Quote of the Day

Austin: Daddies can do whatever they want—they can go to bed when they want, they can eat what they want to.

Molly: You can’t do whatever you want if it doesn’t serve God.

Emily is 7 Months

Happy 8th Birthday, Tucker

     

Tucker turned 8 on Friday.  He is at an age where he is so big in some ways but still little in others.

His feet are almost as big as mine… but he still adores his loveys.

I find the newspaper pulled to his spot to look up sport scores… but he still tears up when a harsh word goes his way.

He is ready to give away his brio train track, and big trucks to his 1 year-old cousin… but will spend hours racing matchbox cars to determine the fastest ones.

He would rather watch a sporting event than almost any TV show… but engages in elaborate make-believe games with Molly.

He will sit for hours reading books… but has the same chapped lips from when he was 4.

Tucker is a wonderful big brother.  Emily adores watching him.  Now that he’s 8, he doesn’t need to be in a booster and the 3 kids can fit in the middle row all together now.  He gladly squishes into the middle seat of the middle row (Molly’s booster is too big to buckle in that middle seat) so that he can be next to Emily.

He has big gaps in his toothy grin, and towers over his peers (he’s in the 97th percentile in height).  People mistake him for a 4th grader. He is usually a rule-follower, but also a budding lawyer in his desire to investigate all the nuances of whatever we tell him.

He loves the Redskins, Orioles, and all UVa sports, and likes the Nationals as well.  His favorite book is anything by Matt Christopher.  His favorite desserts are layer cake and soda.  His favorite ice cream flavor is salted caramel.  His favorite foods are Subway subs, pizza, fried plantains, mangoes and persimmons, though he will enthusiastically eat most anything.  His favorite color is green.  His best friend is David Shonka.  His favorite sport to play is baseball, followed by golf and track (tied), then soccer. 

For his birthday, in lieu of a party, we took him and two friends to watch UVa play William and Mary yesterday.  It was a hit, and UVa managed not to choke away the game in the last seconds.  Amazing!

Quote of the Day

As I was putting Molly to bed.

Molly: I’m scared.

Me: Well, here’s a picture of Jesus that can lay beside you.

Molly: I don’t need that, Mommy!  Jesus is in my heart.  He is with me always.

First Day of School

Tucker and Molly started at Regents, a classical Christian school on Tuesday.  Molly is loving every minute of it.  Her favorite part yesterday was apparently doing a math worksheet.  I guess she just felt so grown up.  Or maybe she liked doing something that she was good at.  I told her I can pick her up at lunch on certain days (it’s a half day program with a fine arts extended-day option that she’s doing)—but she said no.  She is vehemently opposed to missing any second of it.

Tucker’s first day put him in total shock, but yesterday was much better.  The fact that they only learned rules and didn’t get to play at gym almost crushed his sweet spirit on Tuesday.  And the kids at Regents love to play gaga ball at recess, which Tucker doesn’t know.  But on day two he was in the top 5 during one round of gaga ball and he beat a classmate in a running race, so all was right with the world again.  His biggest complaint going to school today was wearing a uniform, which sounds pretty good if that was his worst complaint today.