Happy New Year
Wow, I can’t believe we made it through winter break and into the New Year! It was definitely quite the roller coaster with so many kids, family, cousins, pets, and most importantly - chaos.
This was our first winter break as a whole family where my 6 year old daughter E was home from kindergarten. My 4 year old son C has been going to daycare off and on. Then my little one L has basically decided to commandeer a rolling bee as his walker and is now patrolling the walkways of the house. I can’t forget our huge bernadoodle Chewy running amuck around the house with a lot of pent up energy (and also recovering from a wound on his head that got infected).
Christmas was very stressful with a lot of gift wrapping, organizing, and driving. We ended up spending time with my wife’s family and it was both Christmas Eve and Christmas that was packed with people and presents. E also wanted to spend the night at her cousin’s house on Christmas and then her cousin spent the night at our house the next day. Of course E stayed up way too late on Christmas (past midnight for a 6 year old!) and it took a few days to readjust her schedule.
The next few days were a blur, with lots of playing with new presents and fighting over them between the kids. Luckily, there were a lot of books also, so we had plenty to choose from for bedtime. E also wrote a Gerald and Piggy book herself called “Where is my Backpack?” and we ended up reading it for story time on night. My son C was a ball of energy just bouncing around and causing chaos. He was wired every day because there wasn’t soccer to get all of his energy out. Also, his friends weren’t all there at daycare, so he wasn’t running wild around school as much. At least the teachers all tell me how sweet he is at school and I wish he could be that same boy at home sometimes, but C tells me it’s because we don’t have all those kids at home to help out (aka peer pressure!).
L has been a very cranky baby boy and hasn’t let my wife sleep well most evenings recently. We are in the middle of adjusting him to two naps a day and he’s starting on some regular solids because he is a voracious eater. I love his smile and how much he loves exploring the house, but some days I don’t have the energy to run a marathon around the house with him! He’s growing up so fast! At least I get to cuddle with him during naps and he loves coming to find me if he hasn’t seen me for a while. First of my babies to do that!
New Year’s Eve was aimed for a 9PM ball drop and somehow before the festivities, E lost her top front tooth! My wife ended up calling an audible because of how exhausted she was and somehow the ball “magically” dropped at 8:05PM. The kids fell asleep by 9PM and it was quiet in the house from all the chaos over the last few days of 2024. We even went to the pool a few times towards the end of the year to really get the kids tired out and it seemed to work. Next winter break, we need to plan a tiring activity a day and be more prepared because diving into winter break with this many kids and no plan was a recipe for disaster!
All in all, I’m glad and very thankful for an eventful 2024. L joined the family, E started kindergarten, and C has been surprising us daily with how much he learns through watching his big sister (the kid already knows how to read a few words and do some basic math!). It’s been a year of highs and lows, but I’m glad I have my family here to experience it all - even if they drive me a little crazy. Here’s to a good 2025!
