Elise at Five

Elise, summed up in one picture

My Elise Lady,

Your muchness is still going strong, but it seems to be tapering off at the extreme ends. You still like to get Aaron or Elijah all worked up, but the Sharpie on the wall episodes are basically gone! 

Earlier this year you told Daddy "I'm tired of playing with my invisible friends." That just broke my heart. Covid has been pretty easy on our family compared to many others, but you are in desperate need of socialization. I try to arrange playdates when I can, but we're still trying to careful since vaccines for your age aren't anywhere close to happening yet. 

With that in mind, we decided that your needs will best be met going to public school. There are lots of things I don't like about it (especially the single 20 minute recess thing), but overall I think you need that constant interaction with friends. I'm excited for you!

You spend most of your time playing babies, Barbies, Legos, or Little Critters. Occasionally Aaron or Catherine will play with you. Sometimes Paul Knox. But mostly you play by yourself. Once a week on your Mom Day I try to make sure I take time to play with you, but it's never enough. We played for over an hour today and it still wasn't enough! 

Aaron's bed, full of your millions of 'babies'.

You love to sleep in Aaron's room. I think you love it because he'll play some form of babies with you as you're supposed to be going to bed. You love having company! 

Other fun things you like to do include watching horrible YouTube videos like Cry Babies whenever I'll let you borrow my phone, playing Smash Brothers on the Switch, climbing the playset, playing on the trampoline, and riding your bike. 

At your checkup you were 3 ft. 7 in. tall (55%) and 33 lbs (10%). 

You adore Catherine and would follow her everywhere if she'd let you. Sadly she's been getting more standoffish lately so you're thrilled if she ever deigns to play with you. 

You love to talk and will go nonstop if given the chance. 

You still like to pretend that rules are only mostly applicable to you (like staying in bed or helping clean up after meals). It's getting better, but it's also harder to enforce because all your older siblings are up late. 

We've been working on beginning reading skills and it is no fun. Math is great. Letters? You can't remember their names or what they say even though we've been through it over and over again. I know it will stick when it sticks, but I feel like things should be sticking more than they are. Thankfully you love to read stories with me, so reading will happen when you're ready!

You show your feelings with your entire body. There's no hiding when you're excited, or sad, or angry. You also still wake up hangry most mornings and will get two breakfasts. One when you first wake up, one when everyone else eats. 

All things girly, princess, sparkly, rainbow, and glittery are your domain, despite your older siblings' best attempts to shame you out of loving them. 

You are my little force of nature. My pixie/gremlin child. Without you our lives would have so much less sparkle. I sure love you, my littlest Elise!

Elise's Five Year Old Interview:

1. What's your favorite color? "Pink."

2. What's your favorite food? "Ohhh...umm...Nutella wraps?"

3. Who's your best friend? "It can't be one of my cousins? (Yes, it can). Katie?"

4. What's your favorite movie? "Frozen 2. No, actually Avatar the Last Airbender."

5. What's your favorite toy? "My lost pony. And it's a stuffed animal. And I used to ride it." (She just saw this old toy in a baby book and was sad that it was no longer around). 

6. What is your favorite game to play? "Hungry Hippos."

7. What's your favorite game to play on devices? "Uhh...umm, I like to play...the game that you like make the like food. It's the thing that you make like cocoa or something, like tea? And it's Doctor Panda."

8. What's your favorite snack? "Peanut butter and...no! I mean...what is it again? Nutella and pretzels."

9. What's your favorite animal? "Bunny. Actually, a cat."

10. What job do you want to have when you grow up? "I want to work for Burger King. Make um, ice cream. The like, ice cream cones. Yummy! I want to taste some."

11. What is your favorite song? "Into the Unknown."

12. What's your favorite church song? "The snowman one" (Once There Was a Snowman). 

13. What's your favorite book? "Frozen Elsa. No, Elsa! The Frozen one."

14. What's your favorite thing to learn about? "Doing the like, train thing. It was at our new school." (Absolutely no idea what she's talking about). 

Elise Turns 5

Just two days after Catherine's 10th, we got to celebrate Elise's 5th!

Giant bag of Krave cereal that was still devoured in less than a week.

Notice the pink, purple, and princess balloons?

Still loving that stuff over here!

She wanted a lemon cake with raspberry icing and she wanted to help decorate.

Check and check!

Aaron also got to help because she's a sweet girl.

We opened gifts before cake since we were having Knoxes over for cake that night and didn't want to add to the chaos. Aaron's was the sweetest birthday gift ever:

Elise has a special blanket named Softie that she's had since she was tiny. It's minky soft on one side, and (used to be soft) sherpa on the other. She can't sleep without it. 

A year or so ago she started complaining that Softie was getting too small to cover her and that she wanted a new, Big Softie. I kind of looked into it, but then she was content with a soft Elsa blanket Aunt Wendy gave her. But Aaron didn't forget. He knew exactly what he wanted to make for her birthday gift this year. And so, after a trip to Joann's, he and I put together a new, Big Softie in exactly the style and colors of Softie. He was SO excited to give it to her! She now sleeps with both Softies every night. Love that Aaron boy!

Other favorite gift: ballerina Barbie with stand!

And beautiful ballet clothing!

Thanks, Grandma Cathy!

In order to stay sane during Covid, we instituted weekly themed dinners with the Knoxes (and Timmy when we can get him). Our first one was a Medieval/Pink Princess dinner for the girls' birthdays:

The Knoxes actually dressed up.

The Bloods were a bit lamer and had to be coerced. 

This is us playing Salem, Timmy & Emma's favorite game.

And then, cake time!

Out they go!

Seth may have blown one out and gotten in trouble. 

This girl--she's just amazing.

A bubble of fun and all things girly.

Happy 5th, Elise Lori!

Catherine at Ten

Oh, my Catherine Cat. I have to constantly ask myself if you just turned 10 or 13. You are a see-saw of emotions. On the one hand you are into slamming doors, glaring at me, screaming/crying over things I ask you to do, and pretending you can't hear us. On the other hand, you are an amazing help with Elijah, my best dinner helper, and an enthusiastic learner when you want to be. I just don't really know which Catherine I will get from hour to hour. Thankfully you've mostly accepted that more sleep helps you be happier, so we can usually get to you bed without issue. 

Hauling around a giant baby as big as you are.

Putting Elijah to sleep with your magic rocking skills.

You are still Miss Independent. Peer pressure doesn't do much for you (unless it's coming from Seth and/or Gabe). You have no qualms about telling people when you're not interested in something. I think it's a gift. We just need to work a bit on your tact sometimes. 

The five years between you and Elise seems to feel bigger than it actually is. You're dying to get your own room so you don't have to deal with all her dolls. Plus you just need a space where you can be alone. Not sure if that's going to work out since it would involve kicking Elijah out of the nursery and us not having any more babies, but we shall see...

Still into selfies on my phone.

A more artistic shot

Some of your favorite activities right now include playing Breath of the Wild on the Switch, Minecraft, Roblox, Legos, making God's Eyes, listening to audiobooks, jumping on the trampoline, and anything involving art.  Just Dance was a big one for a month. I bought the game for the Switch, at which point you promptly stopped liking it. Sigh. 

Just Dance with Gabe & Paul at Knoxes

You still hate coerced learning but will enthusiastically throw yourself into whatever interests you at the moment. For example, you spent quite a long time putting small weights on this balloon to get it to hang in the air:

I try to make sure you have plenty of time for this type of learning, but you still hate things that I require like math or (especially) writing. I've actually noticed that you have a few signs of mild dyslexia, which has made things a lot clearer for me. I don't think it's enough to hold you back at all, but it explains the spelling and reading errors, plus your slow reading speed and aversion to writing. Hoping some adaptations will help!

You are still our little naturalist and are drawn to plants and insects in particular. When you get to choose your projects every six weeks, it's almost always something to do with bugs or plants. This particular project was all about evergreen trees. You did it entirely without any help from me or Dad:

I think you are enjoying the role of prickly pre-teen. I don't think you really are this eye-rolling, yelling, sassy girl, but you're trying it on for size. I think you like that it's an 'older' girl role. My new goal is to try to ignore those parts and to compliment and emphasize the ACTUAL 'older' girl roles, like  being helpful, kind & responsible. 

Your best friend is still Emma Olivera. You have a lot of fun with Paul Knox but won't ever list him as your best friend. Gabe & your siblings also rank highly. Everyone else is on your 'tolerable' list. You'll have fun with them, but never actually invite them over. Or respond to their emails/messages. I have to force you to have social interaction at things like Primary Activity for Girls. You always love it once you're there, but never want to go. You get it from me. Sorry. 

Honestly, I still feel just plain lucky to be your mom. There are great things in your future and I'm excited to see where your Catherine heart leads you. Love you, my Catherine Cat. 

Catherine's Ten Year Old Interview:

1. What's your favorite color? "Purple. Light purple."

2. What is your favorite food? "Your mom (giggle). How 'bout chicken lazone?" (She picked this for her birthday dinner).

3. Who is your best friend? "Your mom (giggle). Okay, don't make me do this interview again! Um, my best friend...Elijah."

4. What's your favorite movie? (extremely long pause) "Not really a fond of movies. There's one but I forgot its name. It's, it's, it's...Spirited Away!"

5. How about your favorite show? "The Mandalorian."

6. What's your favorite thing to play with/do? "Like, um, rollerblading? Or sitting on my bed reading a book. Or playing with Elijah because he's my best friend."

7. What's your favorite game to play on electronics? (yells immediately) "BREATH OF THE WILD!"

8. What's your favorite snack? "Caramels & apples."

9. What's your favorite  kind of animal? "A shark, because they bite people's heads (giggle)."

10. What do you want to be when you grow up? "I wanna be your mom. Okay, how about...um, a painter! An artist. No! No! A mirror-maker."

11. What is your favorite song? "Hey, Let's Go! (from Totoro) then I at least can play on the piano." 

12. What's your favorite church song? "Gethsemane."

13. What's your favorite book? "Calvin & Hobbes."

14. What's your favorite thing to learn about in school? "(sing-song voice) I don't know...Okay, um...piano?"

Anything else you'd like to add? "Yeah! (starts pretending to snore, then tries to bite the camera)."

Possibly the most obnoxious interview she's ever had. Sigh. 

Catherine's Birthday

Catherine skipped the sugary cereal or donuts in favor of breakfast sandwiches.

She also got her most favorite gift: Elijah

She announced to me that it was snowing that day just for her.

She was thrilled with her birthday snow!

Also note the fox stole which she wore daily for a while. 

Cheesecake! This girl is winning all the birthday foods!

She wanted to light her own candles.

There was only a tiny amount of wax on the cake when she finished. 

She may have also burned herself a bit. 

Out they go! Officially a decade old!

Seth was super thoughtful and generous with his gifts for Catherine.

He bought her a Slytherin shirt and a lava lamp.

She was ECSTATIC.

Meanwhile, Jon gave Elijah some personal candle-blowing-out training.

Turns out that blowing out candles is the BEST THING EVER 

and if you ever stop Elijah will be COMPLETELY DEVASTATED. 

Purple rollerblades so she can skate like Brianna!

This was hilarious. The second she pulled on her skates, Elijah ran for his walker. Without warning, he plowed into her. Obviously since she now has wheels, she is now a Roomba, which makes her fair game for bumper cars.

Other favorite gift: a kalimba!

She fell in love with Aunt Ashley's over Christmas.

Snow, rollerblades and a kalimba--the perfect Catherine birthday!

The Fox & The Vole

This is a story about a rodent, a small cat that might have been a fox, and my friends who think they are SO funny. 

I noticed a small tunnels underneath our porch step. I figured it was a small rodent, but I didn't see any other signs and it wasn't by the house, so I didn't care that much. When I DID start caring was when something started leaving little piles of poop on the step above the tunnel. I figured it was a neighborhood cat watching the rodent and just being a jerk. I kept cleaning it off, only to have it reappear a week or so later. 

Finally, after a snow storm, I found some tracks. It was not a cat--it was a fox. How do you get rid of a pesky fox that keeps pooping on your step?? I asked my friends Bente & Melissa for ideas, but there wasn't anything super simple. I just kept hoping the fox would catch the rodent and then leave. 

One morning I was backing out of the driveway and noticed something weird on the steps. I was in a hurry so I texted Jon to check it out. Jon, who was still in full Covid Toes mode, glanced out the door. "It looks like a mangled fox pelt." Awesome. So something killed the fox, then left it on my porch next to the poop??

When I got home, I gingerly approached the fur. It was all bunched up and I could see red inside, like its guts. But the fur was in remarkably good shape and super clean. I looked a little closer and saw this:

I immediately texted Bente and Melissa, who think they are just SO funny. Bente happened to find this in her neighbor's house and knew she needed to prank me. It worked perfectly. I still can't believe I got pranked by my friends at age 35, but honestly, I love it! I am truly lucky in my friends, even if they do give me a heart attack occasionally. 

My Elijah Assistant

Newborns are hard in their own way. Toddlers are hard in other ways. Like the 'I am always by your side to assist you' ways. It really is adorable and I know I will miss it, but...it's still really hard to do things like put in lid racks for pots & pans with a toddler literally on your back:

One down, three to go...

His most favorite task is helping me make bread. Every single step is endlessly fascinating to him, from the grinding of the wheat (the mixer is a "Roomba", I guess because it spins?)...

...to the putting of ingredients in the bread machine (also a "Roomba")...

...to the watching of the dough coming together.

I actually really enjoy his help making bread. It's adorable and not nearly as inconvenient as the "climbing on my back while drilling in screws inside a cupboard" type of assisting. 

Also really great at helping eat icing:

Not pictured: helping with the laundry.

As soon as I start the water I know he'll come running within seconds to help toss clothes in.

Thankfully, I also have assistants who help me with my Elijah Assistant:

Napping with Seth

Sledding with Catherine and Elise

Catherine would drag him up the ice/snow, then let him go.

He LOVED it!

The toddler years are not easy years, but they are sweet ones. 

Covid Toes

At the end of January/beginning of February, Jon's toes on one foot started to bother him. They were red, kind of itchy, and would hurt if he put too much weight on them. We weren't really sure what was going on, but figured it was probably a weird thing that would pass quickly. 

But then it spread to the other foot. His toes became purple and swollen. And his feet would hurt at night, so much that he couldn't sleep. He decided to try staying off them entirely for a day to see if that helped, which it did. But crawling around is not comfortable for very long, so he upgraded to rolling around in office chairs. He had one on the main level, and one upstairs.

Jon putting dishes away in his office chair.

Elijah loved "Roomba Dad" and was very helpful pushing him around to random spots.

After some Googling, Jon decided that he had Covid Toes, which is a thing that can happen to people who are exposed and are either asymptomatic or have very mild cases. He went to get tested (several times) and all came back negative, which was weird and annoying. But apparently that was fairly common with Covid Toes--they would only find signs of Covid-19 when doing a biopsy on the skin of the foot. So crazy. 

So, best guess: we were all exposed in Arizona and Jon got just enough to trigger a really weird reaction, but not enough to test positive or show any symptoms. None of the rest of us had symptoms either. 

And so we waited, because what else can you do? Most people with Covid Toes had it subside in 1-2 weeks. When Jon got to week 3, I was starting to despair. He did what he could to help, but you can't really do the dishes or put kids to bed when you can't walk. He spent a lot of his evenings sitting on his throne:

During all this he was asked to give a talk in church. Original plan was that I would just read it for him, but I persuaded him to just give a talk like a person in a wheelchair does: sitting on the stand with a microphone. 

And then, miraculously, it just...got better. Like within three days he went from totally unable to put weight on his feet to running around. I was so grateful because some people had it for months! I always think I appreciate everything Jon does, but it's so much more obvious when he can't do all the little things anymore. 

(Update: in case we had any lingering doubts whether Covid was the culprit, guess who had another bout of Covid Toes after the second vaccine shot? Thankfully it was very mild and very short-lived!).

Awesome Aaron

One of Aaron's recent interests is alliteration, like Aaron's Awesome Artwork:

This guy's armor/outfit is just pure majesty.

Another current favorite is palindromes, like 'tacocat' or 'anna'. He's also a big fan of them in number form, like '12321'. 

His great love is still screens. Recently he's bounced from Roblox to Minecraft to Breath of the Wild to Smash Brothers to Bad Piggies. 

Reading is still not his favorite. I keep pushing for him to try audiobooks instead, but he doesn't even really enjoy us reading aloud. Our best guess is that he has a hard time keeping the story straight in his mind. He still interrupts me to ask for definitions almost every sentence, so I can't imagine that he's catching much of the story. 

We've been doing Khan for math this year. He's working his way through third grade math and still has a really excellent number sense. Hoping it's something he can maintain. 

Other obsession that pops up now and again--making his own paper:

Complete with cool kitchen towel imprint design!

Aaron is my peace between the storms of pre-teen Catherine emotions and pixie/gremlin Elise. I can always count on him to just do what he's supposed to do (his schoolwork, cleaning up, putting his stuff away, etc.) He's also been so, so awesome with Elijah. What would I do without my Aaron best friend?

Snow!

Gloriously, the snow did not disappoint! There was enough to sled, snowman, snowball fight, and to spare! Thankfully we missed out on the bitter, bitter cold that really did a number down in Texas, though. 

Elijah was not as impressed as we'd hoped.

Turns out snow is cold. 

Catherine, on the other hand, ditched the coat entirely.

Aaron still can only wear coats or jackets with the hoods up, fully zipped.

He can also do all the sledding independently, which is my favorite of all time. 

This may be the most Elise of any Elise picture I've taken.

She LOVED the snow and was out there sledding with the big ones for hours. 

Giant dead snow Seth.

He was the driving force behind the sledding competitions that happened all day. 

Did I mention that the competitions involved running into each other while sledding?

Seth likes competitions where he always wins. 

Also, a snowman.

Because Catherine needs snowmen every time it snows. 

It was a perfect snow day, with lots of snow and pleasant weather to enjoy it all. 

Another storm, another snow day, this time with friends:

Seth, Gabe & Luke passed out after hours of sledding fun.