Six

C at school.  Sadly, by 7 she may not wear these for fear of being "uncool." For now, she is still sweet, sweet, sweet,

C at her school birthday celebration

D with her snowboarder birthday cake at their party

C and her strawberry shortcake cake (at their bowling birthday party)

D at school handing out her birthday treat before she takes six trips around the circle holding the earth ball

When I was one I had just begun

                                                     When I was two I was nearly new

When I was three I was hardly me

When I was four I was not much more

When I was five I was just alive

But now I am six, I'm as clever as clever;

So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

Dylan

You are 44.5 inches tall (27th percentile) and 37 lbs (7th percentile).  Your BMI would make Kate Moss blush, but the doctor says that is likely just how you are built.  I worry a lot about your small stature.  I was never tall, but I was also never the shortest person in the class (in fairness, you are not the shortest in your class, but you are close).  I worry so much that my girls got the short gene from my family.  These days girls are so athletic, and size can really help.  We recently went on a swim team try out and the coach told me that "the smaller ones really learn to swim, precisely because they don't have size on their side."  I do think you and your sister both work harder because of your size, and I try to remind myself that there is no correlation between size and happiness.  

You generally only play with boys this year.  Your best friend is Ford followed by Liam, David, Henry Finn and most of the other boys in your class.  You play with them like buddies, but you occasionally crack a picket fence grin and say that “I think (insert boy’s name) might have fallen in love with me.”  You play with the girls too, but you tell me that the girls don’t like to play the games you play.  Interestingly that isn’t always sports.  You love to play soccer at recess when it is girls day but not at lunch recess because the 2nd graders are there.  Otherwise you play on the hill (spy club, crashing boulders, etc) with the boys.  Interestingly you don't gravitate towards the creek either--you prefer dirt to water.  The teachers tell me that in the classroom you tend to play with the boys because you like the building toys, while the girls often play in the loft with puppets.  But you generally flow easily between groups.  You are very comfortable with who you are, and I think people gravitate towards you because of it.  


You were slow to warm to school but now you could not live without it.  Only once have you wanted to stay home from school, and that was because you lost some minutes for recess due to sticking a stick into a rotten pumpkin.  You had NEVER gotten in trouble at school before and it freaked you out (where as your sister said "Oh don't worry, I lose recess minutes all the time.")


You still talk in a funny little guttural voice.  I just love it.  

Charlie: 
You are 45 inches tall (36th percentile), an 39 lb (15th percentile).  People have teased you for being small, and it really, really bothers you.  But when you tell me they tease you for not being strong I lay down the law.  I try to tell you that your aren't going to be tall, but nobody's going to tell you that you can't be strong (and for your girth you are pretty strong). 


Where as I thought you would be textbook in school, you are becoming a bit of an enigma to me.  You are both well liked and a bit of a loner.    You charged into kindergarten with guns ablazing,  You love it,  and you absolutely adore your teacher Doug.  Dylan recently commented that you sit near him at lunch a lot, and you said "Well, whenever I get the chance I try to sit near him.  I love his stories."  You pretty much love everything about him, and I can't blame you.  Luckily, the feeling seems to be mutual.  Doug really seems to get you, and he appreciates your kindness and your inquisitiveness.  You get yourself in trouble sometimes for playing the "shout out game," but Doug says he can't fault you too much because your comments and questions are always on point.   It actually upsets you when we talk about anything after June because you do not want to think about not having Doug as a teacher.  


When I say you are a loner, I think what I mean is that, while Dylan flows easily between lots of kids, you really prefer to be close friends with a few people.  So far, your favorite person in school by a mile is Claire.  Claire is a great girl --smart, athletic, about 6 inches taller than you : ).  But of course I worry that you are going to get hurt when you focus your energy on one person, and you are my most sensitive kid I think.  


You have, as your teacher Doug says, almost a "Jimmy Stewart" way of talking.  You kind of talk out of the corner of the right side of your mouth plays out in a kind of line.  



You are still sweet, so sweet most of the time.  Your sweetness is only broken up by behavior that is driven by sensitivity.




Both of you: 


You love just about everything you try.  I LOVE that about you, and I realize I would have a really hard time having a kid who wasn't a "try-er."  You both love skiing and you are getting better at it with each trip.  You love golf (though I think D really likes it, and I think C likes everything to do with it but the actual golfing, but we'll see).  You love to swim, and while you will never be in the same league as your cousin you are above average, or at least I think so based on your ribbons at swim class (C completed Petite Baleen in October and D is working on her breaststroke and butterfly ribbons.  More on that in another post).  You love soccer, and you succeed at it now less because of skill and more because of gumption and aggressiveness.  You love tennis, and until a few weeks ago I would have said you were terrible at it, but we are starting to see some minor improvements in your hand eye coordination.  You love music, and you are really enjoying piano lessons (you are also begging for guitar and electric banjo lessons).  Your love of music is definitely fueled by your school and I love to see you enjoy it as I would have loved to have taken piano lessons as a kid.  You still love art--all kinds.  


You are CRAZY scared still of most movies.  You don't even really like watching them.  Who gets offered a movie once a week and TURNS IT DOWN??!! My current theory is the shows that don't scare you (Fireman Sam, Dinosaur Train) are too young for you so they don't keep your interest, and everything else (and I do mean everything) scares you.  (I am writing this in March, embarrassingly, and we left the Lorax after 20 min. THE LORAX).  Mostly I find it sweet, occasionally I would like a bit of a break.  


You are starting to really read.  (Interestingly, D is better at remembering words she just read, while C is very into sounding out words).  And you love to think about math concepts.  You ask questions. Oh God, so many questions.  Sometimes I wish you would stop asking questions, but I appreciate your curiosity.  


I cannot stand the humble brags that I have to suffer through most days on Facebook, so let me call this what it is: BRAGGING.  You ladies get glowing reviews from your teachers.  (I know, it's kindergarten--does anyone NOT get glowing reviews in kindergarten?)  But I am not going to pretend it doesn't make me happy to hear such positive feedback.  


Oh ladies, I love you so much but I am finding this post has completely bottlenecked my almost dead blog so I need to just get it out there before I miss any more quotes.  Let me just say that while I worry you will only remember the times that I lost my patience and yelled at you (which is sadly, more often than I would like when I am putting all 3 of you to bed at night), what I wish you would remember are all the times I looked at you each day and wished that I could capture the moment in time and revisit it again, and again, and again.  

C

D