Growing Up...

Hello, friends! 

Last week, we hit a big milestone in our family. Jonah learned how to swing on the swing by himself! After many weeks of wanting to learn but also wanting to be pushed constantly, he's now decided that it's better for him if he swings by himself. He was very proud of himself. 

Megan and I had some mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, we love how Jonah continues to grow and develop. We also love that we don't have to stand behind him and push him for forever when he wants to swing. Megan is especially excited for the prospect of Jonah being able to entertain himself while she does some summer gardening. 

On the other hand, it is a reminder that our kiddos aren't as young as they used to be and that they're becoming more and more independent. We are getting closer and closer to the point where we're going to have 3 school aged kids, which I think will be a major transition for us. 

It's not just JoJo either. Last week, Thaliea celebrated her 7th birthday, and she wanted to have a "spa day" birthday party, which meant a bunch of little girls at our house doing their nails and putting on face masks (the boys and I were banished from the house so I took them to an arcade). Her friend group has changed in this school year and her personality is becoming even more pronounced. Ezra has also seen his friend group adjust and his interests have changed some too. He's finished the first 2 books of Harry Potter and we're finding that he can do a lot more things on his own (like cook eggs for breakfast). He also can swim on his own now, which is HUGE. 

Ultimately, all these things are good things. We want our kids to be independent. We want them to be able to think for themselves. We're thankful that they continue to learn and grow and develop into people that other people want to be around. Still, it's weird... 

A few months ago, Jonah had a really big problem of sleeping through the night. He'd get up around 2 or 3 pretty regularly. Sometimes he would cry in his bed for us. Sometimes he would walk into our bedroom and drag us out of bed to put him back to sleep. It was a really rough time for getting good sleep but it was also sweet in its own way, knowing that he just wanted his mommy and daddy. I just noticed last week that we haven't had any problems with him sleeping through the night in quite some time. I guess he's growing up, and that's OK. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam