June, Part 1: A birthday for Cooper!

The month of June was a blur for our family for many reasons. The first half of it was more heavily scheduled than our usual pace. Swim lessons, having some rooms in our house painted (and all the prep and clean up that entails). Good things! And then we celebrated Cooper's seventh birthday. I can't believe he's seven! Is every birthday of your eldest child like this, where you ask, "I can't believe he or she is __ years old?!" I know I shouldn't be surprised, but seven years has felt like the blink of an eye in many ways. And of course birthdays bring me back to the day we met Cooper, back in 2019.

This year, his birthday was on the last day of swim lessons, but since those didn't start until 11AM, we got to wake up and have time to start the birthday celebrations for Cooper beforehand. He woke up to find a star balloon, a homemade card, and the birthday cake he requested (a round, layered, chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream frosting that he helped me make, sprinkles, and a number candle). Nicholas showed it to him, and he said, "Ohhhhh, it's exactly what I wanted!" (baking the requested Birthday Treat is one of my favorite parts of family birthdays, and I used this recipe for a sourdough chocolate cake and this recipe for vanilla buttercream and then added these sprinkles).

Cooper opened his gifts from us: a National Geographic building kit, a set of larger water squirt guns, and a new bike. Finn picked out a very fun glider airplane for him. And he was thrilled with all of it.

Since Nicholas took the day off, all of us went together to the boy's swim lessons and got to watch "Fun Friday." Cooper went off the diving board! The boys had a blast with swim lessons (especially Cooper) and Finn got more brave and confident in the water over the course of the two weeks. When swim lessons were over and report cards collected, I took Finn and Arlo home for lunch. Nicholas took Cooper on a special daddy-son birthday date. He lets the boys choose where to go on their birthdays, and Cooper chose a local park that's a bit further from home, so it feels extra "special." They brought a picnic lunch and hiked a trail together. Nicholas said he could barely get a word in edgewise, nor keep up with Cooper. And Cooper kept saying, "This is the best day ever." They saw sleeping bats, a snake, and Cooper found various treasures along the hike.

When Nicholas and Cooper got home, we did a video call with my parents and sang to Cooper with his birthday cake, which was nice (we'll celebrate with them in person soon)! That evening, we had our usual Friday Night Pizza, per Cooper's request. It was a very special day celebrating our boy.

The next day, we hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law, Katelyn (more on that in my next post), and then on Sunday, we had family over to celebrate Cooper a bit more.

At seven, Cooper is kind, bright, observant, fascinated by how things work, resilient, curious, and funny. He still greets us every morning by running into our arms for a hug, with "Mama!" or "Daddy!" He asks deep questions about God and the world we live in. He loves his brothers an incredible amount. He loves to help in the kitchen and garden or help Nicholas with literally any project (removing outlet covers before we have rooms painted? Yes! Changing spark plugs on the mower? Of course! Pouring the morning coffee into mugs after I brew it? You bet.) He still asks to hold my hand and loves to snuggle. He rides his bike so well, loves to listen to his Yoto player (the Boxcar children and Narnia series are favorites) and his favorite shirt right now is a pale yellow pocket tee.

Cooper, we love you so much. What a gift it is to see you growing into a wonderful young man. We are so thankful God made you a part of our family and we love you oh so much, buddy. Happy birthday!