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.

Nicole // 9 Years

As of about a week ago, Nicole is halfway to adulthood. IS THAT NOT INSANE?!?! Okay, I'm done yelling. But honestly, it's a bit crazy to think that her childhood (if you include the teen years) is halfway done. Nicole had a bit of a busy birthday because of school, ballet, and acrobatics, but we still managed her birthday dinner request of grilled cheese with tomato soup, as well as a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday" while she blew out candles that were wedged into no-bake cookies and ice cream. Most of the true festivities happened over the weekend with a birthday party with friends from school at Hang Time (a trampoline park) and a pizza dinner and cake with my in-laws.

Nicole at 9 years old:

- Still a huge bookworm. I put a small bookcase in her room about 2 months ago and she has already run out of space on it because she keeps bringing all types of books home as prizes from her teacher at school.

- Stays up too late reading with a nightlight. I let her get away with it because #childhood

- Even though I already read the entire Harry Potter series to her (twice, technically) she is now reading it herself. Currently on book 6. She has her own copies of all 7 books.

- Participating in Battle of the Books for the first time at school this year and is quite confident her team will win

- Has a full dance schedule this year with ballet, jazz, and acrobatics every week

- Entered the PTA-run "Reflections" program for the first time this year and came in first place for Original Dance Choreography at the intermediate level (grades 3-5) at her school.

- Sang a solo in church for the first time back on Easter. She was so nervous but did SO well.

- Has vivid dreams pretty regularly

- Still loves Polly Pockets and has enough sets to create an entire community out of them

- Wears jeans under dresses

- Puts her shirts/dresses on backwards half the time

- Would wear dresses every single day if she could

- Would also wear flip flops literally everywhere if she could

- While she's still obsessed with KitKats, there's a new candy battling for her number one spot: Airheads Xtremes

- Straight-up asked about Santa earlier this year, so... she knows

- Doesn't talk to me about boys all the time anymore, so I guess we're getting to that phase where mom isn't her go-to gossip buddy anymore. Waaaah.

- Became obsessed with the TV show "Miraculous: The Adventures of Ladybug and Cat Noir" this year (and got the rest of us hooked on it as well, honestly)

- We discovered this year that she's missing two of her adult teeth. They're just... not there. Her front two bottom molars. Hopefully the baby ones last for many years to come!

- Would rather handle the dirty dishes than sweep the kitchen floor

- Refuses to ride a bike, even though she can technically do it (Doug has witnessed)

- Very efficient on a razor scooter

- Runs on the cold side, so she's developed the habit of huddling over the heating vents whenever the furnace is running and complains that the 3 blankets on her bed (plus her fleece pajamas) are not warm enough at night

- Collects ChapSticks

- Very eclectic taste in music, but primarily prefers movie and videogame soundtracks

The happiest of birthdays to you, Nikki B. Enjoy your final year in the single digits!