well visits.

We had our six and four-year-old well visits last week.

Wait. Can you believe I have a six-year-old? And a four-year-old?

I cannot.

Judah is in the 95th percentile for height (no surprise there) and Amie is in the 85th. Both are around 75th for weight. Somehow these details seemed much more important when they were infants.

If you’re a parent you may remember that the four-year-old well appointment is particularly rough (the worst, in my opinion), because they get their boosters. They’re old enough to know exactly what’s coming but not to understand why it has to happen. Amie got four shots and a finger prick. She screamed. She cried. I’m pretty sure I shed some tears though I tried to blink them away. Judah covered his ears and looked generally worried.

However we left with promises of no more boosters for the next several years and she got to pick  a whole movie to watch that afternoon (Madagascar 3), so eventually all was made right.

In honor of my growing kiddos, I thought I’d give you a few facts about them at six and four years old.

There are so many things I want to tell you, funny quirks and parenting challenges we’re working through at this stage in the game. But in a fairly short amount of time my oldest will actually be able to read this blog, so lately I’m mindful of how I portray my children on this public space (and all public spaces). I want to be respectful, I want to share information with a mind to them reading it. I want to build trust, not betray it.

So as you read our little blog and peek into our lives, just know this: our family isn’t perfect. My children aren’t perfect. They’re very much normal, sinful, growing-up human beings. But I’ll let them tell their own stories when and how they see fit.

And with that, here’s . . .

Six facts about Judah at six years old:

1. The boy has compensated for my lack of eating gluten and dairy by a passionate love of it. Pizza. Bread. Pretzels. Pancakes. Ice cream. Cake. Cheese. Cookies. You name it. Basically anything I can’t have is his favorite.

2. He’s sensitive and thoughtful. He can be seen helping younger kids on the playground. He loves babies. He’s an encourager. He’s eager to please.  He has a tender heart and talks to Jesus like a friend.

3. He’s had zero interest in organized sports or riding a bicycle his entire life. But all of the sudden, within the past month or so, he wants to go straight to the backyard to kick the soccer ball when Daddy gets home from work and he’s asking for a bike.

4. He very much dislikes dogs (also is allergic to them), but loves nature walks, hiking, looking at bugs and crawly things (not actually touching them), fires, and camping. My friend Maggie once called Judah a Thoreau and he still lives up to the name.

5. Judah has a crazy memory. He remembers details about every Star Wars character from conversations with my brother Danny. David and I sat in disbelief while we watched Star Wars Episode IV together because Judah knew what was going to happen even though he’d never seen the movie. He remembers Christmas and birthday gifts he got when he was three. He stood up for a presentation in his homeschooling class last week and out of the blue described in detail our family vacation in Malaysia . . . which was two years ago.

6. His favorite subject in school is math, and he’s tackling a first-grade math book with great enthusiasm. Which makes his complete un-mathematical mother quake with fear. He also loves to color and to draw, and spends hours drawing elaborate battle scenes (yes, battle scenes).

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Four facts about Amelie at four years old:

1. She’s a funny combination of rough-and-tumble and girly-girl. Amie can usually be found with holes in the knees of her pants and dirt under her fingernails. But she prefers to wear dresses, loves purses, and painted fingernails, and has a particular fondness for shoes.

2. She is in a shy phase right now, wants to stick close to Mommy when we’re out and about, has struggled a bit with adjusting to our homeschooling co-op, and usually is one of the quiet kids of the group. But once she warms up — or is one-on-one — she’ll become your affectionate buddy and have lots to tell you.

3. Amie loves animals. Dogs and cats are her very favorite but she loves animals of all kinds. I’m pretty sure she’s gone for hours at a time pretending to be my pet puppy.

4. Lately she’s passionate about helping me around the house. She helps cook, wash dishes, scrub the sink, sweep floors. And she always says, “This is so fun, Mama!”

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I’m inexpressibly grateful for our unique, endearing, full-of-life children. They have changed me in so many ways, they daily expose my selfishness and sin so that God can free me from it, and they inspire me to love more like Jesus loves. I’m very, very thankful to be their mom.