Girls Stats

Picture taken from HERE

I took both girls for well checks yesterday. It is funny to see they are moving in opposite directions on the growth chart.

At 12 years and 8 months, Kaitlin is 83.5 pounds (19th percentile) and 59 inches tall (20th percentile). She had been a resident of the 5th percentile for most of her life so it is nice to see she is picking up some speed.

Natalie at 6 years and 4 months is 54.6 pounds (82nd percentile) and 49 inches tall (90th percentile). This is a little step down for Natalie who had resided in the 99th – 95th percentile for the first 5 years of her life.

They might just meet each other in the middle and stay there [grin].

Wednesday Ramble

I have been busy trying to recuperate and catch up after our vacation. It is hard to organize oneself after a break in the routine.



All the fun Natalie had at the pool in Florida seems to be paying off. Yesterday we got an excellent review from her swimming teacher. She did not pass to the next class yet, but her teacher was very impressed with her improvement. Go Natie!



Kaitlin has also been busy. Next week she will be one of the main speakers during Week of Prayer at school and we have been working on getting her presentation together. This has caused some tension as she is definitely displaying a lot more “tween” behavior. In a split second, I go from being the best mom in the world to being the worst. She wants my help but at the same time sees it as an intrusion. Her behavior sends my mood off on a tangent at times, but I try to remind myself to not take it personally. Normally, after a little “episode”, she comes around and apologizes and we pick up where we left off.



Yesterday as I was sitting at the YMCA during Natalie’s swimming class, Kaitlin decided to rest her head on my lap and take a nap. As I sat there playing with Kaitlin’s hair while watching Natalie truly enjoying her swimming class I was overcome with a feeling of thankfulness of being able to be their mother and be able to share with them these little moments. Of course, a few minutes later Kaitlin burst my bubble by declaring me the "worse mother in the world" for waking her from her nap to take her to Piano Lessons and then stomped out of the car stating that I “was not going to get my money’s worth out of her lesson today”.

Oh well, I’m still thankful!

Little Love Notes

Natalie is entering another phase in her life. At almost five and a half she still likes princesses and tiaras, but decidedly less so. I am not sure when the transition started, I missed it! She is now entering her “teacher” stage. She spends a big chunk of her free time, notepad in hand, writing notes, preparing “homework” for us to do, teaching her stuffed animals. It is still a “magical” age but I can see a pronounced dose of “reality” entering her imagination. I did not think I would miss the princess stage so much, but I do.

On the other hand, I love seeing her enjoy learning. Making up silly rhymes, spelling words, writing little love notes. She is frequently leaving us little notes all over the house. The other night as we were coming upstairs to get ready for bed, Kaitlin and I found this on our doorway.




One funny thing she does is when sees that we spotted her note, she runs and hides to hear our reactions to the notes and then comes out of hiding running to give us a big hug. It is so sweet!

Sometimes I wish I could freeze time and be able to enjoy her more at each stage, but it is also sweet to watch her grow and change and become this great little individual. Bittersweet. I am sad to see some things pass, but excited to see what comes next.