Category / Family

Year two, quarter three. Frozen ❄️ and Moana on repeat, complete with closed eyes and outstretched arms pose😂 Yelling at Alexa 🔊 chuckling “aww” whenever you see anything remotely adorable 🐶 Pretending everything is a phone 📱 and obsessing over all lip and nail products 💄 💅. Chattering constantly and adding new real words all the time. 💬 identifying more colors 🎨 specific body parts, and loving activities that have included swim lessons, story time, and music class 🎶 You love drawing, climbing, playing in water, snuggling, napping and most recently, only eating off “real” dishes. 21 months with you…in the home stretch to TWO!✌🏻We love you Greer Girl 👧🏼

This quarter brought your first “real” trick or treating experience — the weather was perfect and you LOVED being able to be out and about trodding along behind random kids. You could have cared less about the candy or collecting, you just wanted to be where the action was.

We squeezed in as many last outdoor outings as we could as the temps started to drop. Lots of patch time for you!

While Crew would focus for hours on trucks, you are thrilled with all the detail-heavy tasks. You already love to draw and will keep at it intently for minutes at a time. You don’t have any interest in baby dolls, but stuffed animals, specifically dogs (along with real ones!) will ALWAYS get your attention and an enthusiastic “awww!”

Our Thanksgiving was a quiet one just the four of us this year, but you LOVED that we ditched the high chair and you could sit in a booster seat around the table with us. You get SO chatty and enthusiastic when you know you’re one of the gang!

You more or less left the Christmas gifts alone this year, although you were very into the ornaments. Some of your hit gifts were a Little People dollhouse with lots of buttons to push, a walking/barking dog (more buttons to push), and a water painting mat you can use over and over again.

You loved the snow this year — we haven’t had many snowfalls this winter, and the second one was so deep you just sunk into it (not a fan of being stuck). But you have yet to complain about this cold wet white stuff!

Our winter days are slower right now, but we do get out for trips to the childrens museum, a music class, some storytime at the library, and of course our regular errands. We are already looking ahead to Spring and some warmer weather to be back outside!

It’s official — seven is it. It’s when you stop being little and are a full. blown. KID.

You have matured in all kinds of ways this year – physically, emotionally, socially, academically, I could go on and on. You’ve had a lot of growth opportunities as you’ve left kindergarten for the big leagues of first grade, and the expectations have been a great challenge you’ve (mostly) risen to. 😉 You are excelling in school, continue to be a fantastic reader, but your love of math has taken over. You love that there’s a single concrete answer and constantly ask to be quizzed on math facts, and you’re highly motivated by the idea of doing something other first graders “aren’t doing yet”– which has propelled you into learning multiplication and division concepts. Competition and the idea of being first will be the key to your success, I believe 😉

You have a passion for soccer and while you prefer Dad, you’ll beg either of us to practice on evenings it’s warm enough, and you play every day at recess as well. You participated in both spring and fall rec leagues and are in the middle of your second year of indoor winter training. Soccer, too, comes with all the lessons and growth opportunities, but the joy and determination we see rises above everything else. When you’re truly motivated by something, you have a dedication and a work ethic that can’t be denied.

Honorable mentions in the “favorites” category also include Dad and hot tubbing. 🙂

The remainder of your school year as a kindergartner still had its interruptions — you were exposed at a lunch table and I got the call to come pick you up and quarantine for the following week. I can’t share this story without noting your amazing teacher — after 1/3 of her class was suddenly whisked home, she did an incredible job of keeping you all in the loop from home as she continued to teach in the classroom.

We got that last Covid related school interruption out of the way and took a bit of a Hail Mary vacation to Arizona. It was the first time in months we’d been able to go do activities without masks and the warm temps and sunshine were just what we needed after a lonnnnng winter. One of my favorite quotes of yours this past year was on our last day. “Guys! We have to come back but visit new places, too. There is so much life to see!” All the motivation we need to keep making adventures happen.

You wrapped up kindergarten and we could not have been more proud of you, your teacher, and your peers for completing such a crazy year with tenacity and enthusiasm. (It felt more than fitting that you won the classroom award for biggest vocabulary!) The school year coincided with the rollout of vaccines for adults, warmer weather/more outside time, and consequently dropping case numbers which led to the removal of the mask requirement in your final days of the school year. We looked forward eagerly to a NORMAL summer.

We probably overcommitted in our excitement, but you participated in numerous camps and sports that kept us going all June, July, and August. I regret nothing about our go-go-go summer…it was pure bliss to have so many great experiences after a year-plus of not much going on! Per usual, I subjected you to your annual half birthday shoot — this was a particularly fun memory of the two of us exploring around downtown and you coming up with all kinds of poses 😉

One little lady in particular loved having you around more during those warm months. 🙂 It’s so fun to watch your bond continue to grow and while there are times you can all but ignore her, you are also fiercely protective and you always manage to have your eye on her when it counts.

And just like that, it was on to the next school year, one that was blissfully free of most of the previous year’s rules around distancing and masks. Unlike the previous year, all of the same grade classrooms are allowed to intermingle this year, so it’s been fun to watch your friend circle grow significantly.

The fall seemed to fly and, fueled by a movie marathon with Dad and a correlating love of magic, you opted to be Harry Potter for Halloween.

We rolled into the magic of the holiday season and another year of elf shenanigans was one of the highlights. You finally, FINALLY, were able to join your many friends who’d lost some teeth, shedding two just before Christmas.

We welcomed the new year and pivoted to birthday time. We celebrated with a PAR-TAY. You wanted boys and girls on your invite list, and thoughtfully chose magic as your theme because you decided that was something everyone would like. We opened gifts and sang with Papa and Mimi at home, then they hung back with Greer so we could go bounce and party at SkyZone with nine of your school friends. It happened to be the last day of winter break, so it was especially fun for you to all see each other after the time off, and burn some energy after several single digit temperature days at home!

(This shirt was too perfect for your theme this year!)

(And even Greer got in on the “magic” with a sparkly dress!)

Happy birthday, seven-year-old. You are kind, funny, emotionally intelligent beyond your years, and I couldn’t ask for anything better of you. I can’t wait to see what *magic* you have in store for us this coming year. <3

This quarter was a big one for you. We were finally able to get you baptized, we sent your brother back to a (normal!) school year, and as things opened up for the first time since you were born, we were able to start “normal” toddler things like swim lessons, storytime at the library, and music class.

It was a lot of “new” all at once, and you were timid the first couple of outings, but it was so nice to start having some regular routines without your brother along to show you how it was all done, you learned where to go, what to do, and what to expect. Once you had that down, you really started having FUN.

This last month has brought so many noticeable changes. More gestures and more versions of new words, more and more FOMO about whatever everyone else is doing, more intensity about the things that interest you (animals, drawing, swinging, clapping to music, brushing your teeth and bathing) and often a meltdown when the said interest has to come to an end. You tolerate bows much better than a month ago, your walking has gotten much sturdier and picked up some speed, and with the gates gone you get yourself up and down stairs with ease. We are ALL relieved you have all of your teeth in for a while! You play independently and happily but looove picking up your brother at the end of the school day and chatter away like he can understand every word you’re trying to say. Bring on the second half of this second year. Happy 1.5, Greer Girl. 💛

Year two, quarter one is in the books. The last month has been one endless miserable cold, but if we look past that, you are doing so much growing up! Babbling all day long, reading all the books (in our laps or on your own), and finding all the writing utensils in the house although miraculously you will search for a piece of paper to doodle on. We are amazed that you can already hold a pencil the “correct” way – we’ve skipped right over any toddler palm crayons for real art supplies!

In the same theme, you already show a love of doing art on yourself — you have discovered what nail polish and makeup is and you. are. fascinated.

You have a handful of words and a few signs (most notably waving, “all done” and “more”), and you are finally starting to open up a bit at weekly daycare days which you are attending for the summer. You enthusiastically bob your head up and down to music you like. It’s a running (accurate) joke that if you’re upset putting on anything by Lizzo makes you happy, but nothing comes close to the obsession that is your blankie.

You are SO close to walking, can get from a squat to standing in the middle of the room and balance without so much as a wobble…you just don’t want to move those feet! You LOVE having your brother home for the summer — we’ve been adventuring to all of the parks and hitting the pool regularly. You spend a lot of time at your water table and you love to CLIMB on any and everything!

We have given up on headbands but moved on to bow training, you’re off all bottles, down to one pretty epic nap (3-4 hours lately) and finally, post endless cold and ear infections, you are back to sleeping through the night. You are sassy, naughty, snuggly, and do. not. want. to. be. left. out. It’s been amazing to see you open up as the world has done the same. You are definitely more sensitive than your brother at this age, but you’re also a quick study and sure of yourself and what you want!

This has been such a fantastic quarter in terms of life starting to feel much more “normal” for the first time in over a year — we’ve gotten out to restaurants, sent you to some daycare, and been back into the hustle and bustle of outings and activities. It’s been so much fun to show you more of the world right as you’re really starting to soak it all up!

Ten months:

You eat anything we give you, have popped three teeth, love to clap and bounce to music, and you’ve clocked in at just shy of twenty pounds of goodness. This month included your first flights, first (toe) dip in the ocean, and crawling!

Eleven months:

You are starting to pull up on things, have several teeth, are obsessed with books and your brothers toys and spend your days crawling laps and laps around the house looking for things you shouldn’t be doing like eating toilet paper or chewing on cords. You have been saying mama, dada, and baba for a while but recently added ball, all done, and sometimes hi to your vocabulary. If music is on, you dance and “sing” babble along, and when something makes you especially happy you smile and scrunch your nose audibly snorting, pop your thumb in your mouth and give whatever is making you happy your full attention. You had your first tummy bug this month but also your first rides in your pink car outside because *spring*!! We can and can’t wait to ring in the big ONE with you in just a month!

You are ONE. You have opinions and personality and love to laugh. You will yell your way into any conversation you feel you are being left out of and have FOMO about everything. Your twelfth month brought a second vacation, a third head cold, pulling up and cruising on everything, taking a couple steps here and there with something to hold onto, and climbing a flight of stairs. You love most foods including your birthday cake, ducks and reading books. It’s been quite a first year on this planet for you. I’m confident this second one only gets better.

We celebrated at home just the four of us on your actual birthday, then enjoyed celebrating a Greer + Papa double birthday the following weekend. It was quiet and simple, but we loved getting to celebrate with all the orange-themed puns about our “cutie”! Orange you cute?!

Watching you grow has been such a bright spot in the past year! Happy first birthday to our sweet Greer Girl! <3

Seven months:

You are sitting, still toothless, sleeping closer to twelve hours straight versus ten-ish at night (woo hoo!) LOVE Christmas lights, prefer yogurt to fruits and veggies, and want to YANK anything that dangles in your view. You are happy, happy, happy!

Eight months:

You shriek loudly (happily) about everything (all day long) chatter, blow raspberries, giggle, shake your head dramatically, and occasionally clap when prompted. You love music, your pink blankie, yogurt, feeding yourself, and being allowed to drink from a regular cup (no interest in a sippy). You are sporting a single tooth and get on your belly but just shake side to side and don’t move forward at all ha! That strawberry blonde hair is just barely trying to come in!

Nine months:

We celebrated nine months with a vacation! You loved the change of pace and scenery and surprised us all with how easily you napped and slept in a new place, as long as you had total darkness, your blankie, and a sound machine cranked.

You can get from a sit to a roll but can only army crawl backwards at this point. You love bites of what we are eating, and drinking water from a cup is your new favorite pastime. We hit a nine month separation / sleep regression but it seems to be on the way out!