, you were definitely exhausted at the end. I don't think your legs had ever been as sore as they were the next day.

In addition to your love of being active, you love being around and caring for the people you love. The best part of being home with you and your siblings the past 3 months has been watching the of you really bond. You and Audrey love playing games together. She tends to pick up on new games faster, but you're more patient, so as you learn, you start beating her (and she doesn't really like that).

When Audrey is doing dance or practicing music, you and Fletcher get a chance to play together.  There do tend to be a lot of fart jokes, but you also play various versions of Star Wars, army, astronauts, and other superhero shows. Oh, and hockey. You two are constantly getting in trouble for playing hockey in the living room (especially at the start of this stay at home thing before it got nice outside).  Most of the time, I don't quite understand what you are doing, but there are constant "pew pew" gun noises and costumes of some sort that go along with your play.

You're love extends to your dog too. Somethings, I wonder if Tripper actually likes all of the attention you kids give him. You're always chasing him around and playing tough of war. Just today I had to ask you to be quiet while playing with Tripper so I could hear a video chat I was on. But, I see the way he still likes to snuggle up next to you and the way he wags his tail every time you're around. so, I assume that means he does like the attention.

You are extremely creative and are always trying to engineer things. You are constantly trying to tape cardboard and other materials to your remote control cars and drones to see how much they can pull or fly (like the picture below). You still love Legos, and are especially keen on the ones that you can put motors in to make them move in some way.  You spent hours one weekend a couple of months ago trying to make a boat out of Lego blocks that would float (without cheating and using the one-piece Lego boat hull). You were determined to them put a motor on it and make it a remote control boat. You weren't able to get to a point where the blocks were buoyant enough, but I have a feeling you'll figure it out at some point.

I think what I have always loved most about you though is your huge heart. You feel deeply. You love deeply. You get really angry sometimes. But in the end, you really do want to do the right thing. You desire for fairness and justice is sometimes a challenge as a parent (because life isn't always fair), but I know it is a trait that will serve you well as you grow up. I love seeing your bashful smile (the one you have when you're proud of yourself, but your humility won't let you gloat). I love the way you work hard and push yourself, even when sometimes I wish you'd give yourself a little more grace. I love your grittiness; I never doubt that you can achieve anything you set your mind to because of it. I love being your mom and I am so thankful you are part of our family.