8.

Eight.

EIGHT.

For me, 8 feels closer to 10 than 7. 7 feels closer to 5, with 5 feeling closer to Toddlerhood and ‘Baby’.

With 8, you may as well be looking at Universities.

For his birthday this year, we dipped our toes back into the pool of Birthday Parties; with the boy hosting his first ever Birthday Party for his school friends. The last party he hosted was back in the Nursery days, and in between that we’ve had various lockdowns; meaning his quota of parties since starting school has been limited, so this was something very new to him – but that didn’t put him off!

Deciding on a Bowling Party as his party of choice, we invited 15 of his closest friends to enjoy an hour of bowling and then food after. It was a lot of fun, although pretty loud (why do 7-8 only have one volume level?). As well as Bowling, there were slushies, cake and a lot of laughter. It was such a joy to watch the boy with his friends outside of school.

The “after-party” was a much more relaxed affair and this is when we opened presents and celebrated once more the boy making another journey around the sun. We also enjoyed some more cake!!!

The Past Twelve Months

In comparison to last year, the leap from 7 to 8 has felt more noticable. One minute he’s sat in his car seat and the next he’s sprouted several centimeters and he’s now sat next to me in the front seat of the car!
The same with his learning. His development almost happens overnight; especially when it comes to things like his handwriting and timetables, or his communication skills. Like I said, 8 feels closer to 10 and the past hear has just cemented that in.

7 has been incredibly fun, though. It was like 6, but with extra seasoning (and sass!).

Last year, we saw him start a number of clubs like Football club and Violin lessons at his school, and a year on we’ve seen him perfect those skills. In Violin he’s now working on Stage 2 and in Football, well, he’s getting better let’s just say. The main thing he’s having fun!

7 has also seen him fine-tune what he does and doesn’t like.

At the moment, he still loves Pokemon, Minecraft, Hot Wheels and LEGO (Technic and LEGO City to be precise!), and on occasion he will stretch out to Hex Bugs and Bakugan. But, things like Trains have kinda taken a backseat. That being said, the moment he’s able to get on a train it’s like he’s a three old again!

This year has also seen him get more creative, with “sketching” being his favourite past-time after dinner or before breakfast, as well as random cutting and folding – oddly. As someone who is more arty, this is music to my ears. Don’t worry, though, the boy is still very much into Sports. Mainly football, but he has been known to enjoy Rugby and some Netball when Sharon’s colleague played for Hong Kong last year. To be honest, give him the opportunity to watch any sport and he’ll take it.

He’s also into his own fashion; taking great pride in what shoes he wears, as well as his taste in food! He loathes mushrooms and anything “sluggish” (eg. Cooked peppers and onions), but give him Mexican or Spanish food and he’ll eat you out of house and home. He loves his food, especially when he gets to graze.

He’s also finally (!) got into reading this year. He’s always been a good reader, but he’s never found anything that’s captured him enough where he loses himself in a book. That is until he found Dogman, Captain Underpants and Diary of a Wimpy Kid! He absolutely loves these books and we’re finding that he’s really getting into comics and graphic novels.

The boy still very much enjoys school, which is always a relief. Being part of the COVID generation, there is always that worry that he’ll start to slip and things will start to become a challenge, or that he won’t enjoy being at school. Don’t get me wrong, school isn’t “easy” but he’s not at a point where school is unpleasant. He got a new teacher this year, which I think helped freshen things up a little. He adores him and it helps that his teacher likes him too (or so he says!). We’re so lucky he has another excellent teacher.

Unlike last year, where everyone was his friend, he’s now scaled this down and has a gorgeous bunch of friends. I’m sad to say that some of the losses were down to children being unkind, and on one occasion Homophobic, but this was a one-off, thankfully, although enough for the boy to reassess who he calls a ‘Friend’. It’s not deterred him making new friends, though. Every two years the boy’s school mixes up the year group which means children who have never mixed get the opportunity to mix (it also splits any troublesome groups up!). This also meant the boy got to meet some new children this year, or certainly ones he may not have spoken to properly since Reception!

Next Year…

If 7 is anything to go by, then 8 is looking good. The boy is turning into a wonderful human; full of kindness and generosity. He’s a good friend, and an even better son. He’s funny – often laughing at himself or with others – and he’s incredibly empathetic of others.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all plain sailing. Being our son he’s also full of emotion and strong opinions, but we couldn’t be prouder of the person he’s becoming. He is so aware of the world around him and his maturity knocks us sideways some days.

It’s a little bit overwhelming to think that in September he’ll be starting YEAR FOUR in school which is well over the half-way mark in terms of his Primary School years. Next year in Year 5 he’ll have the opportunity to walk to school by himself and Year 6 will see us looking at SECONDARY SCHOOLS.

Nope. Not ready.