I am your parent,
You are my child,
I am your quiet place,
You are my wild.
-M.A. Cusimano
Louisa Ann, almost 6!
I'm finally taking a little time to blog. I was going to write a post about
Instagram, but started writing it and it was becoming utterly a snore. I stopped to think for a moment and realized that this blog is about my memories, first and foremost, so I can never go wrong writing about my kids. It's what I'll look back on and want to remember.
That's what means the most to me. So here goes; a little post about each of my children. How they are all doing as of January 2015.
PART 1 of 4 ;o)
LOUISA ANN;
Quick Facts:
-40lbs
-Blond hair
-Blue eyes
-Hates wearing cardigans
-Loves going to gymnastics class
-Loves pomegranates
-Enjoys reciting poetry, but gets annoyed with Josie who always wants to jump in
-Earliest to rise (besides the baby)
-Loves to make people laugh
-Is very good in church now
-wishes she could eat cereal for every meal
Louisa has been really impressing us lately with her reading. I know I already wrote about this in our family Christmas letter, but it's truly magical! To see a child become literate....wow. This is new, happy territory for me. I don't anticipate that every child is going to be the same, and perhaps not all my others will be as easy to teach...but if it's anything like this experience, I cannot
wait to teach all my other children to read. This is such a special age.
Still, I try not to push too much. At any sign of resistance I back away. I am really sensitive to her maintaining this enthusiasm. Yes, as kids get older they are going to have to learn to push back, to push through the difficulty. But in Kindergarten? No, not really. Everything I've read says you shouldn't jeopardize their enthusiasm for learning by doing too much too soon. So right now, as we go through our first real year of schooling at home, I'm enjoying all the advancements in reading, but at the same time keeping it really simple. Louisa reads to me pretty much every day, though we've stopped doing 100 Easy Lessons. We got to Lesson 75 and just didn't need it anymore. She would rather read little Easy Readers (Level 1 or 2) or Bob books. Those little stories in 100 Easy Lessons were just not cutting it anymore :)
Gymnastics is something else she is still enjoying. We started it mid-summer, and she's still gung-ho. She has never once woken up on a Tuesday morning and told me she didn't want to go to her class. It's been fun seeing her improve her coordination and flexibility. She talks about her coach a lot, though she just got a new one. There are 4 other girls and one boy in her class. She doesn't talk about them as much, but I watch her interact with them and it's pretty cute. If she sticks with it for a couple more years I'd be happy because I see what the bigger girls get to do and some of it looks pretty neat. Not sure I want her to continue through college or anything...hmmm, the injuries just don't look that appealing! At some point we'd like her to try out Irish dance. The school daddy did it with is in West Seattle right now so that would be a bit of a drive for us to do weekly right now. But sometime in the future, it's definitely something we've talked about.
One thing I love about Louisa is her thoughtfulness. For one thing, her love language is at least party gift giving. She is always wanting to make beaded necklaces or drawings for people. When she gets money (which is pretty rarely) she wants to buy something for someone. She also is also attentive during family prayer time now. If you need prayers, ask Louisa - she will remember you! She always prays for her family members, friends, and yes - her gymnastics coach :) I'm finding it a little difficult teaching her religion right now because she is very concerned. She absorbs it so easily that I have to be really careful how I phrase things. I'm sure many kids at this young age are the same. Story of Noah's Ark? Cain killing Abel? Yeesh. So for now I've decided to wait on some of the Old Testament stories and focus on stories from Jesus' life. We talk about the Joyful Mysteries of the rosary a lot, and less about the Sorrowful ones. For now. :)
Louisa is my big girl. She is already so helpful around the house. She can unload the dishwasher, put her clothes away, make her bed, clean up toys, and change Emmett's diaper. (I don't let her very often, but she asks me to a lot) She wants to help in the kitchen with cooking more...but that's always crazy for me so I am trying to make time for that. The weekends, baking with daddy is better (Yes, Mike likes to bake more than I do!) Or, I am thinking I should start doing slightly more complex breakfasts' so she can help, and potentially be able to put a breakfast together in the near future (other than pouring cereal)
Gosh, I could keep writing for hours. I guess I just wanted to write down a few things to remember this moment in time - - - 5 almost 6 - - - full of enthusiasm and life - - - full of love for family - - - a heart receptive to faith and God - - - a mind receptive of knowledge - - - and her mama's heart in her hands
how have I only known this kid for 5 years...???
P.S.
I am thinking about THREE of my friends who have had their FIRST babies recently. And guess what? All three of them are baby GIRLS! It has me so nostalgic for those first few moments, days, weeks, and months with little baby Lou. My first baby. Yes, it was sooooooooooooooooo hard. Everything was hard; breastfeeding, sleep depravation, going anywhere, staying home all day, making food, setting her down, just, everything! So my heart knows what they are going through so well. I am trying to be there for them (if they need me!) but mostly I am praying for them. I remember there were times when I really needed to talk to other mama's - but in general I think I needed their prayers the most. And the assurance that I was doing o.k. at the whole mommy gig every once in a while, because many times, I wasn't sure.
Hang in there sweet mama's. You ARE enough. It's not even funny how enough you are! All your baby wants and needs is YOU. It will get easier. Nursing will become pleasant. You will be able to shower again. One day your baby will not need you like she does now, but will be a big, helpful, wonderful lovely young lady like my Lou is. Keep loving her, and she will love you back so much that it hurts.
.jpg)
.jpg)
