Budding Personalities

Time again for my annual personality post!

Leila

It is so fun to watch Leila get more responsible and take on more tasks - she has loved creating the "Sunshine Cafe" which she made up as a restaurant where she is the waitress and gets everyone their food - usually breakfast, where she can pour cereal, milk, butter toast, get waffles out of the freezer, you name it, she does it.  Just today she pitted 8# of cherries for Lindsey and offered me her services any time.  I had a hard time with her birthday this year, it seems like time is flying by so quickly.  She is already 7!!  That number is way too big, and time keeps flying by!

She is starting to be more confident, there were no tears at drop off for VBS this year even when she didn't know anyone in her group, and I have high hopes for soccer this fall as she continues to become more independent.  She has blossomed in her reading skills this year, she can now read pretty much anything, we even started reading the first Harry Potter book together and she can pronounce most everything except the made up words.  She almost over emphasizes her words, I can hear her teachers' voices and inflections reflected and she loves to mimic them and teach her siblings and cousins things.  She is also now confidently leading prayer time with the family.

Leila is very neat and organized.  When I went on the field trip with her class to the beach in St. Joseph and the museum, most of the kids had sandy feet when we reloaded the bus, and Leila meticulously cleaned every grain of sand off from her feet and declared herself Queen of Clean.  I had to chuckle, but apparently our neat freak tendencies have been firmly ingrained.  Leila is very loving and her teacher gave her the Sweetie Pie award at school, which is well deserved.  She is still a kid who can be quite a stinker, but for the most part, I am bubbling over with pride and love for the girl she is and is becoming.  As much as I want to stop time, I can't wait to see how she continues to blossom.


Stella

Stella loves bunnies, horses, unicorns, and the color blue.  She really doesn't like green at all, and if she has something green, she will most likely give it away, even if it is candy.  Speaking of candy, she is obsessed with cavities and not getting them.  She often goes without dessert in the act of preventing cavities.  When we were at therapy I learned that Stella is very competitive.  She wants to win - make up a therapy game and she will keep trying until she masters it.  She also wants to be timed or have a distance measured so that she will know if she is the best.

She is always trying to be funny - here she is saying, "I am a kindergartner" while squeezing her lips and then giggling.  She makes up jokes that aren't funny and tells them over and over, cracking herself up.  She wants to be able to do anything that her big sister is doing.  If Leila gets to have a "short rest" on Sundays, Stella wants to make sure that she gets to have one that is just as short, and do not call it a nap, it is a rest.  

Stella is still quite adventurous, she is willing to try most any food, and actually likes more vegetables than me!  Which I guess is not that hard to do, but still.  Stella still needs to continue to work to build her muscles to get on track with writing/coloring and overall coordination, but she has definitely improved and catches herself before falling more often than not.  Stella is also getting too big too quickly, I can't believe she is already 5.  Everyone tells you that the days are long but the years are short, but you don't realize it until your children are growing up too quickly.  Stella is very loving and giving, she is willing to share almost any toy, but don't even think about taking her bunny.  She constantly asks me if she will be able to have bunny in Heaven, and I assure her she will.  She is growing into a lovely young lady and I am loving watching her develop into who God made her to be.


Henry

This boy loves to run and jump and get dirty.  He loves playing with trains and trucks and building with magnatiles.  I love to snuggle with him.  I am having to do that less and less in the middle of the night, which is a blessing to my sanity, but I will always treasure those times when I sang and rocked him and he needed me so much.

He is becoming more and more independent, even brushing his own teeth.  I don't have any babies anymore, they are all becoming little people with their own personalities.  Henry has strong opinions on many things, and once he has decided something, there is not much you can to do change his mind.  Like all of our kids, he will spout off rules as if they are set in stone, even if it was something that was only said in passing.  They are always listening and remember almost everything, usually at the wrong times, so I have to be so careful what I say and make sure to explain things clearly.

Henry is the typical little brother, wanting to do whatever his sisters are doing, even stopping taking naps about the same time as Stella.  He still needs one occasionally, but it is no longer an every day occurrence.  He loves to be goofy and make silly faces and laugh.  I am looking forward to seeing how he changes and matures and comes into his own - even just in the next couple of years, let alone as he becomes a man.  That is something to look forward to.  I am sure he will be a gentleman like his dad, and hopefully gain many of the good traits from both of us with a few that are all his own.

God has truly blessed us with these three.

I look forward to seeing where He will take them,

and who they will become.

And I pray that they will each continue to grow in love for each other and those whom God places in their lives.