1. Adelie is still my slowest child. Slow to get up and ready in the morning, slow to get ready and in bed at night, slow to eat, slow to use the restroom. Just slow. The flip side is she is slow until there is a motivation, like getting to school early for Hornet Buzz or Safety Patrol or a field trip. Then she can pop up and get moving pretty quickly.
2. Staley continues to enjoy calligraphy and hand lettering. When she doesn't have anything scheduled after school (which isn't very often), she goes to her room to listen to her audiobook and draw or do calligraphy.
3. Briggs has found a number of different book series at the library and he's in the midst of reading a bunch of them. Imagination Station, Dragon Masters, The Underworld, Eerie Elementary, Heroes in Training, and The Secret of the Scrolls are all chapter book series that he is enjoying. He always has a huge pile of library books on his bookshelf that he's reading. I keep encouraging him to finish one series or to read the books he already has at home before checking out more, but the pile just continues to grow.
4. Every single night, Adelie will come downstairs (usually after it's already time for lights out...refer to #1 about moving slow) for hugs and good nights. She always says, "Good night. I love you. You're the best Mommy in the world." And then "Good night. I love you. You're the best Daddy in the world." And finally "Good night. I love you. You're the best parents in the world." Every single night.
5. Family movie night is getting easier, but Briggs is still worried about scary parts or bad guys in movies that he has never seen. Choosing a movie that Briggs is okay with can be tricky, and there are still sometimes tears or freak out moments if he thinks something scary or bad is going to happen. Finding a movie that bridges that gap between Staley's preferences and Briggs' preferences can be tricky. Adelie is usually agreeable to anything.
6. Bluey has become a family favorite television series. Typically after we've watched a family movie, the kids ask to watch a few episodes of Bluey. It's very cute and clever and fun. It's one thing we can all agree on.
7. The kids continue to get more and more independent in many areas. Staley walks to and from the library on her own. Briggs and Adelie can walk to and from school together (or Adelie on her own) without us. We'll leave the kids home for short periods of time if we have to run an errand or take another kid somewhere or even to go for a run. It's freeing to be transitioning into this new phase of life.
8. Briggs was getting itchy feet a few weeks ago, and Zach mentioned that it could be that Briggs wears socks all the time, day and night. After mentioning that to Briggs, Briggs has now transitioned to sleeping without socks. It took us years to break him of the hand socks habit, and now he is able to sleep without socks on his feet as well. The amount of Briggs' sock laundry has reduced dramatically.
9. Staley is on the cusp of transitioning from child sizes in clothes and shoes to adult sizes. She is starting to borrow some of my clothes. She wears some of my socks (which I realize when I look for specific pairs that I can't find), and she has borrowed a few of my t-shirts and sweatshirts for various things. Now when I clean out my closet, I hold onto more than typical knowing that my girls might be interested in wearing it in just a few years...or sooner.
10. Briggs has lost 3 teeth in the past few weeks and Adelie has lost 1 tooth. In our house, we just refer to the "Tooth Mommy" instead of the Tooth Fairy. But now the Tooth Mommy often goes to bed before the kids are asleep, so the Tooth Daddy has had to take over some of the duties. One morning, the Tooth Mommy was making the swap while waking up Briggs in the morning because she had forgotten the night before. And Adelie has now had 2 consecutive mornings of disappointment when both the Tooth Mommy and Tooth Daddy forgot to leave anything. Maybe third time's the charm for her???
The only constant in life is that things are always changing. It's a good thing that I love watching my family grow and change.
