But for now, here's a bit of an update on each kid:
Aaron
- Aaron is dabbling in various different sports as he tries to figure out what he's most interested in. This Fall, he will be starting a soccer and basketball league. However, he doesn't have the same passion for sports as he does for things like lego building, art projects, video games (like Minecraft), and pokemon cards. He has also expressed an interest in coding and computer stuff, which makes perfect sense because these things require a combination of math proficiency, creativity, and industriousness, all of which our boy has in spades. Although we plan to keep encouraging him to get involved in at least one team sport so he can learn the important values that come from that and stay active, we will also be on the hunt for ways to encourage and develop his penchant for STEM!
- I finally had the birds/bees talk with Aaron this summer. I kind of wish I'd gotten it on video. He was equal parts incredulous and horrified. He kept repeating it over and over again, like he just couldn't believe that's how it worked. "Wait, what?!" he exclaimed as it dawned on him. "It goes inside?! Like that?!" He made an obscene gesture with his hand. I nodded, trying not to laugh. "That's what you have to do to make a baby?!....Every time?!" I nodded again. He thought for a moment, then declared, "Well that's gross. I don't want to have to do that." Then he promptly shut the conversation down and started talking about something else.
Jill
- Doesn't matter how much older Jill gets, she still loves hugs and cuddles. Often, the first thing out of her mouth when she wakes up in the morning is, "Mommy, I want you to cuddle with me!"
- I tried for awhile to do the same reading lessons with Jill that I did with Aaron. But to no one's surprise, she was not as amenable to sitting at the table and reading the same paragraphs over and over again. Since these reading lessons are supposed to be a fun activity, not a chore, we decided to discontinue the official lessons and instead just buy a bunch of stories that she was interested in and practice with those instead. So much better! Now she loves to read stories to me at night and is starting to sound out words and write her own stories!
- Jill's current passions right now are animals (Rizzo in particular) and swimming. She loves swimming. In fact, I initially signed her up for the same soccer and basketball leagues that Aaron is in, but she begged me to put her in swim lessons instead. So we canceled everything else and she will get to start weekly swim lessons in the Fall. When I took her in for pre-lesson evaluation, she was so excited she was actually squealing during the test. I'd say we made the right choice!
Danny
- This kid cannot wait to start preschool in a couple of weeks. He is so excited to be a big kid like his brother and sister. It really is amazing how independent he is. But thankfully, he still needs hugs and kisses from Mom every once in awhile.
- Despite his fierce independence, he is still heavily influenced by his siblings, especially Jill. Whatever she does, he does. When she tells a joke, he tells the exact same joke. If she wants to do something, he wants to do the same thing. When she picks an animal during the animal guessing game, on his turn he picks the exact same animal and gives the exact same clue. One particular example of his desire to be just like Jill comes to mind: When we were in Turks & Caicos, the kids got to make build-a-bears at Camp Sesame. When I picked them up, Aaron had chosen to make a snow leopard, but Jill had chosen a yellow kitty. Not surprisingly, Danny had also chosen a yellow kitty. But their kitties were dressed differently, Jill's in a skirt and pink flip flops, Danny's in a superhero outfit. Jill later told us that Danny tried to pick the same skirt and flip flops for his kitty, but the well-meaning ladies at Camp Sesame had urged him to pick the superhero instead. Poor kid. Well, if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Jill should be extremely flattered!
- Before they disappear and/or are forgotten, I want to jot down a few of Danny's cute mannerisms:
- When Danny says prayers at bedtime, he doesn't like it when I say "Amen" after he does. But it's such an automatic impulse for me that I often forget and do it anyway, which drives him crazy. So now he ends his prayers like this, "Bless all those who love me too, Amen. CHHHHH!" He explained to me this way, "Mommy, when I say 'ch' at the end of my prayer then you don't say 'amen'!"
- When he's sad, his mouth turns into the most perfect little frown and his little eyebrows come together in the most adorable pout. It makes me want to sweep him up and squeeze him, which is, of course, exactly what he needs.
- When he's made, he sometimes lashes out or pushes me away. But the second I start to back off, he immediately runs after me with arms outstretched and wants me to hold him.
- One of his favorite games to play is when I pretend I'm sneezing or falling asleep and bury my face in his belly. No tickling, but my face just rests on his belly while he giggles and tires to push it off. The sound of his laughter during this game is enough to get me through the toughest of days!
And now, for the good part...
4/6: That's a lotta carbs
4/6: Lettin' it all hang out
4/7: Dance party
4/7: The latest trend is birthday parties at Windy City Ninjas -- because Kindergarteners need encouragement to act like ninjas.
4/7: Kicking butt and taking names in her mary janes!
4/11: Lounging
4/12: Lunching with friends
4/15: Learning bird mating dances at the Nature Museum
4/16: Sleeping beauty
4/21: Off-roading
4/22: Daredevil
4/26: What's up?
4/27: Showing off the whale he made out of construction paper
4/28: My favorite silhouettes
4/28: Exceeding the stroller weight limit
4/28: Group hug!
4/29: How much longer will he want to hold my hand like this? Sniff sniff.
5/2: My little gymnast.
5/2: She loves me
5/5: Another great day fishing and catching turtles at Oma and Opa's lake
5/5: This girl
5/5: I forced them to do this
5/5: Looking for baby mice under the barrels
5/5: Kisses for Cousin Lizzie on her 1st birthday
5/6: They really do like each other
5/6: Digging for bait
5/9: Footloose and fancy free
5/13: Trying out the cousins' new trampoline
5/17: Pure innocence
5/18: They're actually trying to choke each other
5/18: Showing off her gymnastics skills
5/19: Coco!
5/19: Singing while we're swinging
5/19: Taking bets on how long it took for someone to cry
5/20: Licking the beaters
5/20: Look at this dapper young man!
5/24: You can never be too prepared.
5/25: Backyard water fun with good friends.
5/27: Got it made in the shade
5/27: Goodbye hugs for Sawyer before he moved to Denver!
6/2: Why is he suddenly interested in learning how to ride a bike? You guessed it, Jill just got a bike for her birthday!
6/3: Something about this picture doesn't seem right.
6/3: Can't beat cold ice cream on a hot day.
6/9: Waiting for the train.
6/9: Little beans, meet big bean
6/10: Aaron's first trip to urgent care
6/10: Thankfully, no stitches needed. Just a little bit of skin glue!
6/14: Hanging out on the roof deck
6/20: Goofin' off
6/20: Hanging out with Liam and Amelia on the first day of summer break!
6/23: A handsome boy and his cat
6/23: Summer beach day!
6/23: Mud monsters
6/23: Sandy popsicles
6/24: Meeting the Phelps family at the zoo
6/25: Hanging out with Henry, who has become a really good buddy
6/26: Alfalfa
7/1: Nutella and a splash pad. Life doesn't get much better than that!
7/1: Showing off the cat toy she designed and made herself
7/2: Park time with her beloved Paloma
7/9: Our first real tomato!
7/13: Ball diving.
7/13: They've got balls
7/13: Fancy face painting
7/13: Aaron got the "dedication" award at the end of this Bible camp
7/14: One of our favorite spots
7/14: In her little liberal bubble
7/14: That doesn't seem safe
7/15: Gallagher way next to Wrigley Field
7/15: My favorite part about family movie nights
7/22: Mwah
7/22: Even super villians need a bit of sparkle
7/27: When we had to set her caterpillar free before vacation, she was literally devastated.
8/3: Someone brought their pet bird to the park. Jill was the only one who didn't think that was weird.
8/6: Another Alfalfa
8/9: Danny tried out a cooking class
8/10: Petting the goats at LP Zoo
8/11: Froggy face
8/11: Mr. Jose has the best video games
8/12: Urban backyard pool party
8/15: Buds
Quote Wall
Jill: "Mommy, the only problem with you is not doing what I want!"
Me (after Aaron gagged audibly when I changed Rizzo's litter box): "Honey, how are you going to take care of your own pets when you grow up if you can't stand the sight of their poop? And how will you change your own babies' diapers?"
Aaron: "My wife will do it!"
Danny: "I used my super cat speed so hard I made a lot of owies!"
Me: "Do you remember the name of the tube that connects your throat to your stomach?"
Aaron: "No."
Me: "The esophagus."
Aaron: "That sounds like Sophocles!"
Me (impressed): "Wow, you know who Sophocles is??"
Aaron (nonchalantly): "Of course. He's a Pokemon trainer!"
Aaron (to Jill as she's punching him in the head): "You're gonna be a poop when you grown up!"
Aaron: "Mom, I bet you would like the whismer Pokemon."
Me: "Why?"
Aaron: "Because it's a whispering Pokemon. That means it doesn't talk at all."
Me: "Why would I want a Pokemon that didn't talk?"
Aaron: "Because then it would always listen to you!"
Aaron: "Mommy, it's not fair that there are all these shirts saying what girls can do, but nothing saying what boys can do!"
Me: "What do you mean?"
Aaron: "All my friends at school who are girls have shirts that say 'girls rule' and 'girls are awesome' and 'girls can do anything.' But there aren't any shirts saying that about boys. It's not fair! I can do things too!"
Me: "Honey, Mommy wants to explain something to you called 'male privilege.'"
Danny: "Mommy, my favorite part about you is you!"
Aaron: "Jill, I think you should marry a boy. Cuz if you marry a girl, you'll have to pay money to buy sperm to have a baby and then you'll have less money to pay to take care of your family. But if you marry a boy you won't have to pay money for sperm and you'll have more money to take care of your family!"
Jill: "But I wanted to marry Paloma and Myla and Oscar and Alex and Gabe!"
Danny (chiming in): "I wanna marry a boy!"
Aaron: "Or if you can't decide maybe you should just marry no one. And then you can buy sperm or just adopt."
Me (at bedtime, after Chris already tucked Danny in to bed): "Hey D, do you want me to sing to you or do you want to say your prayers?"
Danny: "Nope! We don't have to sing 'cuz I already sing-ed. And we don't have to prayer 'cuz I already prayer-ed!"
Chris (holding up a cup at Burger King with his finger over the "r"): "Hey Aaron, if I cover the 'r' what does it say?"
Aaron (grinning): "Booger king!"
Danny: "Donald Trump's a booger king!"
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