Austin // 8 Years

My not-so-little dude turned 8 today. Halfway to getting a driver's license. One quarter of my current age. Crazy to think that he's been around for 1/4th of my entire life. He was all smiles when I went into his room singing this morning, spoiled his classmates with donuts, and was oh-so-patient when Costco didn't have the taquitos that he wanted for his birthday dinner and made a gracious 180 decision to get Chick-fil-A instead. Let's brag on the birthday boy a bit, shall we? (Do I even have to say at this point that pictures will eventually get added to this post? Let's just assume that's always the case now. Ha.)

Austin at the age of 8:

- Kind and caring

- Helpful

- The best friend to those around him and very friendly in general

- I've said it in years past, but this kid is ridiculously good with numbers, spatial awareness, and problem solving. While they're reviewing addition and subtraction in his 2nd grade class, he's over here doing multiplication, long division, and exponents.

- Obsessed with soccer and plays it with his buddies whenever he can

- Learning more and more tricks in his acro class. He's working on backbend walkovers now!

- Has started attending choir at church

- Has quite the Pokémon card collection, and can oft be found sneaking cards to school so that he can trade them with his friends

- Obsessed with our cat Ava. He steals her away on a daily basis to go cuddle with her on the couch, whether she wants to or not.

- Enjoys shooting hoops outside and is hoping to play basketball this winter, if Mom can figure out how to work it into our schedule

- Went through a short phase where he said "Bro" pretty often, but it didn't last long (fortunately)

- Very good at moderating his candy intake when he gets a box or bag of candy. He can make it last a week or longer if he wants to.

- Quick to say a heartfelt "thank you" when someone does something nice for him

- Still has the very best belly laugh. If you get him started, you won't be able to resist laughing with him.

- Loves root beer

- Wants to be a scientist when he grows up

- Does cool tricks off the diving board at the local pool

- Likes writing notes to his friends

- Really wants to be a night owl like his big sister but is SO grumpy the next day if he tries to stay up late. Bro needs his sleep!

- Graphic novels are his book of choice

- Really got into "Avatar: The Last Airbender" this year

- Was given Doug's old alarm clock earlier this year and has become fond of listening to the radio. He's probably better-versed on Top 40 Hits than anyone else in the family.

- Out of all the radio hits he became familiar with this summer, he seems to prefer "Whiskey" by Hozier

You're my favorite son, Austin! I love you a lot. Thanks for 8 years of dimpled cheeks and belly laughs.

Lydia // 3 Years

 Somebody had a birthday about 2 weeks ago! Ummm, so this means we no longer have any babies or toddlers. This girl is a full-out preschooler who chatters the day away and has her first day of preschool in 5 1/2 weeks. We're all obsessed with her, and she was pumped for it to finally be her turn to blow out candles. She chose chicken taquitos as her birthday dinner and brownies with ice cream for her birthday dessert.

[pictures are forthcoming, as per usual]

Lydia at 3 years:

- Obsessed with the soundtrack for the Disney movie "Wish"

- Loves books

- When we ask her a "why" or "why not" question her response is often "Because yes."

- Became very efficient at riding a 3-wheel scooter earlier this year, and got a new scooter for her birthday

- So friendly. Often says "hi" to people we pass at the store or on walks.

- Runs to pet every dog she sees. I'm trying to get her to ask the owner first, but she just gets so excited when she sees a dog.

- Looks forward to church because she loves nursery. She's currently the only child in nursery because nobody else is nursery-aged (except for one other little girl who never comes because of separation anxiety). Lydia gets 100% of the attention from the nursery leaders and revels in it.

- Still takes a nap almost every day

- Finally got moved to a "big girl bed" at the beginning of the year and loves it.

- It's funny how similar she is to Austin, while Nicole and Autumn are more similar to each other. For example: when it comes to sleep and bedtime, Autumn and Nicole are night owls who gave up naps around 2 years of age, stall bedtime, and get out of bed multiple times for water or to sneak books to read; while Austin and Lydia don't fight bedtime, kept their naps past their 3rd birthdays, and never get out of their beds (for naptime OR bedtime).

- Has the best one-liners. I can never remember them though. I need to start keeping a list of the things she says because she really is hilarious.

- Still has a 6th sense for treats

- Enjoys building with Magna-Tiles

- Loves eggs, pasta, applesauce pouches, rotisserie chicken, and cereal

- REALLY wants to pet the cat all the time, but the cat doesn't want Lydia to mess with her because Lydia is kind of loud, high-pitched, and is a bit aggressive with her affection. It's a give-and-take, depending on how thin the cat's patience is running (and she's a very patient cat).

- Started potty training a bit over a week ago, and she's handling things pretty well so far. We aren't accident-free yet, of course, but she knows what to do and gets better and better at it with each passing day.

- It should be noted that she chose Bluey underwear at the store

- Loves to play with her siblings, especially imagination-based play

- Daniel Tiger is her TV show of choice

- Spent the past year helping her mom volunteer at the elementary school in the Home Reading program. We would go in every week to switch out books, and Lydia loved checking the room key out, carrying the book box from the kindergarten room, and playing with the toys while mom checked the books in and out.

- Loves being outside

- Getting more comfortable in pools, but still won't leave the steps or very shallow areas

- Enjoys video calling with my family members

- Steals Nicole's smart watch and hides it under her bed

- Loves wearing dresses

- Almost always puts her flip flops on the wrong feet

- Is finally old enough to participate in the summer camp that the kids do at the dance studio, which starts in just over a week. She is PUMPED.

- She's been dying to start dance classes, but the youngest class was already full by the time she was old enough for it this past year (you have to be 2.5 years old). She'll get to start in late August!

We love you, itty bitty Lyddi! Even though you're no longer a baby, you'll always be my baby. :D

Autumn // 5 Years

Tum Tum is five, and I can hardly believe it. Truly. She has been looking forward to her birthday for weeks and has been all smiles all day. She changed her mind on her birthday dessert multiple times before finally settling on donuts. (Of course...last night she said she wanted cake instead, but I said it was a bit late to be changing her mind again...so donuts and ice cream it was.)

This girl is quite the character. Let's chat about all things Autumn! (Pictures are forthcoming, as per usual. Austin's are up on his post now, so I'm making progress!)

Autumn at 5 years old:

- Situational Social Butterfly

- Treat Thief (heaven forbid you leave a treat unattended on the kitchen counter)

- Chapstick Addict

- Every time we have a visitor in our home that she likes, she yells "I LOVE YOU!" out the front door as they're leaving. (And if you're lucky she'll say, "I love you so much forever and ever.")

- She has a whole setlist of people that she goes around to during the first hour of church. She'll hop from family to family, settling herself in next to her favorite people for a few minutes before heading off to the next stop on her list. She'll add a new person/family to the list every couple of weeks.

- She still resists going to Primary most Sundays. There were several times in the past year when she would run out of the chapel before the prayer was done and hide somewhere to avoid going to Primary. Her usual hiding spot was up on the stage in the corner by the curtain. Once, Elder's Quorum had already started and she was hiding back there...nobody noticed! She didn't make a peep!

- There have also been a handful of days in the past year where I've had to hand her out the front door of the car at preschool drop-off because she didn't want to go and even once where I had to get out of the car and retrieve her from the back seat. MOST days she gets out of the car happily and willingly, though.

- Very good at Bop It! (her high score is somewhere in the 80s)

- Loves books and has been caught many times using a nightlight to look at books when she's supposed to be in bed (including tonight).

- Regularly sneaks down to her older siblings' rooms to take their stuff (mainly books).

- If her siblings love it, then she also loves it. Monkey see, monkey do.

- Strong-willed

- Still sucks her fingers (We've tried to stop her, but...well...see the previous line.)

- Dairy and beige foods are her favorite foods (breads, crackers, pretzels, cereal)

- Has her own room now that Austin has moved into his own room. She LOVES it.

- Went through a phase where she'd ask about death every few days. More specifically, when she would die. She didn't seem nervous or stressed about it, just curious.

- Loves to swim (but can't swim unassisted yet)

- Enjoys puzzles

- Loves to play a boardgame called "Race to the Treasure" in which the goal is to use path tiles to create a pathway from one end of the board to the other while collecting keys along the way.

- Classic third child. Interpret that as you will.

- Plays so well with her little sister while the older two are at school. They listen/dance to music, play with barbies and Little People, and play make-believe.

- Current music of choice: Descendents; Puss in Boots: The Last Wish; and various video game soundtracks.

- Started regularly refusing to dance during the first 20 minutes of her dance class (during the tap portion), so we just barely switched her to an acro (tumbling) class, and she LOVES it.

- Really wanted to play soccer last spring, and then spent most of each game refusing to play. She'd play a bit towards the end, but only because there were treats and I told her that only kids who play the game get the treats. I'll let you take one wild guess on whether I'll sign her up again this year or not. :P

- Getting tired of preschool, apparently, and just wants to go to the same school as her siblings. I can't even imagine her in kindergarten, she doesn't seem old enough! But that's still half a year away.

She does things completely on her own timetable, loves freely and openly, and keeps us on our toes. She brings a certain chaotic, "wild card" energy into our home, but not because she's hyper or uber-loud; the chaos comes from not knowing what she will do from day to day. Will she eat the chocolates that Doug bought for me? Will she accidentally damage one of her sibling's toys that she wasn't supposed to be playing with? Will she hide under her bed with a crayon and completely coat the wall with bright scribbles? (True story. Yes, she intentionally went under her bed to scribble because she knew it would be hidden from us.) Ah, Tumble Bum. We love you so much.