I haven't posted in such a long time and my brain so easily forgets the cute things these kids do. They grow so quickly and come out of their different phases before I can really cement their mannerisms.
I can't even believe how big Rowan is sometimes. He has gone through FOUR sizes of shoes since October and has the appetite of a teenage boy. His most recent wellness check said he was in the 98% for height which is mind boggling to me. He's never seemed insanely tall to me, but he's not messing around these days with growing up. He is just such a good kid. So good-hearted, responsible, kind and sweet. He is rocking the socks off of kindergarten and excelling in all subjects. I'm so proud of the person he is and is becoming. Sometimes, he'll go in the backyard to play by himself with a stick or some other random object and play forever. I have no idea what he's doing, but he sure does. It involves lots of moving around brandishing objects and fighting imaginary foes. Rowan is also doing remarkably well at Taekwando. He should be getting his yellow belt this next month and can hardly wait to move ahead. It takes a lot of memorization to excel and I am blown away at how quickly he seems to pick up the combinations and moves. He continues to be a sweet, gentle brother to his younger siblings. He's excited for this new brother to make his arrival and says the sweetest prayers over him. It's such a miraculous thing to see this almost 7-year-old boy who used to fit in my arms be so independent. He wakes up every morning, dresses himself, gets ready for school, and then spends all these hours away from me learning and growing. I get sad when I think about it sometimes, missing when his whole world revolved around being at home with me, but I also get emotional thinking about how amazed and proud I am of him for being so responsible and grown-up. He does not like doing chores and moves like a sloth when asked to do them, narrating every moment and highlighting how much he doesn't like doing his current task. This boy's mouth hardly ever stops moving. His instructor commented the other day that you never have to wonder what Rowan's thinking. He goes on and on and on in excessive detail about anything he's thinking about. He's always been such a talker. I remember when he was a baby/toddler and how he'd just babble all the time while driving or when waking up from a nap. I love seeing his faith in Jesus Christ grow and his desire to be like him. He blesses our family in such a profound and wonderful way.
Lyra girl. Oh boy. This one is so funny. I can hardly keep up with her, but I am trying. She's going through the same reading book with me that I did with Rowan and doing a smashing good job. Each lesson takes about 20 minutes and that's about how long her attention span can handle. She's just so busy all the dang time. Her handwriting is absolutely perfect. Those fine motor skills of hers are top notch. She enjoys writing more than reading and loves to color, write notes, and even makes little paper dolls and paper dollhouses to play with. She's so creative and picks up on things so quickly. Lyra is very content playing by herself, but seeks out friends more than our other three. She likes to be "momma" to Rocky and they play really well together (most of the time). They're both pretty brutal with one another when they aren't getting along, but have a sweet relationship about 90% of the time. We put her in taekwando in hopes it would help her grow her focus, self-control, and discipline. It certainly is helping and her instructor is fantastic with her. Physically, she's a wonder and pretty much nothing can hold her back there. She and Rowan are both natural athletes and I love watching them learn more about each sport. She tries to instruct the other students during class a lot and makes sure to let her instructor know when she's doing a good job at teaching or offer some tips for improvement. Again, thankfully her instructor finds her funny instead of too much to handle. Lyra LOVES to clean. It's nothing short of a miracle. She'll proudly surprise me with an entire room in the house that she cleaned and organized. I love her spunk. It's hard sometimes to parent, but I admire it so much about her. She is never, ever afraid to go to bat with me over something and defends anyone she feels is being mistreated with the ferocity of a lion. Again, a little exhausting, but she's going to need that tenacity facing this crazy world. Lyra likes preschool despite us still not really knowing what goes on there for her. Her teacher has only positive things to say about her and says she is doing really well. She tells us wild stories all the time about school and I should have been more diligent about documenting them. I love her sweet and sour little self so much. I wish I could be half as cool as she is someday.
Rodrick Royal is rockin being two. He is very extreme in his emotions as any good toddler should be. He tends to be very happy the majority of the time, but watch out when he's angry or sad. He loves big kids, but will randomly attack kids his age or younger while playing. It's exhausting to keep up with to keep him from brutalizing poor, innocent children. If a kid hits Rocky, I run over there real quick. Usually the parents are expecting my haste as a sign of how upset I am that something has happened to my kid, but they're dead wrong. I just need to get over to him before he finishes the fight. A little push or shove is not going to really hurt Rocky, but what Rocky does next is always a little terrifying. I think because Rowan and Lyra are generally effected so little by a push or hit from Rocky he doesn't understand completely how much he can really hurt a small person like him. He loves to read books, especially about superheroes or dinosaurs. I love that he reads books with me in a way my other kids absolutely did not. He also loves when I sing to him and the older two likewise did not like me to do that. He loves to insert his siblings and self into any book or song. His current song choices are "Mean Old Witch", the monkey/alligator song, and the car and train song from Mother Goose Club (with various family members in every. single. song). He's our slowest talker which makes things hard for the both of us. He's talking more and more each week, but our other two were on full sentences by this age which made understanding one another so much easier. His pediatrician said they are seeing toddlers by the droves struggling with speech delays. A lot have been around people so much less and aren't picking up language from social settings and children learn a huge amount of how to speak from watching lips (which masks prevent). We had the option to be on an incredibly long wait list to see a speech therapist, but I'm very hopeful we will be able to get him to where he should be by just being more meaningful in our communication with him. He's so charming and sweet. He has dimples on both sides and has the most heart-melting smile (especially when saying sorry for something he shouldn't have done). I love this age on him so, so much. I love watching him follow his siblings around and imitating them. I'm also pretty lucky to get some one-on-one time with him five days a week. It makes me feel as if I can fully appreciate all the little things that make up his personality right now. I love how much joy he brings to our family and getting to know who Rocky boy is.
