Vivian Paige: SIX

07.03.2020 (except I'm writing this post in February 2021... ooops #2020)

Viv is SIX! and I can hardly believe it. 

Viv lately

-38.3lbs 44in, 9th and 18th percentile respectively (still TINY!)

-Clothes.. 5-6T 

-She's still an awesome sleeper, but like her dad she is an early riser and finds a project  

-She is still at the Montessori school 5 days/week 8:30-4 and she loves it! She is in Ms. April's Primary classroom 
-She is doing ballet and soccer
-We went to DISNEY!!! again.... 
-She raised over $1000 for the American Heart Association for the THIRD year in a row
-She is the BEST big sister!! They have their quarrels, but goodness she loves and nurtures that little best friend of hers. She always stands up for him and protects him. She is his biggest cheerleader!
-

Her "quirks"kept us on our toes... here are just a few...
-She can't close her lips when she's wearing lip gloss or lip stick so she talks funny and drools a little bit
-I am fairly confident she says more words daily than there are in the dictionary... the girl NEVER stops talking
-She has a little OCD
-She's a little pack rat! She collects, stores, hides, and packs all kinds of odd things
-Her favorite color(s) right now: "hot pink, turquoise, lavendar (light purple in case you aren't familiar), and light yellow. 

Milestones

-Reading (in her head)
-Addition and subtraction, and newly working on multiplication (at six?!?!)

_Telling time
-It's fascinating to watch her little brain grow right before our eyes. She has matured so much over the last year and watching her thoughts play out has been incredible. 

Likes
ANYTHING Rainbow Unicorn!

Reading and writing: she has a collection of journals and is constantly drawing and writing

Getting her nails painted
Playing with friends: she is consistently setting up playdates by writing letters to her friend's parents and passing out my cell phone number 
Her brother
Church
Books
Playing pretend- princess, teacher, mommy, shopping, cooking, dressing up
Looking at pictures and videos of herself (vain much? haha)
Coloring/painting
Puzzles

Singing
Dancing- she just can't stop the feeling! 
Being outside
Swimming
Movies/TV.... Faves are 

Food: Her favorite meal is still salmon and brussel sprouts (she requested it for her birthday), and she's great about trying new things, but don't get me wrong, there's nothing like a good carb or a pound of sugar!! 

Dislikes

Not getting her way

Being patient

Pictures (over the last year):

6th Birthday!!
We celebrated !

Ford Ryan: FOUR

 9.14.20 (posted February 2021... oops)

Our guy is FOUR! 

Ford Ryan, you continue to be our little "sour patch kid"... you have always had the SWEETEST soul and are so sensitive, but boy do you have a little sour side. You never pass up an opportunity to remind us how much you love us, and ask daily to do special things for your "sissy" to show her how much you care. Lately, you have requested to buy her "beautiful jewelry" and colorful flowers- because you know her so well (better than I do)... remember that time you asked to buy her flowers and I convinced you to select the white tulips that match my decor so well even though you were sure she would prefer the multi-colored daisies? And you were right. You're going to make some girl very happy one day, but in the meantime, keep spoiling your sister and I. But don't get me wrong... that little sour side pops in on the daily. You make it known if you aren't happy with something, or someone.. and boy can you give some looks! 

You keep us on our toes all.of.the.time. You NEVER slow down. Your little mind is always at work. You are very curious and quite mischievous. You love to learn how things work... so much so, you broke the toilet at school in an attempt to discover its inner workings. Lucky for you, you have the absolute best teacher and she promptly bought a book to help explain how toilets work. Anyone need to know what the flapper does? Ford's your guy. You take things apart, break things, steal them away and are constantly searching to learn the ins and outs of every single item that crosses your path. Most of this drives us all mad, but we know that one day it will serve you well. Just NOT TODAY!

School has been a challenge lately. After daddy left for deployment you had a rough go. Getting you IN the building was an everyday battle thanks to a little separation anxiety. Nonnie fixed that with her bright idea to send a picture of the family with you to school- that brought you so much peace.. and us too. There were also a LOT of visits to the office due to little outbursts and an inability to listen or stay on task. You were even politely asked to leave the nap room (and go home after lunch- for 2 months) because you refused to sleep or be quiet. This is still a work in progress, but you have been welcomed back into the nap room and are doing great! The visits to the office have lessened... although you visited yesterday for biting (have we regressed to a 2 year old??!) and (purposefully) pushing a metal object through your shoe until it broke to "see how strong it was". Like I said, a work in progress. Daddy being back home has helped you settle a ton, but we have also begun play therapy to help you recognize and manage your emotions... and hopefully reduce the number of love letters we receive from the office. 

You've had a busy year! and we are SO proud of the little person you have become. Truly no longer a baby.. although you will always be my baby. We can't wait to see what the next year brings as we continue to watch you fearlessly grow into the person God created you to be!

Just Ford:

-35lbs 40in and has "super muscles!"

-He is wearing 4T clothes

-He is a great sleeper (7:30-6:30), it's the going to sleep (master staller) and waking up (mischievous man lurking through the house at wee hours of the morning) that is the issue. Last winter, Adam converted his crib to a toddler bed and removing that physical barrier opened the floodgates... we could NOT get him to stay in bed after that. SO, he bought himself a crib tent and has been living in that until this week. The only reason it has been removed is because he learned how to let himself out. Pray for us. 

-He is quite the planner. He likes to know the play by play of each day and his favorite question is "what's after nap?" PS nighttime sleep is the "long nap" and daytime naps are "short naps" so all sleep is a nap. Naps are very confusing topics in our house

-He's got some big goals/plans. For instance, he told me  "I just need to go to the store and buy a space suit and a rocketship and some air and water  and dried fruit and I can zoom into space!" easy peasy
-He is still in the primary classroom with Ms. Sally Sue at the Montessori school 5 days/week

-He is a busy body and is always climbing on something or someone (I have bruises to prove it)

-He is very intrigued by the cardinal directions and asks which direction we are going at every turn.

-He likes to point with his middle finger

-He has some BIG emotions with quite the 'little' outbursts- screams, cries, runs to his room, throws and punches things- Santa brought him a punching bag for Christmas.  

-He is deciding what he wants to be when he grows up... it's between a pilot, an astronaut, a truck driver or Sharkboy

Milestones
-Ford talk: "stachios": pistachios; "flipball": football; "smarshmallows": marshmallows; "penny tank": piggy bank; "croncrete": concrete; "oggles": goggles; "chickalay": Chic-fil-A (I'm not sure we'll ever call it by its correct name again). "shimmer show!" this took us months to figure out- turns out it was his version of "Illumination" as said by minions in the opening credits of Illumination films. He replaces and & also with 'even' ie. "Can I have an apple even a pear". Instead of "is in" it's "lives in" ie "My bed lives in my room" "Jack lives in my classroom" thats a funny one
-Counts to 30
-He knows all of his letters, can write his own name (at 3.5) and is learning to sound out and spell words

-He calls letters 'numbers', but numbers are also 'numbers'
-He learned which finger is the pinky finger so he can make pinky promises
-He has a good arm- he can throw like a boss!

 Likes
-He LOVES his "sissy", or "ViviAUN", and is always concerned about her. She can make him laugh and smile like no one else. Warms this mamas heart! What does NOT warm this mamas heart is when he copies and repeats his sister- Lord, give me strength!
-Favorite colors: blue and green

-Sticks, dirt and rocks
-"nap clothes" ie PJs- this is all he would wear if we allowed it. He's even snuck his nap clothes under his school clothes at times
-Books/reading
-Asking Alexa how to make "snowman cupcakes"
-His sparkly jumpsuits (thanks mom)
-Fridays! aka ICE CREAM DAY! 

-Movies/TV: Grizzly, Sharkboy and Lavagirl, Home Alone (allll the tricks), Dennis the Menace (I swear he is Dennis- it was probably a terrible idea to allow him to watch that movie!)
-BALLOONS!!
-Basketball, soccer, baseball
-Jumping! and climbing
-Swimming/water

-Foods: snacks! waffles (sometimes still frozen), peanut butter, chicken, cheese, blueberries, bananas, grapes, smoothies, pizza, yogurt, "special treats"

Dislikes
-Not getting his way
-When he thinks he's in trouble. He lives to make everyone happy!
-Loud noises!
-Broccoli- just the mention of it
-Wearing any article of clothing EXCEPT his "nap clothes" ie pajamas

Look how I've grown!