Now You Are Eight

Dear Bruiser,

What a year you’ve had!

It’s safe to say that seven has been your best year yet. 365 days ago, you were still a little boy. Today, you’re a big one.

This time last year, you were still showing up in our room every morning at four a-m, whispering, “Can I sleep with you guys?” and crawling in bed between us. You couldn’t stand to be in a room without one of us present– Any time you found yourself alone, you’d shout, “I love you!” every two or three minutes and wait for your dad or me to answer back, just making sure, I guess, that we hadn’t somehow disappeared into thin air. You cried when you got hurt physically or emotionally, loudly and with gusto- I knew you did it mostly to get in some cuddle time. You are my Last One and I didn’t mind complying.

These days, you almost never show up in our room in the middle of the night (and while your dad and I would have never thought we’d say this after all those early morning kicks and shoves and head butts from your rowdy sleeping self–WE MISS YOU). You fight to hold back your tears in front of others and no longer want that comforting hug from mom- You told me not long ago with a long, shuddering sigh that you were just “trying to be a Man Up.” You’re more independent now, too, playing alone in your room when you wake up too early, and unafraid to explore our little street all by yourself.

We had so many wonderful experiences together when you were seven, Bruiser, and I hope you remember at least some of them when you’re older.

We visited Fall Creek Falls State Park and spent the weekend hiking, biking, and feasting on a very memorable dinner of Spam and crackers from the general store after we arrived too late for the dining hall.

 

We went to St. Louis, where you rode a camel at Grant’s Farm, stood beneath The Arch, and visited the truly terrifying City Museum.

 

Back in Tennessee, we made our annual pilgrimage to Blueberries on the Buffalo for  berry picking and catfish feeding.

 

We went to Churchill Downs and watched the horses race.

 You sang with me at church on Mother’s Day, on stage! In front of everyone! This pretty much made my year.

 

We spent a weekend in downtown Atlanta and got a behind-the-scenes tour of the Georgia Aquarium.

 

We went back to the beach for what could only be called The Year of the Ferrier Family’s Body Surfing Obsession.

 

You did lots of crazy experiments at Science Camp, learned Karate at Camp All America, and got to shoot a real rifle and fire a cannon at Civil War Camp.  At the end of that week, you were very pleased that you had “only died three times!” while you were there.

 

Seven wasn’t all fun and games. You paid your first (and let’s hope last!) visit to the emergency room for stitches after getting a little too excited while cutting up a pork chop at your grandparents’ house. Long after the wound had healed, you introduced yourself to anyone new with the words, “I got stitches in my thumb.” Because of course.

 

You began your first year of elementary school without your sister. I worried you’d have trouble adjusting to being without her, but honestly, you did great. You have an amazing “guy teacher” just out of college who gets you, and a little pack of classroom friends and you don’t even seem to mind the fact that your sister only has to go to school two days a week now. You’re having fun, and learning a lot in the process.

 

At seven, you and your sister became closer than ever, bonding over shared interests like Pokemon and Skylander and LEGOs. I love this picture of one of the many mornings when you both dressed up as Pokemon trainers and spent hours playing the elaborate game you created together.

 

We went to Camp NaCoMe together for the first time and you and your sister absolutely LOVED it. You and the other kids from our church had the run of the place, and you reveled in your freedom. We can’t wait to go back.

 

We spent an amazing week at Walt Disney World and Universal Studios. It rained and rained and and then rained some more, but we didn’t let that get us down!

 

We went to the Great Smoky Mountains for an incredible weekend riding horses, flying in a helicopter, and playing in our hotel’s indoor water park. You had a ball.

 

We made several trips to Chattanooga to visit your sisters. After six years of having kids in college there, this city really feels like our second home!

 

We visited French Lick Resort and had yet another fantastic trip together. Our favorite part was beating Dad and your sister at bowling. Heh.

 

You joined a basketball team and discovered a sport you love. We had so much fun watching you play this season and can’t wait for next year!

 

You got to see lots of great live shows this year, like Peter and the Wolf and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. But your favorite by far was The Blue Man Group. You LOVED The Blue Man Group. Seeing the joy on your face as you watched the show was a moment I’ll never forget.

 

Your seventh year ended with ten snow days in three weeks, as Nashville was covered in wave after wave of snow and ice. You had a great time sledding with your neighborhood friends, and got to be very good at it!

 

Although I will say those snow days got to be a leeeetle much!

 

We did manage to find one warm-enough day in there to sneak off to the zoo for the day, just me and you. We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves, and it was another one of my favorite days of the year. We had SO. MUCH. FUN.

 

And that’s what we love about you, Bruiser. You are so much fun. You are always so much fun. You make us laugh a hundred times a day. You are a natural comedian, full of jokes and impressions and silly voices. You are energy personified, from the time you wake up (too early) in the morning to the time you finally pass out in bed at night, always talking, talking, talking about all that’s going on around you.

You are absolutely devoted to your family, and want nothing more than to spend time with us. You love God and your church. You love board games and pranks, magic tricks and video games, drawing, cutting paper, and creating things. You love playing with your friends outside. You’ve lately started loving to read. (YAY!) You love traveling (which is good, because clearly we’ve been doing a lot of it!).

 

You are so very special and unique, so unlike any other child we know. I mean, who else plays the harmonica in the shower and wears a cheeseburger hat to bed? You have always been you, exuberant, unstoppable YOU, and we love that about you — It made your seventh year extra special.

But now you are eight, and you are starting to grow up.

And although it makes me a little sad, since  I know I’ll never have another seven year old, I have to say that the older you get, the closer we become. The personality you’ll have as an adult is beginning to emerge and we like it, Bruiser. We like it a lot.

You are eight and you are filled with information about the solar system and plasma and robots and NFL football, tions and ligers and knock knock jokes and Minecraft.

You are eight and you make your dad and sister and I feel so loved and cared about every single day.

You are eight, swayed now by sports and doing ‘guy stuff’ with Dad and roughhousing with your friends…  but not quite ready to give up your stuffed animal collection.

You are eight, and I can’t wait to see what this year has in store for you.

I love you, Bruiser, and I always, always will.

xoxo,

Mom