Tag: D month-by-month

Della turned 8 years old on August 1, and 8 truly is great with her!

We had her 8 year well check at the end of that month, so here are her official 8-year-old stats:

• Height:  53″ (87%)
• Weight:  60.5 lbs. (64%)
• BMI:  15.1 kg/m2
• Blood Pressure:  109/69

She continues to be the sweetest girl on earth, and I really don’t think I could possibly love her any more. Her heart is made of pure gold, and that is probably the singular character trait I hope she carries with her forever.

She has the soul of an angel, and she is truly a friend to all. It was so cute – one of the room moms for her class this year is putting together a book for their teacher, who is getting married later this month. It’s a book of marriage advice from 3rd graders. Della’s quote was “Sometimes it will be hard, and sometimes it will be easy. Always be nice to the person you’re married to.” Wise words, my love.

She is also still the sensitive girl she’s always been. The other night after I’d tucked them all in, Morrison came out telling me Della was crying. I could tell she was kind of quiet at bedtime and I thought she was a little sad, but she said nothing was wrong. I was right. When I went in and asked what was the matter, she was practically sobbing and said that no one ever believes her. I said oh sweet pea, I always want to believe you, what are you talking about? Apparently earlier that night Lana didn’t believe her when she said one of Lana’s Shopkins toys was on the front porch when Lana was looking for it, and shortly before bed Ryan and I didn’t believe that his magazine gave her a cut on her finger when he jokingly waved it at her. It did hit her hand, but when she showed us the cut it looked like it had been there for a while. No way did we think it was fresh, let alone from a freak brush against a magazine.  But I guess she put her arm behind her to block the magazine, and when she did so it kind of swung around on the edge of the pages and got her. So I apologized and assured her there was no way we thought she was lying or we weren’t listening to her on purpose, we just honestly thought there was no way it could’ve happened. So I promised that we’d listen to her from now on, because I know she doesn’t make things up just to be heard, and she is such a good kid and always wants to be doing the right thing.

She is the most amazing big sister to all these little ones, and they are beyond lucky to have her. She adores the twins and is my biggest helper, carrying them around and snuggling them in, giving them pacifiers or whatever they need, and generally playing with them as much as she can. Lana and Morrison would follow her to the ends of the earth, and my heart practically jumps out of my chest when I watch the 3 of them playing together.

She has been really into gymnastics the past 2 years, but this fall she decided to switch things up and give dance a shot. She and Lana are in the same hip hop class, and they just started last week. I can’t wait to see the end-of-session performance for this one! We also just started back up with swim lessons, and she is loving it again and doing so well.

She still loves her Shopkins and Happy Places, learning about nature and especially studying the ocean, playing outside with all our neighborhood friends, cooking, reading, doing cartwheels. She has recently started to like doing her own hair, and her new favorite style is pig tails with a headband. So cute! Her favorite colors right now are mint green and coral, and her favorite animal is a cheetah. She wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up and live in Australia in an apartment with some of her best friends. I will definitely go visit! I think she needs to be some sort of organizer, though, because she is constantly organizing things. I took her to the grocery store with me last weekend and I swear every time we stopped in an aisle she turned to the shelves and started straightening the items, making sure everything was where it was supposed to be based on the labels, etc. I thought wow, she’s even tidier than I am! I see so much of my younger self in her. However, life and 5 children have certainly mellowed me out significantly, ha!

We hit the jackpot a million times over with this one, and I feel so lucky to be her mama. I watch her with such love and adoration every day, and I am so proud of the wonderful, kind, smart girl she is. We love you so much, sweet Della Jolee! Happy 8th birthday and many, many, many more, peanut!!

 

Della turned 7 years old on the 1st, and she is growing into the most wonderful, smart, adorable girl.

She had a couple things on her birthday list, but at the top was a gift from Daddy. She wanted him to teach her how to make lasagna, about which I was so excited. I love lasagna! And if my kids can learn how to cook at this young age, I will be thrilled. It’s a skill I somehow never acquired, and Ryan is so good at it they can’t have a better teacher. So we got all the ingredients, I got her Hello Kitty apron out for her, and they got to work. Ryan said Della did about 85% of the work, and it turned out deliciously! I was so proud.

There’s really not much to say about this girl besides singing her praises. She loves school and can’t wait to start 2nd grade; she loves to read and is an excellent writer; she loves to ride her bike and play outside, especially if she can turn cartwheels and practice her gymnastics; she loves to help around the house and is always asking for a list of chores (seriously?? how did we get so lucky?!); and she is the best big sister to Lana and Morrison that could ever exist.

Happy 7th birthday, my peanut #1! We all love you so very much – to the moon and back doesn’t even begin to describe it! You are a blessing, and our family is so very lucky to have you in it!

 

Our beautiful firstborn turned 6 on August 1, and she just keeps getting more amazing by the year.

This past year has definitely been one of much growth for her. Not only is she getting taller by the day, but she had her first year of all-day school with K5 and absolutely loved it. She adored her teacher, Mrs. Murphy, and really thrived. She is such a good student and loves to learn. She’s so looking forward to getting back there in a few weeks and starting 1st grade!

She loves the monkey bars, riding her bike, scootering all over the place, running around the yards with her neighborhood friends, any show on PBS Kids, America Ninja Warrior, Masterchef, and still all things Frozen and Hello Kitty. She has become the best reader, with the Magic Treehouse series being her favorite. And she is the most wonderful big sister, constantly playing with Lana and Morrison.

Della is one of the kindest, sweetest, most conscientious, and gorgeous people I know, inside and out. And I’m not just saying that because she’s my daughter. The size of her heart and the limitless expanse of her mind inspire me and make me prouder every single day. She truly is a friend to all.

Happy 6th birthday, our sweet Della Jolee!! Words can’t even describe how much we love you!

 

Della turned 3 years old last Thursday. It’s funny, because everyone says oh my gosh, I can’t believe she’s 3, but I can. It honestly feels like it has been 3 years – hasn’t gone too fast; hasn’t gone too slow. Just right. Which is perfect for enjoying every day with this amazing little girl.

I was waiting to write this post until we got her official 3 year stats from her checkup, so here they are:

• Height:  39″ (85%. i was actually surprised this wasn’t a higher %)
• Weight:  29.8 lbs. (50%. and i thought this one was going to be a lower %)
• Blood pressure:  93/68 (i think. they didn’t write this one down for me, but i’m pretty sure that’s what the machine read)

I really have no idea where to begin for her 3rd birthday post, because there is so much that goes on with this one. She’s smart, she’s funny, she’s beautiful, she’s crazy, she’s extremely well-behaved (usually), she’s our first.

She loves to dance around and make up her own songs now, which is absolute music to my ears. Even when I have no clue what the words are.

She has definitely inherited my somewhat of a perfectionist streak. For example, her dishes and silverware have to match in color. Everything has its place, and she knows exactly where that is. Fortunately, this also makes her an excellent cleaner-upper, which comes in very handy when her little sister is constantly crawling around the house like a whirling dervish.

She knows her ABCs, can count to 10 (the numbers between 11-20 are getting there, but they’re rarely in order. and the other day she threw a “twelve-teen” in there. we’ll work on those), knows how to spell Della (and i think knows how to spell Lana too), and has a whole repertoire of actual songs that she loves to sing – the ABC song, Wheels on the Bus, Row Row Row Your Boat, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Ring Around the Rosy, On Top of Spaghetti, and on and on.

Her coloring skills are becoming masterful. A few months ago she surprised us by drawing great circles out of the blue one day. And recently we’ve noticed how well she can stay in the lines now.

She absolutely adores playing at the park still and just being outside in general. I take the 2 of them for runs in the stroller all the time, and she just loves it. Afterwards we usually walk around the neighborhood for a bit so I can cool down, and she always requests a walk to the fire station to see if the trucks are outside, then by the library, and then by the fountain across the street from the library to make hand and footprints around it if it’s not too green from algae.

My best garbage pick yet came just the other week, all for her. I returned from a long walk with them and saw a perfectly good Little Tykes slide and an adjustable basketball hoop sitting by the curb just a few blocks down from us. You’d have thought it was Christmas by how excited she was for that slide. I was thrilled, since I have been looking for an inexpensive backyard something for her forever. Can’t beat free!

She loves purple, all the Sesame Street characters, Monsters Inc., Toy Story, Team Umizoomi, Dora, and reading. Her favorite foods include chicken nuggets, pb&j, bananas, Cuties (those little tiny oranges), fruit snacks, Kix cereal, french fries, string cheese, applesauce, yogurt, and pasta. She is on her 2nd round of swim lessons and can’t get enough.

She’s already into size 4T pants, as long as they have an adjustable waist to cinch around her tiny belly. Her shoes are about 8-9, and she just got some new pairs that she loves to pieces.

She is so helpful, and such a fantastic big sister. You’d think it’s always the younger one who’d want to follow the big one around, but often times that order is reversed in our home. Della loves to follow Lana around the house, imitating her little sounds and motions as they go. I’m so happy we were able to give her a sister.

I really can’t describe how much I love this little girl. She is an absolute dream, and we could not have been luckier when she came into our family. This past year spent at home with her has been better than I ever expected, and I’ll never be able to thank her enough for making me so wonderfully happy.

Happy 3rd birthday, Della Jolee! We love you so much!

 

 

You’re 2 and a half years old today. That means that every second from here on out you’ll be closer to 3 years old than to 2. Wow!

 official 30 month pics. unfortunately half of them came out blurry, so i apologize for the sub-par quality. i am not a dslr master.

There’s no way words can even begin to describe all that you are and who you are becoming every day. Being home and watching you grow more than ever these past couple months has been simply amazing, and it is so fun to watch you turning into a real little person. Here is an attempt to encapsulate just a little of your essence:

• Full sentences forming
• Potty trained by 28 months (thank you!!)
• Almost 2″ taller than you were on your 2nd birthday
• Head and shoulders above the table tops now
• Reaching up to the counters and sink
• Eyes shining brightly
• Crooked little “oh well” face
• Mischievous grin
• Cheeeeese! as you set up your tripod and take actual pictures with your little orange camera
• 8, 9, 10 fast! as you race back and forth from the kitchen to living room
• Singing A, B, Cs
• The wheels on the bus
• Hiding under blankets in Daddy’s spot on the couch and bed
• Playing in your playhouse outside and in your kitchen inside
• Coloring
• Being outdoors
• Swings and slides at the park
• Helping Mama put the dishes away from the dishwasher
• Helping make ice with the ice cube trays
• Giving Baby Lana sweet little hugs and kisses on her head
• Pointing out all of Lana’s “leetle tiny” features and parts
• In your own words – “Don’t cry, Baby Lana, it’s ok. I’m your big sister. I’m right here.”
• Watching up on the changing dresser as I change Lana’s diapers
• Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby, & Dora still being your favorites
• “Hmm, nek on now?” a.k.a “Hmm, what’s on next?” when watching PBS shows (we know the whole morning lineup. a good thing or bad?)
• Knowing fully how to turn on and manipulate our iPhones and tablet computers (which completely blows my mind)
• “Hmm, do day?” a.k.a. “Hmm, what did we do today?” as we get ready for sleep
• Your cute little words that I sometimes wish would never change:
  • mee-mees = mittens
  • bapas = vitamins & diapers (those 2 sound extremely similar)
  • moke = smoke
  • no = snow (and no, obviously)
  • roo-roos, said while making a zipper motion on your shirt = cars (it’s your version of vroom-vroom)
  • roar = lion, tiger, bear… anything that roars
  • hop = frog & rabbit
  • neigh = horse
  • bas = sheep
  • pee-pees = piggies, a.k.a. pigtails
  • toi-toi = toilet
  • mee-meeze = excuse me (because you seriously fart like a man. thanks, daddy)
  • di-dos = dinosaurs
  • oppeepees = octopus
  • ameemees = ambulance
  • dupples = buckles
  • i’m sure there are more that need to be added here…
• Some words come out perfectly, which is always incredible
• Stickers
• Robot dance & your monster walk
• Toy Story, The Lorax, & Monsters, Inc.
• A day back in daycare here and there, so you can keep playing with your best mates Hemingway and Nathyn (a.k.a Hemmy and Nay-Nay)
• Doing your exercises
• Memory like a steel trap

I could probably go on for all eternity here, but it really is just astounding watching you, my first child, grow in such a profound way. You have transformed from a tiny, helpless, immobile newborn into a beautiful, (usually) polite, charismatic toddler going on full-blown kid running through this world.

You certainly have your days, as we all do, but you nearly constantly make us so utterly proud and thankful that you are our child. We’re all learning here as we go, but hopefully you’d say Daddy and I are doing a pretty good job, if you knew what any of this meant. We love you so very, very much, my sweet Della Jolee, and that is one thing that will never ever change.