October: Someone is SEVEN!

And just like that, we're 10 months into 2020 and our little 6 year old has turned 7!  We've had such a busy and fun month and are so glad to be able to stay healthy and find (safe) ways to enjoy our time as a family during the pandemic!

We'll go ahead and start with all her cooking masterpieces this month.  Stepping up her game with new recipes and new skills, like grilling!  

     

     

These swirled blossom cookies were both fun and delicious!

     

We gave energy bites a try but need to refine our recipe to make them stick together better!

     

     

     

Grilled some avocados for her smokey guacamole!

She's been keeping up on her running! Besides doing our miles for Run Club, we also participated in the Step Up to Cure Sanfilippo Challenge and Little Sweetie logged over 10,000 steps that day!

Hugs from my favorite runner girl!

     

It was hot, but she kept it up!

       

Putting in the work to get stronger and faster!

Running with WILLPower to achieve her step goal!

And then it was time to start the birthday celebrations!  We began a week early due to the kids' fall break, with a visit to Mimi and Pop-Pop's house.

     

Little Sweetie enjoyed cake, presents, swimming in the (kind of cold) pool, and meeting Mimi and Pop-Pop's new dog, Buddy!

Following our New Braunfels trip, we did headed to Zoo Boo with her godbrother, L.  Little Sweetie was happy to wear her Wild Kratt's costume and check out the new South America exhibit.  

    

Godsibling love!

Excited for her presents from Uncle M and Aunt S!

The archery set was definitely a hit!

But our biggest pre-birthday achievement had to have been getting her ears pierced!  She decided she wanted to be a 7 year old with pierced ears.  She had wanted to do it last year but then changed her mind since she hates needles.  This year, she decided she wanted to go through with it.  So Daddy called around and we found a licensed piercing/tattoo shop that would do young kids needle piercing.  It wasn't easy and she was nervous and did experience some pain, but she persevered and is now the proud owner of some blue, sparkly earrings!

     

Pretty calm while waiting and getting marked.  

     

Getting the first ear done and the painful aftermath, but she decided to go forth and get the second one done.

     

It didn't take long for the pain to subside and the smiles to set in!

And then on to the actual birthday fun!

Opening her first present before school!

Home and ready to celebrate!

Cake time!

     

Present time!

     

With her new tortilla blanket, she's an actual baby burrito!

Height and Weight

Our strong spunky girl is 52.2 pounds and 47 inches tall.  We had her birthday pictures taken and are so happy to have captured these moments.

     

Sibling love!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

Our amazing 7 year old!

Personality

She is spunky and silly and opinionated and feisty and we love her!

Silly faces in our matching pajamas!

Developmental Milestones

According to her teacher, she's doing wonderfully with all her school work.  Her writing and drawing and story-telling always enchant us.  We are having to work on her not worrying about grades.  We don't want her seeing them as a reflection of her worth but instead seeing the prize as the gaining of the skills.

Some of her art work!

A big milestone, by my standpoint at least, was Little Sweetie's first Star Wars viewing!  We helped her through the scarier parts and now she's a full fledged fan.

Entranced!

Fun Tidbits

They held the medal and t-shirt pick up for the kids' virtual triathlon, so we officially got to celebrate Little Sweetie's new triathlete status!

     

Posing in her champion pose and with Mr. Bones, her favorite Halloween decoration.

So that's it for our little one's lucky number 7.  Let's hope our next month of this crazy year is full of more fun memories!

Good night all!

Until next month, 

LSM

Little Sweetie's Momma

September 19

And here we are, still striving (and thriving?) in the crazy that is 2020.  Little Sweetie has been back to school for over a month and it has thankfully all gone well.  We're trying to assemble some type of fall routine and activities that are both safe and keep us all sane.  

Obviously, most of our day is shaped by school.  With Daddy still working from home, getting ready, drop-offs and pick-ups have been easy, since we have an extra hand home to help with Big Brother.  She's thankfully enjoying school even with the safety rules and precautions.  I have offered that if it's every too much, she can do school at home again.  Her resounding answer is "No!" (especially after doing one remote learning day due to weather).  I'm trying not to take that personally!

Loving school!

     

Silly girl at pick-up!

It did take a few weeks to get our afternoon moods adjusted...man, was she tired!

Our one day of virtual learning was enough for her.  Please, let the schools stay open!

But we do recognize that a pandemic is an unpredictable thing...so we worked to give her a good desk space, just in case.  But let's hope she only has to use it for her art projects and homework!

Staying active is always a big deal for us and Little Sweetie had been pretty disappointed when her Spring Swim Team season was cancelled and then when the Kids Triathlon (which she was finally old enough to be part of) was postponed.  Thankfully, they turned the Tri into a virtual event and we did it at home!  She did a great job and we're excited to do this year's Run Club virtually so she can keep working on her strength, stamina, and speed!

Ready to "TRI" her best!

     

Swim and Transition 1, done!

     

Biking and running into the finish!

     

Proud of herself, but tired!

     

And now onto Run Club and training for her big race in March!

She's also helping us keep the dogs active by helping Buster learn agility (another pandemic project we have going on)!

And, of course, there's always more cooking!  We can only cook about once a week now because of school and therapy schedules, but we all enjoy it when we get the time!

     

     

     

Fruit pizza was a big hit!

         

Making Momma some avocado toast!

     

     

This expert egg cracker loved making brownies with a secret ingredient...black beans!

     

Her famous chocolate lava cake!

Height and Weight

Staying strong at 50 lbs.  and has grown to nearly 47 inches tall!

Personality

Our VERY energetic girl has adjusted well to being back at school and is so happy to be with her friends.  She's both loving and excitable at home, but it makes us happy to see her bursting with energy and knowledge and observations and curiously.  She still can get pretty moody and cranky when she can't effectively communicate how she feels or what she wants (short fuse!) but overall is doing well with everyone going on.

Our ray of sunshine!

Developmental Milestones

Little Sweetie is thriving at school!  Her math awareness and reading have just soared!  And her art is still so detailed.

I love that she is able to read Big Brother bedtime stories; I'm even more moved that she wants to do this with and for him.

Just doodling some Daniel Tiger characters in her free time!

What's really been impressive is her piano skills.  She practices daily and both takes it seriously while having fun with it. 

Our music maker.

But what always most amazes us in her development is how she is developing her heart.  It's fine to be smart and accomplished, but to be kind?  Especially in this world?  That is the best skill we give her.

Shopping for supplies for hurricane victims.

Fun Tidbits

With both the kids in school and not spending as much time together, I wondered if Little Sweetie would start to lose some of the special compassion and caretaking that she had gained over the summer being with Big Brother full-time.  It seems like I don't need to worry.

     

      

"He's my Bubby.  No one else's."

Good night all, 

LSM

Little Sweetie's Momma