Sevea, age 8

The passing of time always really sinks in when I think about my oldest child. I’m not sure a year will pass by when I won’t have a hard time believing how old she is. There is so much I miss about when she was young. Especially those first three years when it was just her. Life was a little more simple. Life may be less simple but that just means it is filled with more love, laughter, fun, and everything else good or bad life brings. And Sevea certainly adds more and more great things to our life as she gets older.

One thing about Sevea that I love is you always know what you’re dealing with. She is consistent. Year after year I feel like I say the same things about her. But those things are what makes her so great. She is still the very responsible, kind, sweet, friendly, rule-follower kid she has always been. Entering school I was worried that she would fall victim to “peer pressure” and find some bad habits. It has yet to happen…for the most part. Sure as she has grown she’s found more attitude. She doesn’t listen every single time the first time. She gives us sass and frustrates us. But that’s to be expected and I’d worry more if she was an angel 100% of the time. She was recognized by her teacher as a Star Student yet again this year. So I’ll deal with a little more drama or attitude at home to know that she is being respectful and an overall great kid at school. She is excelling in school and finding it to be more fun as well. She still loves her time at home but is more excited for school than any other year. Her strong area is definitely still math. She loves it and enjoys the challenge of learning new stuff from dad. She says her least favorite is gym because of the one mile run. The chubby-kid-who-hated-the-mile-turned-into-runner in me reminds her that just like other things if you practice it might not be as bad. She may not like running…yet…but she does still enjoy gymnastics. She decided to switch from normal gymnastics to ninja class. Still doing a lot of gymnast type moves but with a little kicking in the mix. She loves practicing these moves with the siblings. Cue frustration from mom and dad because you know how that always ends, someone gets hurt. She does a great job splitting her time being a big girl and wanted her own space to spending time with both of her siblings. She handles more expectations and deals with helping those siblings better than I could ask for most of the time. We’ve made an extra effort to recognize her for these things and to make her feel special but also to still feel like a kid. Those are the times that I cherish the most. When we slow down and make sure she isn’t growing up toooo fast.

Sevea’s 20 questions – age 8

1. What is your favorite color? I don’t have one, I like every color…ok ok light blue

2. What is your favorite toy? Shopkins

3. What is your favorite tv show or movie? Big Brother (yes the adult reality tv show)

4. What is your favorite breakfast? Donuts

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? mac n cheese from school (she brings home lunch everyday otherwise)

6. What is your favorite snack? cheetos 

7. What is your favorite outfit? my dress that is blue and white striped on top with bright orange bottom

8. What is your favorite game? Destroy the boys at Kalli’s house

9. What is your favorite animal? Cheetah

10. What is your favorite song? Bad Blood

11. Who is your best friend? Bitsy, Kenzie, Ady, Kalli, Grace, Breanna, Eloise  

12. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play in the sandbox

13. What is your favorite drink? apple juice 

14. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas, Halloween, and Easter

15. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? baby and blankie

16. What do you want to be when you grow up? A mommy

17. What is your favorite thing about your brother? He’s crazy, that we can fight, and that he is kind weird and cute. What is your favorite thing about your sister? That I can give her piggy back rides and that we can play together.

18. What do you love about yourself? I can try to do stuff and get it right.

19. What’s your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Piggy back rides 

20. What’s your favorite thing to do with Mommy? Hang out with her

Cohen, age 5

Oh my boy Cohen, how do I sum you up. You’ve changed so much yet some things are still the same. That smile of yours can still make my heart melt. You are excelling in preschool. From needing special services to blowing your conference out of the water. It was a little surprising that you were the leader of the class. The one the teachers look to for the other kids to follow. You are no longer that shy withdrawn kid and to think it was likely all because you couldn’t hear clearly. Whatever it was your personality truly shines through now. You LOVE music and equally LOVE to bust a move to your favorite beats. I’m not sure where you get your dance moves from but you definitely soak up the attention and we wonder where those moves will take you. You love all things boy: cars, trucks, superheroes, fighting, wrestling and so much more. If you were allowed you’d spend all day on an electronic device playing Pokémon Go or watching videos about Pokémon. You’re a great big brother to Brynna. You’ll play with her but also protect her and I see signs in you of being a great father one day. You’re a really good little brother to Sevea as well. You don’t mind playing her way most of the time but I can tell you soak in so much from her as well. One of those things might be compassion because you truly want to be a good person to those around you. But you are far from perfect especially to your adopted brother Grayson. You give him a hard time and I remind myself this is why I don’t need to give you a brother. You totally get joking and I feel like you might be a funny guy like your dad. Your grandpa Steve would have loved your sense of humor. You are getting more and more into sports and have requested to try more of them. You may not be one of those natural athletes but it is fun to see you going out there and trying and learning. Now if you would just learn to like some new foods. We have had success with you trying things though so that’s half the battle. I’m certain we have more battles ahead of us with you with more than just food but right now at age 5 we think you are pretty awesome…as long as you are fed and not tired (can’t blame ya kid…hangry is a real thing). I know this next year will be a pretty great one…bring it on!

Cohen’s 20 questions – age 5

1. What is your favorite color? Red

2. What is your favorite toy? Lighting McQueen (I’d say using the phone to play Pokémon Go) 

3. What is your favorite tv show or movie? Sonic the Hedgehog Movie

4. What is your favorite breakfast? Trix Cereal

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Grilled Cheese (He’d eat this all day everyday)

6. What is your favorite snack? Vanilla Wafers

7. What is your favorite outfit? Superman shirt (still on the character shirt kick)

8. What is your favorite game? Lighting McQueen game (He got it from Grandma NeNe and it is like candy land)

9. What is your favorite animal? Lion

10. What is your favorite song? Whip and Ne Ne

11. Who is your best friend? Sevea (as he smirks at her) Leo, Weston, and Grayson

12. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Catch snow flakes, swinging (he learned to pump this summer and really gets going)

13. What is your favorite drink? Hot sauce (we’re getting silly now) Apple juice is the real answer

14. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas because we get more presents than just birthdays

15. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? bunny

16. What do you want to be when you grow up? Motorcycle driver (motocross)

17. What is your favorite thing about your older sister? Shopkins About your younger sister? Playing with her babies

18. What do you love about yourself? How chubby I was (Sevea showed him a picture as a baby)

19. What’s your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Run

20. What’s your favorite thing to do with Mommy? Go shopping

Brynna, age 3

Summing up your child is not an easy task. Thinking about summing up all three is obviously a daunting task for me which explains my lack of posts. I have been sitting on these posts for months. Started but not finished. I guess a couple months later is better than never. So without further a do…

I always wondered what people meant by terrible two’s and trying three’s. My other two kids although not perfect were not what I would call a “handful”. However I think I’m learning a little bit of what they meant. Brynna is now three! So was her second year of life deserving of the title terrible on mom/dad? Maybe. She certainly was a handful at times and needed more discipline than what we were used to giving. She was opinionated. Knowing what she wanted and having the language skills to demand it were hard. We couldn’t just redirect her. But all these things considered it wasn’t a terrible year 2 with her. But we are less than two months into year 3 and I definitely think trying 3’s is very accurate. In that short time we’ve seen a huge change in her. She is asserting her control in every situation possible. EVERY situation she can. We are learning the true meaning of picking your battles but also have seen huge improvements already in that short amount of time due to consistency in our “discipline”. You give an inch and she’ll take it and 5 more so you better choose wisely when it’s worth it.

Update at 3 years 3.5 months…I can say consistency and follow through are truly every parents best friend. Brynna is still no picnic but she definitely is manageable by using those two things. Case in point: We were working on Brynna using her words with strangers (strangers include family and friends too). We go to the doctor for an annual check-up. She refuses to tell the nurse thank you for the sticker when we are leaving. I keep the sticker and she does not get it. Sevea then has a check-up a couple days later. I give the nurse the sticker and she says thank you to receive the sticker. In similar situations she has readily used her manners. I won this battle for the most part but we still battle on lots of things.

Negotiation has become a new parenting technique for me. I still get what I want but just not by simply asking. New for me but we’re finding she is a totally different breed than the other two so we cannot approach things the same way at all. Although she makes us want to pull our hair out sometimes, Brynna is also so sweet and loving. We’ve given her the nickname sour patch kid because she is very sour but oh so sweet as well. I can discipline her one minute and the very next she is giving me the biggest hugs. She is always wanting to be held and to be near me. She is very independent yet wants help at times not because she can’t do it just because she wants me there. She is my little side kick and I am remembering to soak it all in because I know this won’t last forever. I do have to let her grow up and do things without me there.

Sending her to preschool will surely force me into that. We plan to send her to preschool next year for two days a week. Then she’ll do another year likely three days a week before going to Kindergarten when she is 6 just like Cohen. I’m sure she’ll learn a lot in school but the separation from me is a huge incentive. It’s going to be hard on us both. It will be interesting to see how she’ll change in a school environment because this girl already knows so much. She likes to color and loves to create rainbows. She is interested in writing and reading. She knows she’s smart and uses it against us. But she does have two older siblings that she watches and learns so much from.

She seems to be growing at the same pace as those older siblings as well. She weighed 30 lbs (40%) and was 35.25 inches (10%) at her 3 year appointment. I guess this is one area she isn’t going to surprise us. I’ll take it though. I am sure this little girl will be full of many more surprises in the comings months and years. I’m gonna hold on tight and enjoy the ride with this one.