Heart-less

Briggs was eating dinosaur chicken nuggets for lunch today.  Briggs said, "I don't think that dinosaurs have hearts."  I replied, "I'm sure that dinosaurs did have hearts.  People and animals need hearts to live."  Briggs responded, "Well, then they are probably old and rusty hearts since dinosaurs aren't very nice."

Briggs's Birthday

Briggs had his birthday last Thursday.  Thursdays are always Briggy-Mommy day.  No work.  No pre-school.  It's the one full day each week that we have nothing on the schedule, so we were able to take the full day to celebrate together.

We kicked off the day by dropping off the girls at school and then heading to McDonald's for breakfast smoothies and play time with a friend.

Briggs had the best time starting off his birthday by playing with Dava (and her little sister).  They played for almost 2 hours together, and Briggs was also SO excited that Dava brought him a present.  The perfect start to a fun day!

When I asked Briggs what he wanted to do for his birthday, he said, "Go to the Caterpillar Museum and eat at McDonald's."  So after breakfast we headed to the Caterpillar Museum.  He started to realize that his "Birthday Boy" button that I talked him into wearing was paying off when lots of people wished him a happy birthday and the people at the museum gave him a free hat.

We spent almost 2 hours here as well.  Briggs loved climbing into all the big diggers and machines, using the simulators, building with Legos, and walking through all the displays of vehicles and machinery.

We had so much fun that we were running a little behind schedule to take Staley to her orthodontist appointment.  We grabbed some McDonald's in the car (winner!!) and took Staley to her appointment.  When the orthodontist found out it was Briggs's birthday, he gave him some Dairy Queen gift cards.  On the way home from the appointment, Briggs said, "Maybe I'll wear my birthday button tomorrow too!"  Smart boy!!

We finished off the fun day with birthday dinner and presents at home with Grammie and Grandpa.  We had Briggs's birthday dinner of choice (sloppy joes, Grammie carrots, peas, grapes, and no salad) and his dessert of choice (Oreo balls and Uncle Bob's ice cream.)  Briggs opened a few presents like a sleeping bag and Hatchimals and walkie-talkies and a CD player for his room with a Thomas CD.  What a full and fun day he had!

And then Briggs got to celebrate again when he took popsicles to school to celebrate his birthday the next day.  Briggs had a great time celebrating the fact that he is now a big 5 year old!

Interveiw with a Five Year Old

Favorite color:  All the colors in the world
Favorite food:  Meatballs
Least favorite food:  Black bean sandwiches
Favorite restaurant:  Rainforest Cafe and McDonald's
Favorite dessert:  All of them, but mostly candy.
Favorite toy:  Cars and trains and anything with wheels and even boats
Favorite stuff animal:  Bear Bear and Froggie
Favorite animal:  Baby chicks
Favorite game:  I have lots of them so I'll just tell you one...Mermaid Island
Favorite movie:  Blaze and Paw Patrol and Cinderella and Frozen II and Ella Enchanted
Favorite sport:  the Bears
Favorite thing to do at home:  Play
Favorite thing about school:  Play time
Favorite place to go locally:  State Farm pool and Wildlife Prairie Park
Favorite place to go on vacation:  Disney World
Favorite thing to do with Staley:  Snuggle
Favorite thing to do with Adelie:  Play
Favorite thing to do with Mommy:  Go swimming and play
Favorite thing to do with Daddy:  Do puzzles
Favorite book:  I don't know.  I like lots of books.
Favorite princess:  Tianna
Favorite superhero:  All of them
Favorite pajamas:  My new dinosaur ones from Dava
Favorite play you've seen:  Peter Pan

What are you excited about doing when you are 5?  Riding Seven Dwarves Mine Train at Disney World
What are you scared of?  The dark
What's the best thing about you?  I'm 5
What are you good at?  Building and running and puzzles and drawing trains
Who is your best friend?  Dava
What do you want to be when you grow up?  I don't know.

My big 5 year old!!

Happy Birthday, Briggs!

When you have a new baby, your mind always wonders what they will be like as they get older.  You look at that snuggly little bundle and think about what they will look like or what things they will most enjoy or what their over-arching personality will be.

Then they grow up right before your eyes and you don't have to wonder quite so much.  You can fill in some of the blanks when, 5 years later, you realize that they love vehicles, have a generally calm demeanor, like things to be in order, are cautious and sensitive, excel at puzzles, play really nicely with others, and still love to snuggle.

I'm not sure where these last 5 years have gone, but I love getting to see the little guy that my baby is growing up to be.  I can't wait to fill in some more blanks as Briggs continues to grow and change.  I may be a few days late with this post, but a big happy birthday to my baby boy!  I love who you are and can't wait to see who you become!

Another First (and Second)

Staley has once again introduced us to parenting firsts.  We have now experienced our first (and second) time experiencing the fear of watching our child pass out.

Staley got her ears pierced for her birthday a month and half ago.  She anxiously waited for those first 6 weeks until she could change her earrings.  Having received a plethora of new earrings for her birthday, she couldn't wait to try them all out.  On the exact 6 week anniversary of getting her ears pierced, Staley picked out the new earrings she wanted to put in.  I helped her remove her earrings and clean her ears.  I helped put in the first new earring and as Staley went to put in the second one on her own, she passed out cold.  Luckily I was standing next to her and caught her as she went down.

After thoroughly scaring us both, we put some more protective measures into place for future earring changes.  I was in charge of changing Staley's earrings while she sat on the floor.  We thought it was safer if she didn't even watch in the mirror and always waited a minute or two before having her stand back up.  Two weeks and several earring changes later (yesterday), Staley wanted to put in new earrings for church.  She picked out some cute dangly heart earrings and she sat down while I put them in.  A few minutes later, she walked into the bathroom to do her hair.  She looked in the mirror, saw a speck of blood on her earlobe from changing her earrings, and passed out again.  This time I wasn't close enough to catch her and she hit her head on the wall twice as she went down.  Those 10-20 seconds before she came around lasted forever.

As reassurance for both Staley and I, I took her to the doctor this morning to discuss these two episodes.  Although the doctor was not overly concerned, she did note that kids who are prone to these episodes often experience more of them through adolescence.  Staley already gets light headed anytime she sees her own blood.  She freaks out about losing teeth, getting shots, or having splinters removed.  She's passed out twice now over changing her earrings.  And we now know that this will probably get worse before it gets any better.

Those two episodes were very scary for both Staley and I.  We now know for certain that Staley will not be pursuing a career in the medical field.  She should probably never try to give blood.  She'll need to be extra cautious if she ever gets cut or injured when she's out playing with her friends.  And we won't be changing her earrings again until she's 16.

There are parenting firsts that bring so much joy.  This was not one of them.  But those earrings sure do look cute!

Then and Now

There are times that I longingly think back to the days when the kids were younger.  There are moments that I yearn to snuggle a sleeping baby in my arms again.  There are (many) days that I wish we didn't have to set an alarm to get up for school each morning.  Sometimes I look at our calendar of activities and think fondly about our early days where church and library story hour were the only things on our calendar each week.  There was something so simple about days at home with no school, no schedule, no activities, no homework.

While I bask in the rosy glow of the memories of our schedule free existence, however, I am also vividly able to remember the endless needs and supervision required of those younger kids.  The tears.  The drama.  Rarely getting to use the bathroom or take a shower uninterrupted.  Potty training.  Kids who didn't sleep through the night.  Dressing kids.  Changing kids.  Feeding kids.  Constantly monitoring kids.  Cleaning up all the messes.  Counting down the minutes until nap time or bed time where there might be the chance of some peace, some quiet, some alone time.  And did I mention the constant needs?

As my kids get older, I am seeing so many perks to this new stage of life that we are in.  I used to dread having to take 3 small kids anywhere by myself.  Now it's no big deal.  The kids may not always love having to trek to the orthodontist with Staley or go to the grocery store with me, but they can wait patiently or be helpful in whatever we need to do.   All the kids can get themselves ready for the day and get themselves ready for bed at night.  They can entertain themselves.  The girls can read to themselves and to Briggs when quiet time is needed.  They can do chores and help out around the house and clean up their own messes.  When we go on trips, they can pack their own bags and enjoy time in the car and act appropriately in restaurants.  There are so many things that are way easier now that the kids are a little older and more independent.

Valentine's Day was a prime example of how life has changed.  All 3 kids had Valentine's parties at school on Valentine's Day.  Briggs joined me at the girls' school in the morning to drop off treats for Staley's party and then attend Adelie's party.  He patiently hung out at the party, watched the games and activities without complaining, helped out when asked, and enjoyed treats only when offered.  The girls had early dismissal from school that day, so they then joined me at Briggs' Valentine's party at his pre-school in the afternoon.  Not only did they enjoy watching Briggs at his party, but they were also great helpers.  They helped clear the tables after the kids ate their snacks and they assisted the kids during the games.  As I sat back and watched all my kids throughout the day, I reflected on how things have changed.  Taking my small children to a fun activity that would not necessarily include them is something that I would have dreaded when they were younger.  But now?  It was a joy to watch my kids simply enjoy seeing their sibling celebrate without necessarily needing to join in.

Staley helping Briggs during Valentine bingo

Since Staley was helping Briggs, Adelie took it upon herself to help some of Briggs' classmates.

There are those moments that I miss things about those younger years with my babies and toddlers.  But there are so many things to enjoy about the ages my kids are right now.  I am so glad we had our special years where I got to spend lots of time at home with my littles, but I am so glad that we are now in this new stage of life.  There were many things to love about then, but there are oh so many great things about right now.  And so I am trying to just enjoy the now...because our now is pretty great.

Where Did We Go Wrong?

For the most part, I think our kids are growing up to be good, kind, happy, well-adjusted kids.  However, they all have had (or have) random fears that leave us scratching our heads and wondering where we went wrong.  It's been well documented that Briggs has had his fair share of fears:  wind, umbrellas, eating outside, fireworks, bugs, storms, movies, bad guys, any number of shows/rides at Disney World.  Many of these have improved with age and he has shown vast improvement in most of these areas.  However he has one lingering head scratcher:  Briggs gets very upset if someone else's nose is running and they don't blow it.  Like full fledged melt down if Adelie has snot dribbling out of her nose and she doesn't blow it as soon as Briggs asks her to.  Screaming, crying, throwing himself down tantrum about someone else's nose running.  Really?!

Although Adelie has often been my more adventurous and least cautious child, she has recently developed some very random and unfounded fears.  She has become pre-occupied with the thought of things breaking or falling over.  Not small things, mind you.  Things like our swingset or the bunkbeds or the porch swing or the couch or the house.  For a short period last summer, she would refuse to go in the backyard if kids were on the swing set or would freak out if I was swinging on the porch swing.  I'm not sure where these fears originated, but they leave me scratching my head when I have to assure Adelie (for the hundredth time) that our house will not now or ever break.

As Staley has gotten older, she has moved past many of her early fears.  Her early sensitivities with clothing and loud noises and "scary" parts of movies are now primarily a thing of the past.  Her still baffling emotional break downs with movie credits seem to have passed.  And although she still prefers to know what is going to happen and gets overwhelmed in new, busy, or chaotic environments, Staley is able to handle most situations without overly emotional responses.

The other day, Adelie was asking me about our house breaking and how many elephants it would take to break our house.  After I explained AGAIN that our house is very strong and very sturdy and even big animals wouldn't break our house, Briggs and I had this conversation:

Briggs:  "It's kind of weird that Adelie is scared of our house breaking, huh?"
Me:  "It's not any weirder than you freaking out when people don't blow their noses.  Why does that bother you so much?"
Briggs:  (with a shrug) "I don't know.  I guess it's just how God made me."

I used to wonder about these random fears and sensitivities.  I scratched my head and wondered where these fears originated.  I worried about where we went wrong as parents.  But now I know...it's just how God made them.  And I couldn't love them more...random fears and all.