Happy 6th Birthday, Tate! We Love You

Tate’s 6th birthday is right around the corner. Therefore, as part of our parenting rituals, we write each child a letter on their birthday to encapsulate the past year. Then, it goes into their Easy-Peasy Scrapbook, along with approximately 10 photos. Happy 6th Birthday, Tate!

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Happy 6th Birthday: Letter to Tate

Dearest Tate,

First, it has been such a gift to have another year with you! You bring so much laugh-out-loud joy to our lives on a daily basis. For example, some of our favorite quotes from you this year include:

• “Henry, you don’t have to be so sassy about it.”
• Henry: “Tate, with both of us on [this tree], it’s 108 pounds!” You: “You don’t know how much I weigh. I’ve lost some pounds.”
• You, wearing two ninja turtle towels and a bandana, “Dad, I’m a master of disguise.”
• Dad: “Hey, Tate, how fast can you run down there?” You: “Watch and learn!”
• You while wrestling: ‘‘’Tis I, the vampire.”
• You (about a bump on your head): “Dad, I have this bump and I don’t feel like me!”
• You to Henry: “This house votes for Beto.”
• You (using Siri on an iPad): “Remind me to go to school at 4pm in the morning.”
• You (to Henry): “Good boy! Good boy! You deserve some spankings!!”
• You to your magnetic sculpture: “You mean a lot to me.”
• You in the bath: “I love it when I can stretch out big and strong!”
• You: “You git what you git and you don’t throw a fit!”
• You: “Dad, what is in that hole?” Dad: “Maybe a snake.” You: “Let’s go. We need to get out of its business. Maybe it’s doing its homework. Maybe it’s brushing its teeth.” 
• You: “I hate Golden Corral. It’s too stinky there.”
• You: “I don’t know how I eat so much and stay so thin.”

Our Year Together

We had another great year together. For Fall Break, we traveled to Stinson Beach. At the beach, you can occupy yourself for so many hours! Then, at Thanksgiving, we traveled to the beach again—this time in Florida to see family. Your little cousin Avery looks up to you so much! And you are so kind to her.

Then for Spring Break we went on our first ever cruise. You loved it! Your favorite experience was the day we spent in medical lockdown because of noro virus. You loved playing with the lifejackets, watching TV, and spending quality time with your family in our room together.

Other hobbies include: making art, building Legos, swimming, and riding your bike. For example, you say you are like Keith Haring because you want to draw on everything and aspire to be an artist when you grow up.

In May you graduated from kindergarten. Your teacher, Ms. Trinity, is so in love with you. She is going to miss you so much! This year you learned to read. It’s so fun to listen to you read us stories!

For our summer vacation, we traveled to upstate New York. You love going on vacation with your family, and we love spending time with you!

To sum it all up, you bring so much light into our lives, Tate. Happy 6th Birthday! Please keep on shining!