Snapshot: Bridget At Eight

Bridget turned EIGHT on Monday and I can hardly believe it.  Here are some things about Bridget at this age that I always want to remember...

*Bridget has developed an intense love for horses the last several months (much like her Grandma Becky at a similar age).  She has seriously perfected any sound a horse may make and gallops around our house and even holds her hands in a shape that resembles hooves.  She and her friends usually play some sort of horse game every day at recess.  Her Christmas and birthday lists were full of horse and Spirit Riding Free requests.  I think she has even read every horse related book in the school library. 

*Bridget loves school and LOVES math.  In school, her teacher gives timed tests for addition and subtraction, and no one has been able to beat Bridget all year (just liker her dad)!  She frequently does her homework for the following day during breakfast.  She did her first book report in February, and turned it in early (not like her dad).  May she always be this way!

*Bridget continues to make wonderful friends in our neighborhood and at school.  She is kind to everyone and has such an easy-going personality that her friend pool is large and she is content to play with just about anyone. 

*Bridget has managed to invent her own language in the last few months.  I honestly don't think I could spell any of the words she has made up!  She uses her made up words so much that Gretchen has even started saying them!

*Bridget still loves art and spends a lot of time coloring and creating each week.

*Bridget continues to be an exceptional playmate for all of her siblings and they all miss her when she is not around.  She continues to play well with kids of all ages.  Almost every night, Gretchen gets into bed with Bridget and it is probably the happiest part of Gretchen's day.  She is just overjoyed, and Bridget enjoys it just as much.

*As far as eating is concerned, Bridget is still picky, but occasionally, I see glimpses of some maturing taste buds!  A couple of weeks ago she even shared a Cafe Rio pork salad with me and Marshall...shocking!  But, she still just drinks water, only eats blue cotton candy flavored gogurt, and I have to beg her to try and get in a total of three fruits and vegetables every day...which she rarely achieves!

*Bridget continues to be a Daddy's Girl.  She sits next to him at church, snuggles right up next to him whenever she can, and is way more affectionate with Richard than she is with me!  And to think she was such a Mama's Girl for the 3 of the first 3 1/2 years of her life! (the first 6-9 months of her life were full of smiles only when Richard came home from work)  She even wants to go on a road trip with Marshall and Richard to watch a BYU football game.

*Bridget is usually our first one to fall asleep each night...she takes after me in that regard!  Rachel can still be bouncing around the room and talking and Bridget will be snoozing. 

*Bridget has been our first child to venture into the world of orthodontics.  She has been a real trooper this year as she is now sporting a palate expander and braces on her top teeth. 

*Bridget is funny, happy, easy-going, responsible, and a joy to have in our family.  We love her!!!

Snapshot: Rachel At 5 1/2

Rachel Louise just hit the 5 1/2 year mark and I can hardly believe it.  Here are some things I always want to remember about Rachel at this age:

*Rachel is our passionate child.  She feels the highs and lows of every day life, and she feels it all intensely.  

*Rachel speaks her mind and is brutally honest.  Sometimes I love this, like when she tells me I look beautiful, and sometimes I don't like this, like when she tells me I look terrible.  :)  A couple of weeks ago, she told Marshall he looked handsome with his new haircut.  And right around that same time, she told me I was looking very old.  

*Academics can be challenging for Rachel; however, she has learned SO much since kindergarten started the end of August.  When she started kindergarten, she couldn't even write her name.  Now she knows the entire alphabet, she can write all the letters, knows the sounds they make, she can sound out words, knows a handful of sight words, is starting to read, has learned my phone number, 911, shapes, and her ability to count and identify numbers has greatly improved. 

*Rachel loves going to school, and excels socially.  She is kind to everyone, for which I am so grateful.  I have had other moms, kids in her class, and her teacher, all pay me individual compliments about her kindness.  

*Rachel's imagination continues to thrive, and I love it.  She spends the most time out of all the kids upstairs playing in the loft.  She is great at building with Legos and designing things out of playdoh.  She still loves Barbies and dress ups and dolls.  

*Rachel loves to snuggle with me.  "Mama snuggle" as it is affectionately called.  She goes through phases of coming into our bed at night.  I am so tired I don't even realize she is there.  

*Rachel has impeccable style.  Her latest current fashions are pairing all of her summer dresses and skirts with her leggings.  Sometimes even with her pink furry vest.  :)

*She hates when I comb her hair and always prefers to have her hair down.  She recently got a haircut to avoid all the inevitable tangles.  And now that her ballet recital is over and we don't need her hair in a bun, I think she might go even shorter.

*Rachel started ballet class this school year and loves it.  I will support her in all of her endeavors, but I really hope she keeps dancing.  Fingers crossed!  

*Rachel is tender-hearted, affectionate, loving, and just an all around spunky girl to spend time with.  We love her dearly!

Snapshot: Gretchen At Almost 2 1/2

Just when I thought that Gretchen couldn't get any cuter, she has.  This last week she has just exploded with even more charm and character and brings me bursts of unbounded joy hour after hour.  Here are some things I always want to remember about Gretchen at this age...

*Gretchen is talking up a storm.  We can't always understand her, but she can talk and talk and strings so many words together.  It is delightful to listen to.  Some of our most favorite things to hear are:  "I Ariel!" or "I Elsa!"  "I'm not poopy!  You're poopy!"  "Bye!  See you later!"  

*She loves to play on the window benches in the loft; however, she is still too short to get on them without help.  She will come find someone, pull them along, and say, "Play benches!"

*She gives wonderful hugs.

*Gretchen is the BEST at saying thank you.  

*Gretchen LOVES to run and jump.  At this time last year, she still couldn't stand up on her own, and could only take steps while holding onto something.  Fast forward one year, she almost always jumps off the bottom stair, the girls have one stair in their bedroom that she jumps off of over and over.  A couple of weeks ago she started jumping off the couches.  Her run is the cutest.  She just puts her head down, swings her little arms, and moves her feet as fast as she can.  

*Last weekend she started doing somersaults.  So cute to see that little body just fold on over.  

*Two things I don't love, but I still want to remember.  Last Sunday she fell out of her crib.  I knew it was coming, because I had seen her get one leg over the crib rail.  But last Sunday she clearly got both legs over and fell out.  I am happy to report though that she has yet to do it again...I think it scared her sufficiently.  :)  She also scoots our kitchen chairs all over the wood floor (very grating noise!) so she can either climb onto the counters or play with the light switches.  I can't tell you how many times I have walked into the kitchen to see her standing on the counters.  My only child to have ever done this, and who would have guessed it would be Gretchen!

*Gretchen still detests clothes, and almost always prefers to "Be naked."  However, in the last couple of weeks, Rachel has started to get her dressed in her own clothes, which Gretchen is thrilled to wear!  

*Gretchen's imagination is exploding.  It is so fun to listen to her play with barbies or dolls.  And just last week she started playing with hair.  Love.  

*She loves getting into Bridget's bed with her at night before we put the kids to bed.  I think it is safe to say that Bridget loves it just as much.

*When I lay her down for a nap or for the night, lately she has been wanting me to sing, "Shall We Dance".  I rock and sing and she dances around the room.  She asks me to sing it twice, which I do.  But when she knows the second song is coming to an end, she runs out of her room, into my room, and hides in the corner.  She giggles the whole way, and I laugh while I chase her down.  Not the most calming pre-sleep routine, but certainly fun.  :)

*When Gretchen wants to sit on our lap, she comes up to us, turns around with her back to us and says, "Sit lap!"  Very emphatically.  

*All of her f's she pronounces as p's.  Prozen, Olap, and pone instead of Frozen, Olaf and phone.  :)  Other silly pronunciations I love:  Cinderbella, bloody no (as in bloody nose, which she frequently gives herself).   

*She LOVES M&Ms.  :)

*Gretchen is back to getting into the markers, and coloring all over herself.  

We love, love, love this tiny girl Gretchen Ruth.  

Marshall At Ten

Marshall is TEN!!!  As of one month ago...and then some.  Time flies!  As the old saying goes, "The days are long, but the years are short".  I can hardly believe Marshall has entered double digits and that Richard and I have been parents for a decade.  Here are some things about Marshall that I always want to remember.

Marshall is a routine driven child, and I love it.  He sets his own alarm and likes to wake up at 6:15 am Monday through Friday.  He does this so he can see Richard before he leaves for work, but he also loves to read in the morning.  If Richard's schedule happens to be different so that he is leaving unreasonably early, or leaves later, it can be hard to persuade Marshall to alter his 6:15 am wake up.  But every morning, Marshall comes upstairs with a book and his blankets and reads until 6:55, very specific.  He then eats breakfast, and then gets all ready for his day, including getting his jobs done.  At night, once we have tucked him in, he reads more and usually turns his light off between 9:00 and 9:30. 

Speaking of going to bed though, early this summer, Richard read an article linking heart disease to hours of sleep a person gets each night.  Richard knew Marshall would find this fascinating, so he showed him the article.  Marshall decided that in order to prevent heart disease for himself, he needed to be in bed, lights out, by 8:30 pm.  For consecutive nights Marshall would just put himself to bed before 8:30...in the summer time!  It was short-lived, but we loved it, and also found it amusing.  :)

Marshall is loving 4th grade.  There is so much history in the curriculum and he is just eating it up.  For a long time, Marshall has wanted to be both a paleontologist and the president of the United States.  At school they just recently wrapped up a unit on rocks and now Marshall has decided to be a geologist.  He has loved all that information and got 100% on the test last week.  One night last week he also spent an entire evening talking to Richard about protons and electrons and I could hardly believe the questions that were coming out of his mouth.  I was just glad Richard was there to provide some answers!

Marshall has ventured into the world of competition soccer and is really, really enjoying it.  He tried out back in June, and I was just so proud of him.  He was ecstatic when he found out he made a team.  They practice two days a week and usually have one or two games a week.  His coach is amazing and I feel like we lucked out to get such a great coach.  Marshall has made exceptional progress and I love to watch him play.  He is getting more confident, but we would all love to see some more confidence from him.  Soccer has been a great physical outlet for him, and it is so fun to watch him improve his talents. 

As I mentioned earlier, Marshall still loves to read.  A couple of years ago, he finished all the Harry Potter books.  Richard just bought Marshall his own set of books, and Marshall immediately started re-reading them.  He just finished the last book over the weekend. 

Marshall's favorite foods remain cinnamon rolls and French Dip sandwiches.  He also loves shrimp, and is still bummed that no one in his immediate family likes it.  Thank goodness he has grandparents who do!!!  This summer we made Marshall start pouring his own cereal in the morning, and some days it is still a battle! 

Marshall has set a goal to run a 5K on Thanksgiving Day.  Since the beginning of the school year, he and I have been running one night a week together.  These are, hands down, my most favorite moments with Marshall.  He is a complete delight, and despite running, just talks a mile a minute.  He asks me questions, tells me stories, shares his many insights into life, his worries, his thoughts, and I just run in awe at this little boy.  His mind is always on, always thinking, and always going.  It is amazing.

Marshall still loves Legos.  For his birthday, he got the big Lego police station and it has been a hit.  It took him three days to put together, and he still loves playing with it.  Win!

Marshall still continues to be high-energy, and our most demanding and challenging child.  However, he has a soft, soft heart, and I love seeing glimpses of that.  He has had a few instances this last year where he has needed to help his sisters, because I was not able to, and he does so with such love and attention and concern.  When Bridget, especially, gets hurt, he is very worried about her and is always eager for an update when one of the girls has to go to the doctor.  Marshall always wants a hug and a kiss in the morning before school, no matter how rough the morning has been.  And when I tell him I love him, he is always quick to reciprocate. 

We are so grateful that we have Marshall in our family.  He is certainly our guinea pig, and I hope we aren't messing up too badly.  We have learned so much by being his parents, and I am sure we have much more to learn!  He is one of our most favorite people to be around (when he is happy!) and we love him dearly!

Gretchen At Two

Our little Grizz Bear is two years old!!!  She is still tiny as ever, and we love all the comments we get while we are out about how darling and small she is.  We couldn't agree more!  Here are some things about Gretchen we always want to remember...

  

*At two years old, Gretchen is off the weight chart, in the negative direction!  Gretchen is 20 lbs. 15 oz. and 31.8 inches long.  Height wise, she is in the 10%.  So there's that!  And in true Toney form, her head is in the 95% at 19.7 inches around.  So it seems that most of her weight is in her darling head.  

*Following in the footsteps of her sisters, she is a picky eater.  I seriously feel like I feed her the same ten foods every single day:  apple juice, toast, yogurt, granola bars, z bars, nut bars, cheese pizza, and grilled cheese sandwiches.  Fortunately, she does like milk and drinks it every afternoon.  The only consistent fruit it seems she will always eat are plums, but sometimes she also eats strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, grapes, and bananas.  Though she actually does eat celery, cucumbers, and carrots; however, these are all very hard for her to chew, so it seems I eventually end up scraping them out of her mouth hoping that she is gaining some nutrients from them!  She also likes nuts...so maybe she is not as picky as I initially thought!  Yesterday she ate an entire chicken nugget and that alone made my day.  :)  She used to eat pasta of any kind, but stopped doing that months ago and that is actually very frustrating.  :)

*Gretchen has made SO much physical progress in the last year, and it has been so fun to watch her learn.  Last year at this time she was scooting to get around, and would not/could not stand even with support.  In the last year she has learned how to stand, how to pull herself up to stand, cruise along furniture, walk with push toys, walk unassisted, crawl up stairs, go down stairs on her tummy, jump, run, and step up and down a curb.  All of these things are huge accomplishments and we have celebrated them all.  I will forever be grateful to Early Intervention and her lovely therapist, who I came to love and still miss!  

*Gretchen is talking so well!  We love to hear her little voice.  She sometimes strings three or four words together, and it is a delight to hear.  She can say all of our names.  Some of my favorite things to hear her say are:  rocking chair, baby shark, hi mama, stop it mama, Elmo poopy, be naked, and sleepin'  :)

 *Speaking of naked, Gretchen has gone most of the summer in just a diaper.  Drives me NUTS!!!  So many cute clothes hang in her closet, and while it makes my laundry life easier, gosh I wish she would wear clothes!  She has mastered zippers and snaps, and can wiggle out of anything with a button, so even if she starts the day dressed, by the end of the day, she is usually back to a diaper.  I am desperately hoping that the change in weather will bring a change to her opinion of clothing!

*To my recollection, Gretchen is the only one of our kids who says, "Carry me" instead of "Carry you".  Smart girl! 

*Gretchen hates being laid down for a nap or for the night.  She cries 95% of the time I lay her down.  She has been doing this her whole life!  She never cries for long, usually less than one minute, but every time I lay her down and she cries I think to myself that I can't believe she is still doing this!  That being said, Richard is winning her over at night and they have a great routine going.  He rocks her for a long time and sings primary songs and then she just lays down, without even a whine.  He is soaking this up.  :)

*Gretchen LOVES the Baby Shark song on YouTube.  She asks all day long for Baby Shark, and as I mentioned earlier, I love the way she says Baby Shark and I could listen to her ask for it all day long.  She can also frequently be found dancing around in a room while singing Baby Shark.  She also loves I Am A Child of God, Twinkle Little Star, and Shall We Dance.

*One of Gretchen's current favorite activities is playing spa with Bridget.  :)  Bridget puts her up on her bed, tucks her in, and then pampers her and Gretchen just soaks it up.  

*Gretchen loves babies, bottles, and the Tickle Me Elmo she got for her birthday.  She also loves walking around in the high heel dress up shoes.  She loves putting on other people's socks, but not her own socks.   

*Gretchen had a terrible six day stomach flu right before her birthday and during that entire time she was so hard to handle.  Rightly so, I am sure she felt miserable, but it was so hard to handle.  None of us were used to so much crying from little Gretchen!  I am happy to report though that since she recovered, Gretchen has been completely delightful and I am soaking her up!!!  My goodness, she brings me so much happiness hour after hour.  She is happy, she is talkative, she is sweet, she is snuggly, she is so tiny and cute and has big brown eyes and the cheesiest smile.  We love, love, love this tiny girl!