Lainey:
She lives in a happy world filled with rainbows and unicorns. She's a bit of a space cadet. And I say this in the most loving way. I wish I could be more like her. She lives in the moment: completely, absolutely, and joyfully. She doesn't live in the past, nor does she live in the future. She lives in the present. She is a very bright, very creative little kid. However, thinking about the consequences of her actions is not one of her strengths! But I think this will come with time, as she grows older and matures. I definitely don't want to take away her contentedness, her joyfulness. That needs to stay. :) But it would be super helpful if she started thinking more about the end result of some of her actions. I think she would benefit from a class in common sense. If there was such a thing. :)
Lainey does well in school and is a quick learner. We always joke that she has the "memory of an elephant" which is absolutely true. That girl can remember everything. Mostly experiences/people connected with emotions (she's like me in that way) but also facts, stories, books, events...it's pretty remarkable.
She has an active imagination and is therefore scared of a LOT of things. Like going upstairs by herself. And the media room. And startling noises. And clowns (thanks to this creepy clown epidemic in the United States). And she closes her eyes when she sees violence on TV (if she happens to see a random snippet of a preview for a show or something). Thankfully, Walker isn't as scared as Lainey is about things...he's a bit braver than she is and is less likely to believe everything that he hears. ;)
She will still watch her favorite childhood show, The Backyardigans. Lainey will still drink milk from a sippy cup. :) She doesn't necessarily want to anymore (and she definitely doesn't need to), but I think she must find some comfort in it. However, she won't drink from it in front of anyone except Ben, Walker, and me. :) She loves "Mommy Sprite" (Sparkling ICE drinks) and cuddling with her 420 stuffed animals. I think she thinks that they have feelings...I was the same way as a child. That girl LOVES her stuffed animals. She doesn't have just one favorite...she has about 50 favorites. And in her mind, they all deserve love and attention. :)
Lainey has recently referred to a hoax as a "hoak" and a migraine as a "mine-grain" and a Trust Fall (that team-building group activity where one person falls backwards into another person's arms) as a "Trest Fall." :) Cracks me up because she is so serious when she says these things.
Lainey can finally take a shower on her own. AMEN. Friends. AMEN. That hair has been a problem...but she's getting good at washing the conditioner out of her hair. My next self-care goal for her will be swallowing pills. That will be a great milestone!
She loves her brother. She even wrote a five-paragraph essay in school describing the reasons why she loves him. :)
Lainey wears her heart on her sleeve. Proudly. All the time. You know what that child is feeling at ALL times. ;) She's a hugger and genuinely happy for her friends when they succeed. I love this quality about her, particularly since the dance world can be a bit competitive at times. She has a little light inside of her...and it shines brightly.
She loves candy, sweet things, and carbohydrates. I can't say I blame her.
Dancing. Musical.ly. Harry Potter. Reading. Being with her family. Those are the things that Lainey loves. :)
Both Lainey and Walker still love having books read to them. :)
She can completely fall apart if she thinks we're upset with her. She cries, yells, and literally "can't stand it" if she thinks we're disappointed in her or frustrated with her (due to her decisions, her grades, or her innocent way of getting distracted while walking from the living room to the bathroom). She gets really mad at herself. :( We definitely don't get upset with her often, but she is 8 years old. She still has a lot of learning to do. ;)
Lainey loves little kids. She loves helping them. She looks forward to helping Ms. Tammy (at the dance studio) teach the little kids every single Thursday. She loves hearing stories about my kids at school, and often asks about them. I'm thinking that she would make a wonderful teacher someday.
Lainey is someone I'd like to be when I grow up. She's kind to everyone, she's sweet, she's helpful, she's positive, she sees the silver lining in EVERYTHING, she works hard and plays even harder. She's just a joyful soul, and for that, I'm so, so thankful. I thank God every single day for her. She's a truly wonderful person and daughter!
Walker:
Walker couldn't be more different than Lainey. Yet he loves her and she loves him. They are one another's best friend.
Walker is an over-thinker. Whereas Lainey lives in the moment, Walker lives in the past or the future. Living in the moment is rare for him. Most of the time, he's either reflecting on what has happened or worrying about what will happen. That is Walker, in a nutshell. And that's okay. It will serve him well in life...especially when he is faced with challenging decisions. I'm just not totally sure it's a good thing when you're six years old.
He's a total rule-follower and is extremely well-behaved for people he respects and admires (coaches, teachers, parents, other kids' parents, grandparents, etc.). He is a sweetheart. Teachers and coaches love him because he doesn't goof around nor does he get in trouble. He listens, pays attention, applies what he's learned, and respects those in charge.
Arriving early is important for Walker. Since he was in preschool, he's never liked to be the last person to the party (and by "party" I mean practice, school, games, events, birthday parties...). He likes to be early. If he's late, or if he arrives after most of the other kids, he tends to delay getting out of the car, walk slowly, shuffle his feet...and have a generally crappy attitude. Thankfully a little distraction still works for him. We're thankful to have supportive and understanding coaches and teachers who "get" this about him, and do their best to distract him in order to get him to join the team/party/game/etc.
He has had a couple of nightmares...but funnily enough, they happen RIGHT after he goes to bed. This summer, he had a dream that I left him in the airport. Given that Walker is a thinker and a planner, he told me that he has to hold my hand in the airport at all times. He also had a teensy bit of anxiety before going on our cruise last summer...he worried that the cruise ship would crash. But that moment of anxiety was fleeting; after we assured him that our cruise ship was safe, and that we would be safe, he never mentioned it again. (Lainey would never think this way, as a data point. Totally different children!)
Walker is likely to put his toothbrush away, take his plate to the sink and milk cup to the refrigerator, clean up his messes, and stall before going to bed. I think he's a night owl. Mornings aren't his thing. Lainey's a happy camper in the mornings and literally runs and jumps down the stairs (she sounds like an extremely heavy-footed stallion) whereas Walker creeps down the stairs...silently and slowly.
Walker is more likely to lie to us than Lainey. I think Walker is scared of displeasing us...therefore, he might lie. Lainey breaks down and confesses. Maybe it's part of her "living in the moment" way of life.
He still says the same prayer with Daddy every single night before bed... "Now I lay me down to sleep..." and he still falls asleep to the same music CD that he did when he was an infant.
Walker is a practical person - a realist. According to Walker, his friends Jase and Gregorio were playing a "fake" game at recess the other day...they were searching for dinosaur fossils. Walker told me that it was a fake game because there aren't really dinosaur fossils on a playground. Therefore, he didn't want to play. (If Walker knew the word "duh" I think he would have said it to me at that moment.)
Winning baseball and football games are more pleasing to Walker than losing baseball and football games. He feels every single loss VERY intensely. Last night, after losing to an 8&Under baseball team, he made Ben throw him the ball over and over to practice his hitting. He's a determined little dude, and he takes things very seriously. He can be really hard on himself, which is hard to witness as a parent. :( It's funny because "winning" is never our focus. We, as his parents, always tell him to try his hardest and do the right thing...we never focus on winning. That desire comes from within him.
Walker loves to burp, toot in people's faces, punch his sister's "po-tah-to bottom" because it jiggles, play Minecraft with his friends, watch Stampy's Minecraft videos on YouTube Kids, and play football and baseball. He hasn't really picked up a basketball since he attended basketball camp this summer...but maybe he will when the season rolls around again. And, FYI - I have a "po-tah-to arm" and "po-tah-to" leg and Ben as a "po-tah-to stomach." Basically, anything that jiggles and wiggles when you punch it is referred to as a "po-tah-to ______." I'm sure I have lots more po-tah-to parts than mentioned above...we'll work on that. Maybe in 2017.
Walker works on his "bumps" all the time! (His "bumps" are his bicep muscles!) He's also an extremely fast little runner. He can move.
Walker is very aware of smells...good and bad. He likes the smell of Sharpies. :) Ha!
Walker generally chooses protein or fruit over crackers and chips. He does love candy and chocolate chip cookies and frozen Ghirardelli chocolate "squares" and chicken nuggets (from home). :)
He doesn't love to go to school. We tell him he has to go or we'd go to jail...and then he'd still have to go to school but he would have new parents. Yes, we actually say that to him.
Walker tends to have a negative outlook on life in general. He's our Negative Nelly. Our Debbie Downer. (Again, I think it's the overthinking thing...I think he thinks of all the "what ifs" instead of focusing on the present.) To put it bluntly, he never really wants to do anything except play/watch videos on his iPad, play football or baseball (when it's not hot outside), or play on the PlayStation with his friends (Nicco and Daniel and David...our neighbors). Whenever Lainey says something positive, like "I can't wait for school tomorrow because we get to ______", Walker will retort with "I never like school, I'm never going to like school, school is the worst thing in the world." (And imagine those "r's" sounding like "w's"....the "wowst thing in the woold"). But honestly, it kinda makes us giggle because he is sooo predictable (in this sense).
He still thinks that a lot of things are "wee-owd" (weird). I might be sad when he actually starts saying his r's...but I know it's almost time. We need to start working on it.
I'm not sure if he acts this way because he is scared of failing in some way, or if he is afraid to leave his comfort zone to try new things. Actually, it's probably a little bit of both. However, we're seeing some breaks in this attitude. Every so often (more so, recently) Walker's been more content and agreeable and less cranky when asked to do something. Ben and I stare at one another in disbelief when he utters a positive comment or asks to do something that he normally doesn't ask to do. An example would be the other night, when asked to draw. Or tonight, when he asked to look up the name of the artist they studied in art (Gustav Klimt).
He's a little homebody. He loves being at home. Thankfully, we both realize that he needs this time at home to recharge his batteries...as long as he can get that, he's more likely to be content with whatever activity he's asked to do (not necessarily happy or excited..but content).
Because he gets anxious about things, and tends to overthink upcoming events, we tend to not tell Walker about things that are happening in his near future. For example, he has a baseball game and a football game tomorrow. I will causally mention them, but I will not go into detail about the timing or discuss what he needs to do in the games or mention how hot it's going to be. :-/ Otherwise, he'll flip out. One day at at time (or one hour at a time) with this kid!
If Walker is faced with a challenge that he can't overcome (i.e. swimming the length of the pool) he will absolutely keep trying until he gets it. It's amazing. While visiting our cousins in Kingwood, we realized that Walker wasn't tall enough to go down the slide. He wanted to go down that slide, so the lifeguard told him that he had to pass a swim test...he had to swim the length of the pool without stopping (25 yards) and tread water for 30 seconds (okay that didn't happen, but that's legitimately hard for someone who is six years old). After two failed tries, a few anxious tears, and some negative comments ("I can't do this" and "I will never be able to do this"), he actually swam the length of the pool. He didn't give up. He kept going...because he knew that if he made it, he could go down the slide. He can be quite persistent.
"Bedroom baseball" is a fun before-bed activity. He loves it. We throw a soft squishy ball to him and he hits it with his tiny wooden bat. It's fun, and he loves it. :) It's become a nightly activity.
Walker recently told me that he doesn't like birthday parties where there is a "teacher and learning." (Basically, he just wants to run around the venue and not listen to anyone.)
People and things can be "ode" (old) and places and the weather can be "code" (cold).
Walker's original joke: "Why does Odell Beckham Jr. like to whip?" Answer: "Because he likes whipped cream." (HA!)
Walker is a loyal little guy. Once you are his friend, you're his friend for life. He's sensitive, tough, thoughtful, and loving. While he still poses daily challenges, his maturity and awareness of the real world is remarkable. He's our little buddy. He's special, and we adore him, and I'm so grateful that God chose US to be his parents. We love him. Even when he acts like a little turd. ;) Walker will do big things in this world...someday. His determination and perseverance and hard work will absolutely serve him well in the future. :)
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And that's it! Lots of personality in both of these kiddos. Lainey and Walker...we love you for who you are, who you've been, and who you're to become. Don't ever forget that!
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