My kids are at such fun ages! Michael is 8, Noah is 6, Avery is 3. They're all at the ages of truly believing in the magic of Christmas and the wonder of the season. Being their mom is such a treasure and I'm really trying to work hard at not letting the stress of the season affect how I present myself to them. They are all such wonderful people and I love seeing them grow and come into their own!
Michael: Age 8
Michael is still very much involved in Mario characters and Pokemon characters. He enjoys playing video games (but did recently give himself a three-and-a-half-week hiatus of all games, which I think enabled him to use his imagination more and made video games more of a treat once his hiatus was finished). He enjoys drawing and will write out comics complete with full story lines. He began writing a Christmas play, but didn't quite finish yet. He is like me in that he second guesses himself a lot and doesn't finish all projects based on whether or not he thinks he'll be successful. He is so much a firstborn (which neither Aaron or I am) so it's kind of fun to see how he acts like our older brothers. I can see the manipulation of his younger siblings and creating rules for pretend games where only he wins. :) He is also very cut-and-dry, everything must be black-and-white which is very much "first born" behavior. He is a growing boy whose foot is just a half size smaller than mine. He's an avid reader and board game/card game player. I think are such great qualities to have! We have been making our way through the "Jesus Storybook Bible" and we pick out a Bible story or two from it to read each night. I'm so grateful for his interest in the Christmas story and in who Jesus is. The Bible really is an adventure book that can speak to the adventurous spirit of little boys! I absolutely love who Michael is and it's a joy that God chose me to be his mom.
Noah: Age 6
Noah is a middle child through and through. His emotions are big, his spirit is big, his exuberance is big. His stature is tall and skinny (he still wears some 5T things and actually fit into a 3T vest that he pretends is a SWAT vest). He still loves all things police, firetruck, ambulance, school bus, and garbage truck. Out of the three kids, Noah's imagination is the greatest and best. He is constantly playing pretend. Cardboard boxes get turned into delivery trucks. The loveseat gets turned into a garbage truck. The couch gets turned into a jail. Multiple Hot Wheels make their way into the living room to create traffic jams that have to be monitored by helicopters, etc. It's always a "go go go" scenario with Noah. He literally jumps up and down with excitement at the simplest things and just has a joy that radiates from him. He's pretty easy going but can feel left out if he's interrupted or if his big brother or cousin don't want to play the games he invents. He needs lots of snuggles and smiles. He is a good big brother to his sister, and I can tell that his personality is going to be snarky but sweet. He enjoys listening to stories, but prefers to stay active while the story is being read. He has an easy smile and I'm so blessed that God chose to create this middle child role for Noah in our family.
Avery: Age 3
Avery is spunky, animated, and joyful. She is understanding the concept of holidays and is very excited about all of the decorations and lights this time of year. She has kind of rolled Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas into one big holiday and will constantly say phrases like "Today is Halloween. Trick or Treat! Don't open your presents!" I guess she knows that Halloween occurred, but Christmas isn't here quite yet so we can't open our presents but we can keep saying it's Halloween. :) Each kid got to pick out gifts for their siblings this year and all of them were super thoughtful! (Actually, the things that the boys picked out for Avery happen to be the only things she says she wants when I ask her about Christmas gifts-- and the boys hadn't heard her say these things before choosing her presents!) She, in turn, was thoughtful with her choices for her brothers and I think she picked things for them that are right up their alleys. She loves a good story and is pretty good about sitting down and listening to them! She can tell if we're skipping parts of the story, so she'll say "no no no. Tell the letters!" She is doing very well at potty-training. She fully wears panties during the daytime, and wears a diaper only at naps and overnight. One morning this week she woke up with a completely dry diaper and was able to tee-tee on the potty first thing in the morning. She'll usually wake up from naps dry, but we are keeping a diaper on her during nap time and overnight for a while longer. She was certainly the puzzle piece that our family needed in order to be complete and I'm super pumped that God sent her to us as our third child.
I love all of these little treasures so much and I know that motherhood is hard and tiring and at times mundane, but these are the moments that create their childhoods and I'd really like to do a good job of giving them the best childhood foundation that I can.
Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba
