Jane is 11!

Jane is ELEVEN years old! Oh where to begin with Jane! She is 61.5 inches tall (almost 92% of the way to my adult height) and weighs about 95 pounds. This girl has both grit and heart like you would not believe. When she is determined, things happen. She crushed her 5th grade year getting straight A's and participating in safety patrol (for the whole year), chorus, Battle of the Books (competition team), Run Club, and started playing the trumpet. She played travel soccer, and rec basketball, lacrosse, and summer swim (medaling in all three of her events at the Champs meet). She is growing more insightful and has kept her empathy and kindness. She is rocking the transition to middle school, but is dragging her feet all the way. She joined the field hockey team as a manager this year, and we can't wait to see what other things she'll take on. She crochets, loves music, graphic novels, sports, and friends. 

Eleanor and Jane at 11:

Jane at one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen, and eighteen months old. 

Jane at two, two and a half, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten years old.

Eleanor is 13!

Eleanor is thirteen years old! She is 66" inches tall (98.5% of the way to my adult height!). She absolutely crushed 7th grade last year, earning her first high school credit, playing libero for her school's volleyball team, was a featured role in the school musical, and joined NJHS! She played rec soccer, did summer swim, played rec basketball, and lacrosse. She continued exploring tennis, and participated in Student Ministries solidifying close friendships with many of the girls there. She got her own room this winter and has her own routines and her own life these days often making plans with friends and heading out via bike to meet up with them. As most teens these days, she's interested in skincare and clothes, but seems to try to keep a good head on her shoulders. She is becoming such a fun and interesting person and we are so thankful we get to be her parents! She is kind, funny, and easy to get along with. We very much look forward to seeing what each new year brings her way. Happy THIRTEENTH birthday Eleanor! We cannot believe you are a teenager.

Eleanor at one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen, and eighteen months old.

Eleanor at two, three, three and a half, four, and four and a half, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, and twelve years old.

Ben is 8!

Ben is EIGHT years old! He weighs 65 pounds and is 55 inches tall (70.5% of the way to Chris' adult height). Ben is creative, clever, and funny. He does not like to lose, and he does not like to be told he did something wrong or is at fault for something. He has tons of friends and is very social. He runs around playing outside with several neighbors around his age and loves to play anything sport-related. He is trying flag football for the first time and is his team's quarterback. He also played lacrosse last spring (not his favorite), basketball, soccer, and swam for our summer swim team. He is a fast runner and still loves playing with cars. He also loves drawing. He is a good artist and likes to write comic books. Ben says he wants to be an athlete when he grows up.

Eleanor, Jane, and Rosie at eight years old:

Ben at one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen, and eighteen months old. Ben at two, three, and four, five, six, and seven years old.

Rosie is 8!

Rosie is EIGHT years old! She weighs 58.8 pounds and is 53 inches tall (79% of the way to my adult height). Rosie is bright, fierce, independent, and curious. She is always pushing herself to do things her older sisters can do. She is strong - her teachers told me they often watch her at recess doing pull ups on the monkey bars. Rosie has a couple good buddies outside of school, but at school mostly hangs out with the boys in the class. She plays football, basketball, or four square and eats lunch with the boys. At home, she and Jane and Ben get along pretty well. She looks up to Eleanor. She likes to dress up, she loves Taylor Swift, and she likes to read graphic novels. She enjoys playing soccer and has spent a lot of time in goal this fall. She played lacrosse, swam for summer swim, and also played basketball this year.  There are still some words she says incorrectly like "grav" for "grab" and "cavinets" for "cabinets." She says she wants to be an actress when she grows up.

Eleanor, Jane, and Ben at eight years old:

Rosie at one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen, and eighteen months old. Rosie at two, three, four, five,  six, and seven years old.

Jane is 10!

Jane is ten years old! She is 58 inches tall (86% of the way to my adult height) and weighs 84 pounds. One of the things we absolutely love about Jane is that she loves being exactly the age she is and embraces her season of life. She had a decent year in fourth grade and is happy to be staying elementary school for another year while also looking forward to the opportunities (mostly sport-related) that middle school will hold. She decided to play travel soccer this year and is a starter for her gold team despite having less experience than many of the other girls, so far only playing center mid. She is also looking forward to basketball and lacrosse season and had a fun summer swimming, rising to the challenge of competing in 50s for the first time. Jane is currently planning on doing chorus, run club, and Battle of the Books at school (all things she also did last year). She also has decided to play trumpet in band this year. She got very lucky that her 5th grade class is stacked with all her friends, and she continues to remain our most social child - always looking for a buddy. Jane continues to have an admirable amount of empathy for others and generosity and kindness. We have also noticed her, at times, working hard to manage her big feelings in a productive or positive way. She says she wants to be either a lacrosse or soccer player when she grows up. Happy birthday to our sweet Janer!!

Eleanor and Jane at 10:

Jane at one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen, and eighteen months old. 

Jane at two, two and a half, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine years old.

Eleanor is 12!

Eleanor is twelve years old! She is 64" inches tall (96% of the way to my adult height!) and weighs 94 pounds. What a year for growth! She transitioned to middle school last summer and had a fantastic 6th grade year. She managed the school volleyball team last fall and tried out for and made the team as a player this year, too! She also played rec soccer with friends. She found a love for theater participating in the school musical during the winter while juggling rec basketball. She played lacrosse in the spring and had a bit more down time and excelled at summer swim crushing all of her times from last year and earning champs cuts in every stroke. She took a few tennis lessons this summer which she seems to enjoy and have a natural talent for. She also played flute and participated in Student Ministries at our church, attending both the winter and summer retreats with a great group of girls. She did some creative projects at school with friends, and in general just grew exponentially in both independence and maturity. She has a core group of friends at school, but also seems to float between groups at times, attending the fall and spring school dances with another set of friends. She is beautiful, bright, and grows more compassionate every day. We are very excited to see how she grows this next year! Eleanor says wants to be an actress on Broadway (though she added the caveat "I doubt that's very realistic") when she grows up.

Eleanor at one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen, and eighteen months old.

Eleanor at two, three, three and a half, four, and four and a half, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and eleven years old.

Ben is SEVEN!

Ben is seven years old! He weighs 56.8 pounds and is 52 inches tall (67% of the way to Chris' adult height). Ben is thriving in first grade. He has a classroom that offers flexible seating with wobble chairs, couches, floor spots, and other options. He has lots of friends and plays well with everyone he comes into contact with. He is silly and loves to make people laugh. He is a great runner, really improved a lot in swimming this summer making it to champs for the first time, and finally started getting interested in touching the ball during soccer finishing the season with a hat trick in the final game plus an assist. He also loves throwing a football around running "puzzles" (patterns) and reading Dogman books. Ben is actually a decent little artist and will draw and illustrate pictures until every white space on the paper is full. He can draw for long stretches of time and we go through paper like water around him. He has lost three teeth (all on the bottom) and has two permanent teeth coming in. He and Rosie are still in the same class and their teacher says they are "delightful." She says they sometimes choose to sit together, sometimes not, and generally sometimes people don't even know they're siblings. Ben and Rosie share a room and sometimes you can hear them giggling well past when they should be asleep. He still loves cars and super heroes and we've slowly been making progress through the Marvel movies. He says he wants to be a professional basketball or football player when he grows up.

Eleanor and Jane at seven years old:

Ben at one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen, and eighteen months old. Ben at two, three, and four, five, and six years old.

Rosie is SEVEN!

Rosie is seven years old! She weighs 49.2 pounds and is 50 inches tall (75% of the way to my adult height). Rosie has a handful of good buddies and gets along well with others but is not as gregarious as her brother. She hasn't made close friends at school, but she seems to enjoy spending time with her peers. Her teacher tells me she often does pull ups at recess by herself before doing the monkey bars and all the teachers think its quite funny! She made great improvements swimming this summer, making it to champs for the first time, and also seemed to find a bit of passion on the soccer field. She says she wants to be "really good" at soccer, so she ran very hard and kept up on a 7-9 year old team this fall with her friends despite being the youngest on the team. She even had fun playing goalie a couple times. Rosie has lost 7 teeth, has another wiggly one, and has several permanent teeth already. We really relished the long season this year where she looked like a hockey player with no front teeth - it was so cute! She loves reading and has recently been trying out chapter books. She still says certain words incorrectly: "cluvs" for "gloves," "spoom" for "spoon," and "grav" for "grab." She has the absolute best laugh in the world (more like a cackle!) and is very sweet but feisty. At home she tends to be very loud and enjoys stomping her foot and screeching like a pterodactyl (with a smile on her face) to get what she wants. Sometimes we still call her Rosiesaurus Rex. Rosie and Ben are still in the same class and their teacher says they are "delightful." She says they sometimes choose to sit together, sometimes not, and generally sometimes people don't even know they're siblings. Ben and Rosie share a room and sometimes you can hear them giggling well past when they should be asleep. Rosie says she wants to be a mom when she grows up. 

Eleanor and Jane at seven years old:

Rosie at one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen, and eighteen months old. Rosie at two, three, four, five, and six years old.

Jane is 9!

Jane is nine years old! She is approximately 56 inches tall (almost 84% of the way to my adult height) and weighs about 70 pounds. Her favorite thing continues to be playing any and all sports, and she excels at every single one she tries. Her favorite sport is always whatever is currently in season. She laments that she only gets one practice a week for soccer, so her coach is letting her play on both teams she coaches, hers and the co-ed one above hers that Eleanor plays on. She loves to craft and play with friends, and has recently been spending lots of time FaceTime chatting with her friends after school. She continues to excel at school and works very hard every day. She is a leader, both kind and firm and does not allow people to push her around. She likes organizing, planning things, reading graphic novels, and dancing. She's excited to try out chorus and run club this year at school and is still on the fence about Battle of the Books. She has recently been getting into all the Marvel movies and continues to be a friend to everyone she meets. Jane says she wants to be a baker with two of her buddies or a professional lacrosse or soccer player when she grows up.

Eleanor and Jane at nine years old:

Jane at one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen, and eighteen months old. 

Jane at two, two and a half, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight years old.

Eleanor is 11!

Eleanor is eleven years old! She is about 60 inches tall (almost 90% of the way to my adult height!) and weighs approximately 70 pounds. We are in full-blown tween stage now. Fifth grade was a great year for her with a large uptick in responsibility, time management (still needs a lot of work), and growth. She enjoyed playing rec soccer and basketball with friends, loved lacrosse and started finding her rhythm on defense, and crushed it in swimming, finishing 7th overall in the league (next to pretty much all year-round swimmers). She made the Battle of the Books competition team this year, competed in Lego-Robotics showing some skill in coding, and loved participating in chorus and learning flute this year. She is transitioning to middle school and all that entails with new found freedom, independence, and late nights. She has been doing volleyball try-outs the entire last week to try to make the team as a manager (6th graders can only be managers but still have to do normal try outs), started youth group at our church this summer, and went to her first sleep away camp - for TWO weeks! She is such a bright and sweet girl doing her best to navigate life and friendships in this in-between stage. We are excited to see what middle school holds for her. Eleanor says she wants to be, "I don't know... maybe a physical therapist?" when she grows up.

Eleanor at one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen, and eighteen months old.

Eleanor at two, three, three and a half, four, and four and a half, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten years old.

Rosie is SIX!

Rosie is six years old! She weighs 44.6 pounds and is 46 inches tall (69% of the way to my adult height). Rosie is still tiny but mighty. She is independent and cooks her own eggs - learning to work the stove before her older sisters. She actually is enjoying school this year, but continues to be quiet and reserved and slow to make friends. With her close friends though she is quite silly and engaged. She is very bright, starting to read and write, enjoys drawing, and playing with her sisters. She had a decent swim season (though she was faster in backstroke at four than she was this year), enjoyed playing soccer, but can't wait for lacrosse in the spring. She knows her own mind and can be quite stubborn, not giving into doing things she's not interested in. Recently someone invited her to lunch and she said, "no thanks!" She likes to be home and with the family. She lost her first tooth a couple weeks ago and was very excited about it. A few words she still says differently: "cavinets" for "cabinets," "grav" for "grab," "funder" for "thunder," and she regularly says "What means XXX?" instead of "What does XXX mean?" She shares a room with Ben but recently they took to sleeping in their own beds after sharing for 2-3 years. She loves Ben very much and I think she finds his presence to be a comfort in the classroom despite leaving him to his own devices to make friends and be a bit of a clown. Rosie says she wants to be a William & Mary cheerleader when she grows up. We love our baby girl very much and are excited to see what year 6 brings!

Eleanor and Jane at six:

Rosie at one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen, and eighteen months old. Rosie at two, three, four, and five years old.

Ben is SIX!

Ben is six years old! He weighs 50.0 pounds and is 49 inches tall (63% of the way to Chris' adult height). Ben is a friend to everyone, tying the role of "most social" in our family with Jane. He also seems to be generous and give everyone the benefit of the doubt, also like his sister. He is getting very interested in sports, having a very successful swim season, and telling us frequently "I'm ready to be a football (bastketball, soccer, etc.) player, now!" He runs fast, has a lot of energy, and enjoys the social aspect of sports. He is quite the silly kid both at home and at school, though his teacher assures me he is easily re-directable. He is starting to read and write, can do some pretty decent math for his age, and enjoys school thoroughly. He is also quite into drawing and coloring and has a good sense of color. He still has all his baby teeth, loves cars, and is currently very into super heros, "good guys" and "bad guys." He also has taken to playing very rough with friends, so we have to be careful and know the parents well. Despite that, he has a very soft spot and if he feels actual animosity or unkindness from his friends (rather than mutual wrestling), he gets very sad and hurt. A few words he still says differently... "flitball" for "football," "sidewards" for "sideways," and "spoom" for "spoon." He loves Rosie, though at school they operate in their own orbits (despite being in the same class). They still share a room and very recently started sleeping in their own beds. We knew this would happen eventually, but after sharing a twin bed for 2-3 years, I guess it was inevitable! Ben says he wants to be a fireman when he grows up as well as a William & Mary basketball player and football player. We love our Ben and can't wait to see what 6 brings.

Eleanor and Jane at six:

Ben at one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen, and eighteen months old. Ben at two, three, and four, and five years old.