Happy 12th Birthday, Nathan!

Well it's the end of July again, which means it's time to dust off Ye Olde Blogge because birthday season is upon us, and here remains my best option for capturing something of my babies' baby-selves (yes they're still babies), besides what's happening on insta and whatever.

(Has the social corner of the internet grown into an almost-teen right alongside Nathan? Yes? Yes, it has. The first iPhone was born the same month he was, and well, here we are living in this whole new internet future.)

He's TWELVE today. (!!)

Happy birthday, baby Nathan!!

I wish I had a lovely real professional picture of him but alas, I don't yet, that won't happen for a few more weeks (I'm getting less rigid in my old age) (haaaaa HA you know that's a lie, obviously) (it's just been a busy few weeks and I decided it could wait) (hmmm actually that does sound legitimately like less rigid; I'll take it) and ANYWAY here, enjoy this pic of him from his first day of school yesterday, instead:

He started 7th grade yesterday (still on a modified schedule) and doesn't it sound so old? Seventh grade? He had a good school year last year, which we were surprised and grateful for (surprised because transitioning to middle school sort of sucks amirite? and grateful because we ain't no fools). He loved Chinese best, and took a new interest in history/ social studies. He still likes math and science too, but seems less attached to them over other subjects than he used to be. He does that thing where he's so balanced/fair/noncommittal (Hufflepuff!) that it's hard to tell sometimes what he really likes best, because he seems to moderately enjoy almost all of it. But his affinity for Chinese is clear.

He is still playing his cello and had a great year in orchestra, much better than we knew to expect at his new school. He gets to combine with the band kids and play in a symphony group with brass and winds and percussion which is new to him and has been a really rewarding musical experience.

He has also leaned all in at church this year. He adores youth choir, has turned into a decent little tenor, and seems to have a renewed interest in worship and youth group and faith formation. We did a new (to us) conference at Montreat this year, and he got to be a Music and Worship conferee (Anneliese too!) which they both really liked.

He continues to be obsessed with sports, more obsession in my book than is really warranted considering we have very much screeched the breaks on anything beyond Y teams or city rec league. He watches soccer and football and baseball and fancies himself a future professional, which... mmmkay. (I know, I know, this is normal 12yo kid things, I just need to roll my eyes a little.)

He is still eating everything in sight, says his favorite is steak and also Asian food. He loves Master Chef Jr and still likes to try "helping" in the kitchen and at the grill. He started reading the Lord of the Rings books, but secretly when he doesn't think we are paying attention, he still can't quit the Who Was biographies and takes them to bed on the reg, to read under the covers. He is more and more outgoing and might even be turning into the most extroverted person in this house? (I don't even know what's happening, y'all.)

He loves playing soccer with Charlotte, making videos with Anneliese, trampolining and minecrafting and outside pretending with both of them, building legos in solitude, and he has more patience for little-sister Beanie Boos than I'd ever expect of a kid his age, and yet I'm also not super surprised.

He is kind and confident. He is very anxious and stressed when things don't go how they are "supposed" to go, and we like to joke that his life MO might be "the rules are in place so everyone can JUST HAVE FUN." (Rules: he likes 'em.) He is also bossy and helpful and shows excellent judgement. He's responsible and independent in the best kinds of ways -- managing his own school stuff with very little input needed, riding the city bus home from school on his own every day, getting himself up and going every morning, remembering his schedule and his calendar things. He is curious and snuggly and is in motion 80% of the time. (Growing bodies, man.) He is a really wonderful human, and we love him.

Some of our favorite moments this year are in the video below, including grandparent visits, flights to Minnesota (including a Vikings stadium tour) and to California (!!!) to see Clemson play in the national championship bowl game (I know that's not technically what it's called, don't @ me). Plus Montreat and a road trip and general fun at home:



(If you can't see the video embedded above, click here to watch it on YouTube.)

We love you so much, buddy. And yes, you're twelve and still a baby, thank you for agreeing to this arrangement. Happy birthday, dear Nathan.

Past videos and memories:

Nathan's 10th year
9th year
8th year
7th year
6th year
5th year
4th year
3rd year
2nd year
1st year 

Happy 9th Birthday, Anneliese!

Anneliese is 9 today! (Today meaning, just after midnight, when all the sporadic birthday blogs get published, because if it's a good enough time to have a baby, it's a good enough time to post about it.)

All day I've been asking her, "you know what I was doing nine years ago RIGHT NOW?" and then telling her parts of her birth and labor story and she rolls her eyes (because tween) but then she side-eyes a grin with that dimple and I know she loves it.

I told her I wasn't going to let her go to bed earlier because once she was asleep, she'd be all done being 8, and I wasn't ready to authorize a new age yet. She's all, "mom! you do this every year!" Well... YEP I sure do, can't stop won't stop, get on board baby girl.

So! Birthday week! We are just in the aftermath of our second hurricane in a month (both minor for our purposes, still both frustrating) and we haven't had power and I couldn't bake a cake (I bought one for the first time, someone tell me it's fiiiiiine) or make a birthday video until the wee hours (we have power back, yay!) AND I just got back from a fall break trip with Nathan, so it's been an odd week of nerves and scattered attention and all of a sudden WHOA IT IS HER BIRTHDAY.

She's 9! Look at this sweet big girl.

Anneliese at 9 (almost) (as I'm writing this) is a kind, poised, quirky fun kid. She's ever more introverted, but still chatty with us at home. She's social and has lots of friends and giggles, but doesn't seem to be the leader in any group situation. (Except! We hear she is a leader in the classroom, which is fun to picture.) She has a steady approach to life, in many ways some version of an ideal self I think many adults would want to be (myself included): observing and measuring before acting, not reckless but glad to try new things, confident in saying what she wants or needs yet rarely pushy about it, and (usually) maintaining her composure even when she's confused or stressed.

UNLESS YOU RUSH HER DO NOT RUSH HER SHE CANNOT BE RUSHED. She will cry and break down and say she can't move fast or think clearly when someone is rushing her and stressing her and MOM YOU ARE STRESSING ME OUT (yes, it has begun) (she takes seriously 45 mins to shower and put clothes on every day, and I have no idea what she is doing up there -- staring at the wall? daydreaming of underwear? trying to "match" outfits? -- but I can't look too closely at it, I just have to trust that she'll be dressed and ready and she almost always is; we both do better when I don't micromanage her time but SERIOUSLY WHAT IS SHE DOING (I digress).

She loves to lollygag with her head in the clouds, she's very much a daydreamer, and also a big-picture dreamer, and I think it keeps her content and chill with most of what swirls around her, because she so easily can put her brain somewhere else. I sort of love that about her, because for all the ways she is similar to me emotionally, this corner of her brain is nothing like me, and it's interesting and fun to learn it about her.

She loves her violin and craves our attention and notice when she practices and masters a new song or skill. She likes books and audiobooks and has started leaning into some history and nonfiction which is fun. She is very pro-female and girl-leadership and scowls at people who underestimate girls. (YES YES YES.)

She decided this year she'd like to save some turtles, so we now get straw-shamed when we use a disposable straw around her in a restaurant, except when it's convenient for her, of course, and then it's fine. So... basically she's saving turtles at the speed of a turtle, which is better than not saving them at all right?

Despite being a whole head taller than average for her age, she's still plugging away at gymnastics, and getting better, and having fun! She also loves kicking the soccer ball around outside (this might or might not have more to do with attention and quality time with Nathan than any particular love of soccer) and she's still a strong quick little swimmer. She got a new bike for Christmas (after finally learning to ride last fall) and she's pretty good at that now too!

She's more and more independent, walking to and from the bus stop with Charlotte on her own each day, getting around Montreat on foot on her own this summer, and because she's eager for more independence, she's super reliable and helpful and trustworthy, which is... excellent, and a relief. (And a prayer it sticks, please.)

She loves milk and spaghetti and cabbage risotto and pineapples and sloppy joes and easy mac with sour cream mixed in (I don't even know). She dislikes fizzy drinks and all potatoes except the skinniest of fries, or chips. She would never choose ice cream over another dessert, and she'd never choose chocolate over vanilla, though she'll eat both of those things and rave about them when they're the only options. She adores babies, especially her youngest cousins. She loves dancing to music on YouTube and Amazon. She asked to re-paint her room this summer and after a zillion samples we found an aqua we both agreed on, so... yay for feeling invested in her sense of space? (And by yay I mean WHOA I'm exhausted.) She loves playing dolls with Charlotte and sports with Nathan and board games with Mark. She would communicate in nothing but emojis if we'd let her. She loves unicorns and rainbows and sparkles and slime, and her minecraft worlds are created thusly.

I've said it many times, and I think it even more often: it's bananas cool that we get to be her parents, to love her, to raise her, to see who she's becoming. All of us who get to know and love her are truly better for it, I really believe that.

Video of the past year:


(If you can't see the video embedded above, click here to watch it on YouTube.)

Past years of memories:
8th year
7th year
6th year
5th year
4th year
3rd year
2nd year
1st year

Happy birthday, baby Beanie. We love you forever and ever.

Happy 7th Birthday, Charlotte!

Charlotte Booler is 7 today! Happy birthday, baby girl!

She doesn't know it yet, but when we wake up in the morning, we are taking her to the American Girl Store (we drove to Charlotte, which is the closest storefront to us, to spend the night with my mom and put us closer) and letting her finally FINALLY get an American Girl doll, which she has been coveting for literal years. After wandering the Chicago store last summer, she knows exactly which one she wants, and we have two aunts meeting us there for a tea party/ lunch in the doll cafe (I DO NOT EVEN KNOW WHO I AM ANYMORE), and I am actually legit excited to finally give her this thing she has wanted for so long. (There has been a "responsibility" requirement for such an expensive doll in our family, which she has... um... taken a few extra years to show she can handle.)

Anyway. Doll me strength. Happy doll lunch birthday to this child who has big-girl interests and somehow isn't in a bumbo seat drooling on herself anymore. I know, it's weird how that happened.

Seven!

Charlotte at 7 is a gappy-toothed bubbly chatty funny delight. She has no shortage of personality, and though she still hasn't really ever met a stranger, she's become sliiiiightly more guarded with who gets to see her truly silly side. She loves dancing in her room, lip syncing with a hairbrush, and filming herself talking to the camera about all manner of nothing (as if she's a youtuber, which she longs to be, which I will not allow, despite the hours of footage added up on all our devices showing her life dream about this).

She's a night owl and an early riser, both. She's a lefty who loves drawing and writing her name on everything. She loves puzzles and math. Her favorite mammal is a sheep but her favorite SEA-mammal is a narwhal, and her favorite overall animal is a penguin. (She really likes animals.)

She took a sign language elective at school last year, and now loves signing. She's on a quest to learn more, and notices sign language now everrrrywhere, tons of places I had never noticed myself. She says when she grows up, she wants to be a person who signs sermons in church (or an artist. one of those).

She loves Beanie Boos, and will recite a list of the ones she owns, in order of acquisition, to anyone who will listen. (I don't recommend listening to this, unless you have, like, very specific insomnia needs.)

She reports that the best new places she went this year were a Disney Cruise, and (finally!) Montreat. Of all our kids, she's the one who most craves a new adventure, which is really fun for me, since it feels like a little bit of me, connecting to her in that way.

She didn't do dance this year, because she was a bit overwhelmed at starting a full-day school schedule, and it was all just... too much. (To this I say: YEP I GET IT ME TOO.) She does miss having an activity though, so she will start gymnastics with Anneliese this fall. She also loves running (and is fast!) and finally this winter learned to swim. It's amazing how fast and strong her swimming is now, just a few months later. (However, she doesn't want to be called "quite the little fish" but "quite the little narwhal." Please to make a note.)

She and Anneliese have become thick as thieves this year, which is really fun to see. (Well, really fun insofar as the bickering doesn't exhaust me, because they are very much thieves of the bickering ilk.) When Nathan is home, she sort of has to vy for Anneliese's attention and affection, but most often she can fit right into the group dynamic, and the girls find lots of moments for sister time with dolls and dancing and whatever camping show they're into watching together these days.

Sometimes parenting Charlotte feels like a whole new beast to Mark and me. She's somehow cut from a very different cloth than the other two (I know, I know, all children are different), and it once in a while renders us feeling like hopeless newbies at this whole thing, even though we're over a decade in and she's our third kid. Those days and weeks and spells are... hard. She has her own mind, and knowing what the expectations are, and what the right thing to do is, isn't *always* enough to convince her to do it. But MOST of the time, she is wonderful and quirky and funny and sweet, always the first one who wants to snuggle or have special time one on one with us, often the first who wants to help in the kitchen, the least complainy about chores and cleaning, and these days the best eater in the house (whoa). She is becoming more confident in her needs and her gifts, and it's super cool to see her becoming the person she will be.

For now, we'll settle into watching her be seven. We'll spend the day doll shopping and eating chocolate cheesecake (her request). We'll delight in this little Booler, and be so joyful that we get to know her and love her. It seems only a moment ago, the idea of a third baby was so hypothetical, just a lark of a hope, and now she's here and human and funny and HER. She made and makes our family complete, and we love her like the sun.

Happy birthday, dear Charlotte. We love you so much, forever and ever, baby Booler.

Memories from Charlotte's 7th year:



(If you can't see the embedded video, click here to watch on YouTube.)

And from years past:

Sixth year
Fifth year
Fourth year
Third year
Second year
First year

Happy 11th Birthday, Nathan!

Welp, Nathan is eleven!

The tiny baby who came home to two mostly-clueless parents and two pups who thought they were human, the baby who inspired the move of Erin's Official Internet Sharings from, like, long emails and LiveJournals and MySpace to HERE IN YE LITTLE CORNER OF THE WEBZ which has already somehow aged itself out of usefulness in keeping up with the times but I can't quite quit it anyway -- yeah, THAT little newborn baby is now eleven.

Eleven!

Happy birthday, baby Nathan!

He started middle school this week (magnet school with a modified schedule starts early and ends early each year). He's still doing orchestra, and loving science and design things, is doing a geometric construction class (?) (something about math and buildings) and also digital literacy (because 2018) and Chinese and all sorts of big-kid things.

He has reached the age of into-every-sport, thinks he is destined to be a great football star (he has never played football, never, not once, but he will be trying it this fall) (the flag variety, I'm not nuts y'all, PLEZ), is actually a really fast swimmer, likes running, and wears out athletic shoes faster than he outgrows them (he's still the smallest kid in his grade) (best of luck with those football dreams, buddy). He has fallen hard for the Croatian national soccer team, the Twins (?) and the Vikings (???) - but is most enthused about Clemson football, because, yknow, Dad time.

He tells jokes that actually (sometimes) have a real punchlines that are (somewhat) funny. He is too old for Daniel Tiger but not too old for Cars and Toy Story. He isn't yet too cool for snuggling. THANK THE LORD AMIRITE?! He loves his little sisters and his little cousins and is compliant and responsible and polite, and only shows signs of teen 'tude when he's overstimulated or beyond his introvert limits (but is better than many adults at recognizing that and escaping for a bit to recharge).

He is bossy but we have no idea where he gets that. *shrug*  *cringe*

His YouTube history is still full of dinosaur documentaries and info about maritime history, now with a smattering of Two Cellos, The Piano Guys, Imagine Dragons, Minecraft how-tos, sportsball highlights, kid chef/cooking shows, drawing tutorials, and Try Not to Laugh videos. (Spoiler alert: he usually laughs. Often at o' dark thirty in the morning when I am trying to sleep late.) (Someone wake me when my mom of the year trophy arrives.)

We got him a cell phone earlier this summer, for the advent of middle school (he'll eventually be taking a city bus home, and I need to text him and also track his every location and move like any millenial parent, duh) and as we were setting up our family cell phone rules, and talking about not disparaging other people or excluding them or saying unkind or untrue things about them, etc - he said "so basically, be a a Hufflepuff?" YES, BUDDY. YES. BE A HUFFLEPUFF.

And he is. Through and through. He seeks to include, he clamors for what's fair (to the point where his exacting nature is sometimes exhausting for me), he is empathetic and kind and funny, and just a truly wonderful little human.

I felt a LOT of feelings this past Sunday, his due date, the night before he started middle school. I cried all my tears and missed his infant self and I think I have that out of my system for the moment, because right now all I can think about is how great he is, how glad I am I know him, and how amazed and grateful I am that we get to be his parents.

Happy birthday, dear Nathan. We love you so much. xoxo


(Click here to watch the embedded video above on YouTube.)


Memory lane:

Nathan's 10th year
9th year
8th year
7th year
6th year
5th year
4th year
3rd year
2nd year
1st year (omg   *sob emoji*)

Happy Birthday, Anneliese!

Anneliese is 8 today! I secretly want to keep her home from school and take the day off work and snuggle and watch movies (read: birthday videos) and hang out with her all day, and I even offered her the option to play hooky, but she wants to go to school and see her friends and have a class birthday breakfast or whatever, so LE SIGH woe is me etc. I will just be here, distracted from client stuff, feeling my mommy feelings and watching the clock.

Tonight we have a pool party planned at an indoor parks and rec place with a slide, and all her fall pool party birthday dreams will come true. (She eyeballs her siblings' summer birthdays wistfully, and they do the same for her school-year birthday. The grass is always greener, munchkins. Get used to it.)

I have a german chocolate cake waiting, and will put something colorful on top (?) before the day is out. Coconuts and chocolate and nuts for my girl, with a rainbow and a grin.

The world has delighted Anneliese for another year, and she has delighted us too. Some fun moments from this year:


(If you can't see the video embedded above, click this link to watch on YouTube.)

And the memory lane videos:
seventh year
sixth
fifth
fourth
third
second
first

Every time I stop and remember how excited I was to meet Anneliese, to have a daughter, my daughter, I am amazed anew at how she's exactly as wonderful as we hoped, and more wonderful all the time. Our lives are better because we get to love her, and the world is better because she's in it.

Happy birthday, dear Anneliese. We love you so much!

Anneliese at Almost 8

We have reached the point in this funny moment in time known as "blogging" where instead of everyday tidbits and daily-slog-minutiae delight nuggets, I find myself only vignetting my babies into words a thin slice at a time. And that's harder than you'd think, or maybe exactly as hard as you'd think, because capturing any human into a slice of a moment in time is... well, hard.

And here we are, with tiny "new baby" turned big girl big sister "middlest baby" Anneliese as an almost-eight-year-old. When I try to wrap my brain around where we were eight years ago this week -- newly a stay-at-home-parent, very pregnant, worried about H1N1, curious about folks getting smartphones, wondering how to picture our only child as a big brother, ending what we then naively adorably thought was the hardest decade in America we had seen in ages haaaaaaomg -- it's almost hard to remember that. It seems like another life. It was another life.

And then there was Anneliese. And now, well, look at her go.

Last winter, she finally lost that janky tooth that busted up her face when she was two. It's weird how it feels like both Anneliese and I spent five years cussing that tooth and missing her baby smile (me), and hating the jank (her), and then when it finally came out, I was, like, profoundly sad. When you have legit feelings about teeth as the end of an era, that's when you know your mom math is some weird sh!t, yo. (Anneliese was uncomplicatedly thrilled to toss it to the tooth fairy and move on with her life, for the record. Gave none craps about the memory and trauma and face change. KIDS AMIRITE.)

Anneliese at almost eight is a bookworm, devouring chapter books and audiobooks faster than we can put them in her hands or ears, and always on the hunt for a new free little library. She has taken in some of my own children's favorites this year (Harry Potter, the Little House series, the Narnia books, Roald Dahl, Beverly Cleary) which has been super fun (for me). One of her current favorite things is for us to go on a walk together and listen to our audiobooks and hold hands. She won't outgrow this too soon, right? Right?? RIGHT?! (Someone tell me she won't. Lie to me if you must.)

She has also decided sometime in the last year that music is maybe her Thing. She started on violin in orchestra last winter, and also auditioned for a spot in a community choir in a neighboring suburb, and adores singing with them. She is the youngest one, and thinks that singing with big kids all the way up through high school is the best. She spends a fair amount of time upstairs in the closest between her room and Charlotte's, sounding out tunes on the keyboard and trying to match it to her violin, which is super sweet, and also whoa dang loud, and also no you may not start piano yet, my dear, you are already super booked up. (But yes, our band nerd hearts are proud.)

She loves babies and taking care of her baby cousins, and is convinced (and will tell anyone who will listen) that she possesses a talent called "baby magic" that means she can always soothe them, and, well, I mean, let's just say I will be a very sweet mom when her own kid has colic, because that's definitely happening, right? That's how the universe works, last time I checked.

Anneliese and Charlotte have been playing together better this year than ever before in their lives. The closet between their rooms is currently set up like a nursery for all their babies (and I do mean all! their! babies! SO MANY BABIES OMG) and it reminds me so much of Ashley and me at that age that it just squeezes my heart and is exactly what I was hoping their sisterhood would be like.

She and Nathan are still fast friends too, and they all three still pile into her room every Friday night for a sleepover. I'm so scared those days are numbered but I will cling to it and let them do it as many more weeks/months/years of their childhoods as they want.

Anneliese become a bit more shy and a bit more poised this year. She is polite and mostly quiet in a group, yet also social and fun with lots of friends and party invites and stories from school. When she's chatty, she's nonstop - but she's decidedly less chatty than Other People who live in this house.

She switched this fall from dance to gymnastics and that seems to be going well, although it's a new rhythm for our family not to have any tiny dancers at the moment. She also likes crafts and sewing, and (like her mommy!) loves notebooks and pens and is always trying a new pretty ("pretty") lettering.

She loves sunshine and hates cold weather. She considers herself an indoor cat, except for trampolining and her newly-learned skill of bike riding. She adores sleep. First one down every night, and the last one up every morning. And she would nap any day we'd let her.

She is obsessed with spaghetti, especially her daddy's. She loves coconut and almonds and somehow loves popping candy but not carbonated beverages, because, well, people are complicated I guess.

And yes, a streak of rainbow still follows her everywhere she goes.

We love you, baby Beanie. Happy almost 8!

Happy Birthday, Charlotte!

Charlotte is six today!

She has been really sick since last Friday, rull vommy and hasn't kept solid food down in almost four days. (It's her birthday now! Today is the day! Right?) She spiked a fever on Sunday night so we took her to the doctor yesterday and it's a strep infection, weird because no sore throat, but hey apparently it happens.

Sadly we had to cancel the party we had planned for her this morning, but we will do it on Sunday instead. She's never had a real birthday party and she was SO excited for it, but it's just a simple "playdate with cake" variety swimming in our backyard which is super easy to reschedule and I'm going to out on a limb and assume all our party guests would rather have a beach ball party favor that, oh I don't know, strep.

But fortunately we can still proceed to my family's Bumgarner beach week this afternoon as planned, since the 24-hour mark with her meds will be here soon. She will be glad to see cousins and grandparents and play in the sand and maybe like eat a cracker or something. Happy birthday to you! Saltines!

(I did make a cake too, I swear.)

I hope she wakes up perky enough to enjoy her special day. I am full of feelings as always; there's something about my baby hitting each new year that tugs my heart in a different way than the other two. It makes ME feel less like a rookie mom (which I know I'm not, but don't we all still kinda feel that inside?) and every time she ages up, it's like a new life stage for us we are leaving behind. So that's it, the preschool years are over, I officially have a house full of big kids, and it's sad and weird and great.

A few of our favorite moments of our beautiful Booler this year:


If you can't see the video embedded above, click here to watch it on YouTube.)

(Memory lane: here are her first, second, third, fourth and fifth years too.)

Happy birthday, dear Charlotte, our pinky finger, our funny heart, our baby Booler!

Charlotte at Almost 6

As I am writing this, it's August 1, and we are in transit on the way home from our road trip. We are in... (I just legit had to look at my maps app to see)... Washington Court House, Ohio, which is a thriving (no) metropolis (no) in the middle of a cornfield (yes). It's beautiful here and the hotel is so new it smells like construction (in a good way) and there is an indoor pool, where the kids are swimming. Because they've been cooped up in the car all day and I have no idea what time it is because I can't remember what time zone we are in, and all semblance of a schedule has flown straight out the window and not only do I not care, I sort of love it.

So.

Six years ago today was Charlotte's due date, but I harbored no illusions that I would be having a baby. I had a massage scheduled, and I hadn't even brought the other kids to their please-watch-my-babies-because-I'm-having-a-baby grandparent coverage. But it's still a date that stands out to me. I can only be who I am, yknow?

Charlotte has been less delightful at age five than the other two were, but she was also less horrifying at three, so maybe this is just how the world balances. She is feisty and spirited and defiant and playful and exuberant in ways that are new to our family (her Bumgarner is showing, I think), until I get her around a group of other kids her age and she seems the most calm and even-keeled child in the crowd. PERSPECTIVE, is what I'm saying.

So basically she IS a delight, and it's a whole different brand of delight than we have parented before, and she is the bright spot in our brightest days.

Charlotte at almost six is impossibly sunny (except when she's impossibly cloudy), is constantly in motion, has an imagination on fire, and isn't short on ideas or opinions (we don't know where she gets that).

She is likely our only extrovert child, yet she's also the best one at playing by herself for hours (literally) on end, talking out loud to herself and her multitude of toys and toy figurines and calico critters and toysies and paw patrol pups. She chatters constantly, either at whoever is in the room, or at herself when she's alone.

She did a half-day kindergarten this year, and she has done fine, but school isn't so much her jam that we are ready to scoot her on to first grade next year. So when she starts public school in a few weeks, it'll be in a full-day K class, which was a surprisingly uncomplicated decision for us. It feels right and we are super excited to see what she will do next year. (She is super excited to finally ride the bus with her siblings.) She is really respectful and compliant in class, and we get so many compliments from her teachers and her friends' parents about what a dream she is to have around, which is is always so nice to hear.

At home, she is less inclined to the rules and more inclined to sneak some privacy for breaking them - a few months ago she stole Anneliese's (righty!) scissors (Charlotte's had already been taken away because of a whole separate scissor incident) and cut her hair. Right in the front on her forehead. While standing on a stool. She GOT A STOOL and she STOLE SCISSORS which she KNEW she was NOT ALLOWED TO HAVE and she CUT HER HAIR. With her NON-DOMINANT HAND. And that's basically how Charlotte feels about rules she doesn't like. (She also can't walk by a mirror without admiring herself and preening, so the natural consequences of that one were punishment enough.)

She has big dreams for when she grows up, either to be a preacher or to be the president, although recently she's been saying the presidency sounds sort of hard and she doesn't feel like going to college so maybe she will choose a job that doesn't require a college degree, like cleaning houses. Which apparently she thinks she likes. And also is good at. (If you saw her room, you would understand my wide eyes at this.)

She loves running and the trampoline and she's an excellent artist (really! I'm not just saying that because I'm her mom!) and a beautiful singer. She is learning to spell and type and add and subtract. She is great on her scooter but still working on bikes and swimming. She's an adorable dancer and loves doing tumbling and somersaults with Anneliese.
She loves the beach and the pool and candy and pizza and corn on the cob and playgrounds and youtube (she also loves taking the ipod upstairs and recording her own youtube-style videos, mostly outlining the mess in her room and all the rules she is breaking by making a video when she's supposed to be cleaning or whatever).

She has a withering glare that DOES NOT PLAY, and no one in our family can beat her at the straight-faced game. Which is a game the kids play. For fun, I guess. I don't know. (It's less fun for me when she perfects said glare when I would like her to just! smile! and take! a! nice! picture! but I know those photos will make me laugh one day so I try to roll with it but LAWD child, that face.)

She still answers to the name Booler (at home, more often than Charlotte) and she loves to tell us she's the pinky finger of our family but she is NOT a baby anymore. Basically she is a hilarious, warm, loving, playful creature and she brings so much happiness to our home. Our family is complete because she is with us, and we love her so much. Happy almost six, little Booler.

Happy 10th Birthday, Nathan!

Nathan is TEN and I don't even know up from down as I say that. Ten. TEN YEARS OH MY GEESH.

I don't know where the last decade went, but I think went up in a cloud of laughing and crying and learning to be a family. The last year in particular has been a joy with him. He's turning into such a wonderful person:



Alllll the other birthday video memories:
Nathan's 9th Year
8th Year
7th Year
6th Year
5th Year
4th Year
3rd Year
2nd Year
1st Year

Happy 10th birthday, dear Nathan. We love you with our whole selves, and we always will. <3 p="">

Nathan at Almost 10

Well I never thought I would see the day, but this year -- ten years in -- is the year I finally had to ask myself a few times, trying to remember which was Nathan's due date. (The 22nd. It was the 22nd!)

It's also the year everything went completely bananas and I stopped even pretending to blog, but I have to leave this space here anyway, my own little corner of the internet, because I need a home for memories and milestones and that kind of thing, even if the day-to-day captures have moved to other online homes.

As this is posting, our family is floating northward on America's highways, en route to Wisconsin Dells, because a day of giant waterparks is what Nathan requested for his 10th birthday, and we do love a reason for a road trip. (And a waterpark.) (And a celebration.) It's funny how tween and preteen birthday requests have moved away from toys and Thomas and Friend Cars, and are now all about devices and bikes and projects and trips. COME BACK TO ME, FRIEND CARS. (Cars 3 is out this summer and I won't lie, I'm dying to see it just so I can cry some nostalgia tears remembering the baby and toddler years.)

So yeah, Nathan is about to turn ten. We've known him for a decade. We've been parents for a decade. I am so freaking full of Feelings my head has been spinning for weeks.

Nathan has had a really good year -- dare I say it was even better than when he was five? (#fiveforever!) He is kind and responsible and funny, and while he remains a true introvert, he is ever more out of his shell. He likes public speaking, and he is proud anytime he can be in a leader role.

He is doing pretty well in school, working hard enough to make decent grades, but not so hard he sacrifices precious Pokemon chatter time. He loves science and math, and loves reading history and biography books. It's taken me years to convince him that novels (or any fiction) are also a delight, but finally FINALLY he is very super crazy into Harry Potter, is partway through the 7th book, and talks about almost nothing else these days. In classic Nathan fashion, he spends hours in internet rabbit holes about fan theories and movie castings and behind the scenes info, and lost in Pottermore fandom, and he thinks it's very important that I tell you here that he's a proud Hufflepuff who thinks fairness, justice, loyalty, and inclusion are the most important things (this is actually delightfully accurate about him).

These days he says he'd like to be an architect when he grows up; he spends lots of his time building and designing all manner of things with his legos and sketching and any boxes or tubes or bottles or other crap he pulls from the recycling bin. (He might or might not have a tiny hoarding problem in his room.)

He also loves watching Master Chef, Jr, and has been harboring some serious cooking desires recently. He wants to try new foods and learn to make them, and we don't even know what happened to our little baby who only ever wanted to eat bagels, and now requests lunch dates so he can have some grilled salmon which we never really fix at home. He delights me in surprising quirky ways, and I love seeing him become more and more himself.

He has become surprisingly (to us! we didn't see it coming!) athletic in the last year, thriving at soccer, making a good effort at basketball, and swimming and running faster than many kids his age, despite his small size (he's still the tiniest kid in his grade). He had two bad scooter spills this year resulting in a few (minor) fractures and injuries in his wrist, elbow, knee and hip -- and spent most of his spring in a leg cast, wrist brace and sling. He was discouraged at the time, but has recovered with no problems and is back to normal now.

He's still playing his cello, and has buckled down and really worked hard at this year; we are officially impressed by what he can do. And! He can now match a pitch, singing! We also never thought we'd see that day. :) He loves choir at church, partly because he's suddenly a great singing leader, and partly because as one of the older kids, he has lots of chances for speaking parts and reading at the front of the church, which he loves.

He and Anneliese are still chummy with each other above all others, but are learning to branch out and be social with their own peer groups and also with Charlotte. They've had a few moments of pain together this year that were hard to watch, but also good to see them grow and learn.

Nathan is still the tiny adult in our family, classic oldest child: doing a funny dance between needing to be a baby with snuggles and back scratching and coddling -- and acting as grown up as possible, bossing his sisters and generally trying to manage everyone and everything around him (I seriously have NO IDEA WHERE HE GETS THIS *ahem*). He's helpful, sometimes to a fault, but we love about him that  he always takes initiative and looks to see what others might need or want. His toddlerhood excellence at empathy is manifesting in new and caring ways, and we are so proud.

Happy almost-ten to our wonderful, serious, funny, loving, bright baby boy. Watching you grow for a decade has been the greatest joy of our lives.