Having four kids in four years is no easy feat! It's been quite a ride and I know I will blink, and their childhoods will be behind me. I look around at my messy house, toys strewn around everywhere, and I get frustrated that I never get the chance to finish anything around the house when it's started. But then I tell myself that one day, my house will be spotless, and I'll wish it looked just like this.
Anyway, not to get all sentimental, but I just wanted to give a quick update on all the kids.
Four Years Old
Rosie and Emily have reached the age where they are no longer toddlers, and not quite ready for kid life. They're in that middle age of preschoolers, feeling more and more independent each day, but still needing to be watched almost 24/7. They have the most wonderful, (mostly) innocent minds, that process things so simply and want to know everything about everything. The "Why" stage has not died out yet and they're learning to lie already! They can melt your heart with the sweetest affections, and break your heart with the rudest little attitudes, all within the span of 5 minutes. They have started Pre-K this year, which consists of a lot more learning of the alphabet, writing their names, and starting to read and write other words. There will be a separate post about the start of school. Both are now in high-back booster chairs in the car. All of these growing up changes pull at my heartstrings for sure!
Rosie - she will be a caretaker for sure. My mom and I always say Rosie will grow up to be a nurse. She is constantly in the mix, wanting to know what everyone is doing, wanting to be involved, and wanting to make sure you're OK, if you're hurt or sad. She loves to help with Callie, calming her down just like I do and always wanting to hold her, take pictures with her, and talk to her. Since Callie was born, she's watched a lot in how I take care of her, and does the same to her baby doll (Baby Rosie). She took Baby Rosie to the Chiropractor and when Callie started crying, she told the receptionist "My baby cries a lot too and I feed her with my little boobies"! Rosie is such a free spirit, constantly the one asking Why, running in a million different directions in a span of a few minutes, and always wanting to be involved in whatever I'm doing. She is definitely the most affectionate, and definitely the Momma's Girl. She will always choose me, always wants to be with me, and doesn't want to miss anything I do.
Emily- This girl... She will definitely be my most difficult personality over the years. She is determined, deep, and extremely sensitive. If you don't hear her ask you something, and don't give her an answer, she will ignore you for the rest of the day. If you do something slightly different than they way she wanted you to, she will go into a tailspin tantrum. She can immediately sense who the people are that she can rule over and order around. At the same time, she will love them to death and show them extreme amounts of affection. She pretty much only gives me attention when other adults that she enjoys aren't around or when I'm being extremely nice to her. She's got the sweetest smile and the angriest eyes. One day, she apparently asked me something, that I never even heard her say, and because I didn't answer her, she ran into my closet and hid from me. When I found her in there she burst into tears that she didn't want me to see her because she was mad at me. Oh boy! She is also the brutally honest one. As I was leaving their room one night, after putting them to bed, she said out of the blue "Mommy, when is your belly gonna get small again?" I asked, "Why, is it big?". She said "Yes". Talk about a shot to the ego! She is also a perfectionist who has high standards, and seems hard to please. You could give her the funnest day of her life, and see that she's enjoying it, but when asked at the end of the day if she had a good time, she'll just say in a gloomy tone "I guess". To balance this seriousness and sensitivity, she is beautiful, she is kind, she is affectionate and sings with the cutest voice! This is certainly our strong willed child and I do hope she has that strong and determined personality when she's older, but I worry about her sensitivity when she's in grade school. I see her feelings getting hurt a lot in the future! I guess that's why it's a good thing she's got a twin sister to look out for her!
Two Years Old
Wow! Where do I begin with our boy? Matthew is such a light in our lives. He really is such a cool little dude! He is a complete Daddy's boy, can be sweetly sensitive, loves to be funny, and is full of life, like most 2 year old boys. He loves his family, especially big sister Rosie. He is her shadow and has to do every single thing that she does. I die every time they are somewhere and hold hands throughout what they're doing. He loves anything on wheels still, and sleeps with his Matchbox sized "Grave Digger" monster truck. Matthew definitely thinks he's 4 years old, and that he can do anything and everything the girls do, which he actually can do most of the things they do. It's probably because he's almost the same size as them! He's only about 8 pounds lighter than Emily and not that much shorter than her. He loves to snuggle up at bedtime and doesn't want us far when he wakes up at night. Now that he's in a full size bed, he ends up getting up most nights and wandering to our room. Scott likes when he sleeps with us, but I want him back in his bed. I'm too tired to move him, and Scott doesn't want to, so most of the time, me and Callie end up going to his bed when he comes to ours! His speech is amazing already and he's counting, knows his colors, and says on his own "I have 2 spoons" if that's what he has, and I know it's because he's got older siblings. He really is so good at following directions, always stays close when we're out in public, and loves to hold hands. He loves his baby sister, but I don't think she really loves him back, because he's always yelling in her face and poking her eyes. I'm sure he'll get the hang of taking care of her at some point!
Up until recently, Matthew was only watched by me, Scott, or our mothers, so he was pretty shy around any strangers. But just in the past few weeks, he's really opened up with other people and will actually talk with them when they talk to him. A local restaurant employee even got him to laugh the other day, and she'd never talked to him before. He started preschool last week (separate post to follow) and he had no problem going into his new class and interacting with the teacher. I know he will continue to be such special, happy-go-lucky personality, and will grow to be such a wonderful man. I realized, after talking with someone the other day, that he is going to be an amazing husband one day, because of the fact that he has 3 sisters. They will totally teach him (through trial and error) how to treat women! Both my and Scott's hearts burst inside whenever we think about this little boy!
Three Months Old
Ahhh...the little one. Callie is such a sweet, sweet baby! I just know that she is going to have my laid back, easy going, stress free personality. How could she not, with 3 older siblings? She only gets really upset when I've waited too long to feed her or when she's riding in the car. Ok, that doesn't sound stress free, her crying the whole time she's in the car, but maybe she just doesn't like her carseat? She always wakes up smiling, already gives you a belly laugh if you can do something really funny, and is so interactive talking and smiling with almost everybody. I've really noticed such a difference in the last couple of weeks with how alert she is, how she can track things across the room, and her contentedness when she's on her own. She has learned more and more how to entertain herself, if put down, and how to put herself to sleep (which is a wonderful milestone!). Scott still worries that she may not end up talking or walking when she's "supposed to", but I think she's going to surprise everyone and be ahead on everything!! She's probably about 14 pounds by now, and is starting to easily fit into 6 month clothes! She's now the only one not in school, and I'm SO going to enjoy those 2 days a week where it's just me and her bonding! Just like when Matthew and I had that time last year. She certainly will be used to anything and everything and any situation, because I just take her where ever we need to go, without a second thought of her eating on the go, and sleeping on the go. Callie is going to do amazing things one day! Wait, she already has!
Trust me...it's not lost on me at all how fortunate I am to have these 4 beautiful, healthy, and full of life kids. Each of them are truly amazing in their own ways and I can't wait to see what they develop into.
Mrs. J
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