Raising a Spirited Child

 I know all toddlers are a challenge, but I sometimes think ours are exceptionally so - especially when my friends say things like, "Our 3 small children regularly go with us on 6 hour car rides and happily stare out the window without making a fuss the entire time..." or "Our little one falls asleep at 8 pm, sleeps through the night until 10 am and then takes a nap in the afternoon." Are you kidding me? These are real examples, by the way,  of parents for whom I am very happy. I'm not complaining....just saying.

 

Olivia resists going down much before 10:00 most nights, and once we hit 5 or 6 in the morning she keeps me awake for a good hour, falls back asleep and then continues to wake up every 20-30 minutes the rest of the morning. There are nights I'm able to put her down around 8:30-9:00 like a normal child, but that for some reason prompts her to wake up around 3:00 am and think it is morning. This is nothing new for us and I have long ago come to terms with the interrupted sleep. 

And then there is the general strong-willed nature each of our kids have. I am honestly grateful for their ability to assert themselves and stick to their guns. I hope it will serve them well one day. In their youth, however, it can get a little old. Based on anecdotal evidence, my genetics are to blame for this so I guess this is the "pay-back" parents secretly (or sometimes not so secretly) wish on their difficult children. Even on our 5th round of toddlerhood, I can still be amazed at the events that can trigger a tantrum. 

Here's Olivia throwing a fit because we  changed her clothes. Oh, the horror. She went through a few months of doing this every single time we changed her. Then it was every bath. Lately it's been most car rides. And also every time I set her down to try to accomplish something around the house. 

Last week, however, Olivia had a meltdown that took the cake. We were driving in the car and she had been crying because, for one, she was strapped in her car seat and then - double whammy - I stepped out of the car for a second. Anyway, Frankie said he was thirsty and I told him he would have to wait 5 minutes until we got home. Improvising, he decided to wipe the tears off of Olivia's cheek to get a tiny morsel of liquid in an attempt to quench his thirst. So then this happened:

Olivia will still get upset if anyone mentions this and starts repeating, "Frankie took my tears!!" with a very distraught voice. Although, sometimes she confuses the word "tears" with a similar sounding word and it comes out "Frankie took my beer!"

Fortunately, I am well aware that the challenges are well worth it and are teaching me patience far beyond anything I ever imagined before becoming a mom.  And the best part is that along with the "spirited" personalities that can be so difficult comes a whole lot of fun on the flip side! Not a day goes by that Olivia doesn't hear "You're so cute!" In fact, that's what she says to her dolls when she plays with them.....if she isn't hitting them for biting which, I might add, we have never done to her. Just for the record.

Summer Vacation

 We had plans to do a South Dakota trip which included a visit to Mount Rushmore and the Badlands, this summer. After realizing that Olivia was not getting any better on long car rides and her screeching ability was reaching new heights, however, we decided to shorten the trip and stick to Aberdeen. Maybe we'll do Mount Rushmore next summer. Either way, we had a great trip. 

In addition to Storybook Land, we went to the aquatic center, go-karting, trampolining, and were able to try the new laser challenge game (where you basically pretend you're a spy trying to navigate a room without setting off any lasers). The laser game was Charlie's favorite - he did it again and again until he held the high score. And they've added several playgrounds since we were there last. There was never a dull moment, and the kids are already asking if we can go back next summer.

Ready for High School!

 

Elena graduated from St. Edward's and is ready to head onto high school in the fall. I wasn't expecting to feel this unprepared and for one of our children to be finished as a student at St. Ed's forever. The school has been like a second family to all of our kids, and she will certainly miss seeing her teachers and friends there every day. I've been so thankful we are fortunate enough to live in a town with a Catholic school where our kids can learn about and share their faith throughout the day. I hope as she moves forward, she will hold onto the knowledge that Jesus is not left at the altar, but wants to guide and influence every moment of our days no matter where we are.

At the 8th grade awards ceremony, Elena was honored with 3 of the 5 awards given out: Most AR points (and she was probably one of the most resistant readers of her class back in early elementary!), Community Service award (earned jointly with her 2 friends Wyatt and Kylie), and Most Helpful Cafeteria Volunteer (or something to that effect).

Livi's 2!

 Liv turned 2 at the end of May and, like all of our children, she's very good at being two. In other words, she's alternately adorable and difficult (mostly adorable, though, as you can see in these pictures). 

To celebrate her birthday, Elena made a caterpillar piñata, which lasted through several children....it only made it through one 12-year-old boy, unfortunately, so the other two who were present did not get a chance to hit. 

 Here are a few of Livi's most common doings/sayings at 2.

- 'Eat! Eat!" and "Is that nummy?" at supper time, when she scoops up the food of whoever is sitting next to her (usually Frank or Charlie) and force feeds it to them. She herself barely eats anything and seems to be growing on just a few bites of food here and there throughout the day.

- "So cute!" usually said to her dolls as she rocks them or puts her sunglasses on them

- "Go away!" and "Stop it!" are fairly frequent when she wants to be left alone by her older siblings or when Coco gets too close for her liking

- "Oh, come on!" when something goes wrong

- "DA DA DA DOP KIDS DOP DOP!" this is more or less her imitation of Seth if he gets after the kids for something. She usually stands right next to him and joins in the scolding, pointing her finger at the kids with a stern face. It makes it pretty hard not to laugh.

I'll leave you with a video of her daily story-time with Dad.

 

Concert Season

As more and more people get vaccinated, we are starting to see a definite uptick in things going back to normal. St. Ed's had their Spring concert outside, which was such a huge success that we are hoping this will be our regular tradition from now on. 

Children's House (Pre-K and Kindergarten)

Frank and Charlie's classes singing together

Sam's class (a bunch of hams)

Elena also was able to take part in the Spring play, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown! I only got one picture with a few of the cast members, but Elena was Violet. She did a great job along with everyone else. I hesitated to send Frank because I was worried he would have trouble sitting through a 2-hour show, but he ended up loving it even more than his big brothers! 

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Not to be left out, here is Olivia's "concert"

 

A first

 

When I saw a behavior notice in my inbox for Elena, I was a little surprised since she doesn't normally have behavior issues in school. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a notice of good behavior.

 Then when I read the description for the behavior, I cracked up. It sure will be sad to see Elena have to say goodbye to her teachers at St. Ed's as she heads off to high school this year. 

I will add that as a high school teacher, I would have been impressed by this behavior as well.

April

Our month started out the same as it does every year: celebrating Elena's birthday. This year was her 14th. With one year of teenagerhood under her belt, my theory that wild and temperamental young children make up for it by mellowing out in their teen years has not been proven false. Elena has grown in both height -passing me up by about 3 inches! (admittedly not a difficult feat) - and maturity. She continues to thrive of social activity, happiest when she can be with others. And she grows more helpful every year. This will mark the year she crosses over to the high school. We're all a bit sad to see her leaving St. Ed's, but I know she has a self-confidence and laid-back attitude that will serve her well in the new environment. Happy birthday, Elena!! We enjoyed a day at the zoo while Seth brought Sam to wrestle with his team at a tournament.

This was the only picture we took.

Next up was Easter - what an amazing day!! It was our first big celebration at Seth's parents' house since COVID-19 hit. When first planned we assumed it would be a mostly indoor affair, but it turns out the weather was nice enough for us to spend the whole day outside anyway - 80+ degrees and sunny all day! Sunscraeen was applied (twice!), the bikes and beanbags were out, and Elena offered to run home and grabbed shorts for everyone in our family. 

The next weekend brought us to our friends, Steve & Mel's, place up in Freemont. They have 2 little boys with another baby on the way. Our family of 7 took over their entire house and we had to get creative with sleeping arrangements since we forgot our air mattress: one night had kids sleeping in a bouncy house, the next Frankie slept on a stack of 4 yoga mats. We were able to visit both of their family farms and tour their extremely beautiful church. Requests for an annual repeat have already been made by all involved.

The friends we stayed with are much better at taking pictures than we are so this segment is drastically more well documented than the others.

This kept Charlie, Frankie and Raymond busy for a good hour:

Group photo:

Corralling kids for said group photo:

On the 18th, Charlie and our nephew Noah both celebrated their first communion (as well as their first reconciliation on the 17th). They are doing the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program in school this year for religion, and we love it! During their retreat, the children had the chance to show their parents what they have learned, and I think Charlie would have shown us everything in the room if we had had the time. He was able to share with us in great detail several Bible stories (The Good Samaritan, The Lost Coin, and the Last Supper, to name a few).