Life is in such a good spot right now, I just wanted to check in and record a bit.
Abigail - I almost have a teenager and I am so freaking excited. Abigail is doing so so well. She is so polite and easy going. She has friends and good grades (even though she literally never does homework at home… I’m still trying to figure that part out) and takes care of herself and her responsibilities. She’s been part of the set and props crew for her middle school play, Newsies, went to Disney with her middle school orchestra over spring break last month, and loves being involved at church and young womens. She is still an avid reader (Harry Potter is her favorite… she read it in just weeks in the fall) and loves legos (Christmas was 98% Harry Potter lego sets). She is so low maintenance as she spends a lot of downtime in her room and doesn’t make messes or require a lot of our family or home. She’s also my least picky eater so you better believe I love that.
Brady - he’s 10 and, because of his December birthday, has less than a year until he’s in young mens! Blows my mind. He is my biggest helper with Tyler and loves him so much. He’s a willing and able babysitter and can handle a fussy baby and poopy diapers. Sometimes (well, always) I’m running late for church and Brady comes to me and says “what can I do?” and then gets Tyler a clean diaper, dressed for church, buckled in his carseat, and feeds him a banana on the way to church. Sometimes, after he’s buckled in the car and I’m taking too long, he comes back inside to see what I need help with and offers to help carry stuff out to the car for me. Not like he never has an attitude, but he is a great mother’s helper. For better and worse, he’s also very present at home. So great because he’s always talking to me and sharing stories, but also wants my constant attention and for me to play hockey with him in the basement. He’s typically a good sport though if I’m busy and will help me make dinner when I’m unable to drop everything and play. He finished up his first season of hockey and really developed into a great defensive player. He’s doing 12U inline hockey right now at the field house and really enjoying it. He has a lot of good friends and is so confident and an all around good kid. He’s been really into rubiks cubes since December and started a cubing club (with two of his friends) where they teach cubing each Monday morning before school. It was initially open to the first ten kids, but everyone signed up on the first day and there are about 25 kids that regularly come. He has so many interests and loves a good challenge. After bribing him ($5 per book), he’s on book six of the Harry Potter audiobooks and loving it.
Elizabeth - this girl is growing up SO fast. She is super into fashion and style. Makeup, jewelry, clothes, hair, shoes, you name it. She keeps asking when she’ll be old enough to wear heels and regularly asks me to help her pick out a cute outfit or do her hair in a certain style. Abigail is the exact opposite so this is really new and fun for me. When I was trying to get Brady to read Harry Potter and he was resisting, Elizabeth was BEGGING me to let her get into it. In a fit of exasperation, I conceded and she devoured the first audiobook in less than 24 hours. She completed all seven books in two-is months I think and has gone back to relisten to several of them even. She and Abigail are currently making their way through the movies. Elizabeth has tons of friends and loves to get together for playdates and facetimes them on my phone. At school, she loves writing the most. She’s working on a book right now called Dragon Diaries (modeled after owl diaries and unicorn diaries) that I type up and print for her when she’s finished a chapter. She went from barely reading, at the beginning of the school year, to now being a huge reader, currently into heavily illustrated chapter books (like diary of a pug) and audiobooks.
Andrew - this kid is so freaking cute. He is kind and considerate and sensitive. He’s also turning into such a great helper and following in Brady’s footsteps of loving a challenge and loving to be of assistance. He had fluid in his ears since august when he first got sick after starting school… repeated ear infections and strep and very noticeable hearing loss for over six months. He finally got ear tubes (and an adenoidectomy) at the end of March and was a complete rockstar about it. Doctors and nurses repeatedly told me it was extremely common for kids to be crying and screaming and angry and out of control when they came out of surgery, but I knew that wouldn’t be Andrew. As predicted, he was so sweet and calm and sleepy and just kept asking when he could put on his shirt and go home. I thought he would need a few days to rest and recover but, after an hour or two, he was back to his normal self and even insisted on going to hockey practice that afternoon. He’s only five, but we got him special permission to play inline hockey in the 8U league. He told me he didn’t want to play “shoe hockey” (kinder floor hockey for 4 and 5 year olds) so he chose soccer. Then I found out about getting special permission (he’s a great skater) and now he’s doing both. He has such confidence and is SUCH a happy kid. He is a puppy, personified.
Tyler - he’s so young that he’s always changing so, so fast. He was still doing his one legged crawl at 17 months but became a full time walker right before 18 months. He still doesn’t talk, but he has excellent comprehension and is very obedient and wanting to please. He signs please and more and all done, but not without prompting and he’s surprisingly good at communicating without words. His spontaneous games of peek-a-boo are so fun and he’ll sometimes make funny faces repeatedly because he loves how it makes us laugh. He absolutely loves playing hockey, by himself, with a family member, with all of us in the basement, or wandering around on his own at the field house. It is absolutely adorable and I love it so much. I can’t wait to have another hockey player in the family. Along those lines, he also has shown an interest in golf (they’re very similar for him at this age) but also loves other sports. When sports are on tv, he will plop himself down in front of the tv and be so intent on whatever game is on. If we switch to a sitcom, he becomes agitated and restless, but gets calm again when we turn it back to sports. Blows my mind that he has such obvious preferences at this age. He is so so so so so by far my pickiest eater at this stage (getting him to eat has always been a struggle) and survives off of bananas, applesauce pouches, and peanut butter sandwiches. He doesn’t love eating so it’s always a frustrating experience for me as I often make food just to have him reject all of it. Thankfully, he’s an excellent sleeper. He’s going through a growth spurt I think and he’s for sure a little under the weather, but his sleeping in til 9-10 has, within the last week or so, turned into sleeping in til 3-4pm. I watch him on his monitor as he wakes up at a normal time, plays and hangs out in his crib for a while, and then puts himself to sleep for an afternoon nap. It’s honestly insane to me but I’m a firm believer in giving kids sleep when they’re showing signs that they need it. Also, it’ll probably pass before I know it. So, we’ve been skipping napping and he just has one wake time (5-6 hours) before he goes down again for the night. This would be sad for me except that he is so high maintenance when he’s awake and wants to be held constantly. I think he’s actually a pretty easy going kid when I’m not around, but as soon as he sees me, he is fussing for me to hold him and then constantly fussing and pointed all around as we chase a want that he hasn’t even actually identified. I’m hoping this will get better as the weather warms up and we’re outside more where he’ll be more eager to explore. My favorite thing with him is going on long stroller walks around the neighborhood… it’s such a peaceful time for us. He’s still nursing, just once or twice a day, briefly. We’ll see how long it lasts, but as of right now, I have no plans to cut him off before he says he’s done. He’s such a blessing in our lives and has changed our family dynamic in such a great way… like getting a dog. Playing with him and caring for him is just such a bonding thing for our entire family and the kids have really stepped up about that too. Such a different experience than when all of the other kids were babies.
Our family - so that’s the report. Life is definitely busy with all the playdates and theater and hockey and everything that comes with five kids, but I feel like we’re just in this special sweet spot right now before Abigail goes to high school and while Tyler still feels like a baby. Chris has been amazing about stepping up and helping me with all the rides and childcare and everything that come with everyone’s conflicting schedules and I feel like that has made a huge difference for me in making things enjoyable and manageable instead of just surviving the grind. I still fill out the four year daily journal dad gave me and I can honestly say that, a year ago, I would never have expected to be in such a great spot right now. Not sure where we’ll be in April 2024, but I’m grateful right now for this moment in time.
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| from September |
