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Love my girls…and running with them!

2018 felt like a milestone year. This was the year I sharply felt the inevitability of the kids growing up.

I remember the day when Chloe became self-conscious of wanting to sit on my lap during meals. It was early October and we had just finished visiting Grandpa Mike in the hospital. We took Lola out to lunch at CPK and Cindy, Jeff and the kids were there, too. Chloe had spotted a kid who looked younger than her who was sitting in his own chair. She then turned to me and told me that the kid was sitting on his own and maybe she should start sitting on her own, too. Of course, it was a bittersweet moment: is it easier to eat without having to navigate my food around someone’s head? Oh, for sure. But, this also meant she was recognizing that even she is getting too big for that kind of stuff.

Does Chloe still sit on my lap at meal times? Well, sometimes, but it’s not all of the time anymore….

She also lost her second front tooth…and she’s reading very well, in both Spanish and English. Although, it’s difficult to get her to motivate to do her homework, she actually proactively tries to read all sorts of things on her own when we are out and about! Sometimes, she’ll giggle with slight embarrassment and tell me that she doesn’t read in English, only Spanish.

As for Dylan, his take on the world, his insights and analysis…have become so much more sophisticated. Just the other day, he was dissecting/deconstructing Mary Poppins Returns, impressively hitting on details and critiques that mirrored one of Uncle Michael’s friend’s critiques! He identified plot holes and made comparisons to the first one, even pulling in oversights to book details (it turns out, he has listened to the Audible book many times over!).

Whereas last year, he was not interested in the school dances, this year he went to his first middle school dance (Halloween) and his formal….I can see why he has developed such good friendships: he’s witty and kind and easy-going. I have seen his confidence grow this past year!

He is still incredibly passionate about dance, still dancing his way across the room probably 50% of the time, if not more!) and takes to the stage with such ease and grace.

He also knows what he believes in and has developed the ability to reflect on why he takes the stands he makes. He is unafraid to be himself (and I hope this lasts!) and to have his own opinions.

It’s a remarkable journey to observe…!

Then there’s Cameron. She really is fluent in Spanish. She helped a patient in the care home communicate with a nurse who didn’t speak Spanish; in another incident (while staying in a hotel for the SJ Rock ‘n’ Roll), she helped a Spanish-speaker navigate out of the parking garage. She is reading Spanish books above her grade-level. She also got the absolute max score possible in the state standardized math test (I’m not a big believer in standardized tests, but I do feel that the adaptive math tests yield more objective results).

Cameron also had a banner year in running: 1st place in Wonder Woman 10K (and she ran the course on her own!); 2nd place in the Turkey Trot, and 3rd place in the Pacific Grove 5K. She had several PRs for Wharf to Wharf, She.is.Beautiful, and Rock ‘n’ Roll.

She is clearly talented, self-motivated and determined, and I have concerns about pressure she’ll put on herself! But, this is the year that she has matured enough to realize that she can’t do it all (dance, soccer, theater, running, etc.) and sometimes one has to prioritize….

I’m looking forward to seeing what 2019 will bring!

It was bedtime and Chloe was giving me one of her infamous scowls when the frown just popped her tooth out on the blanket! Got her to smile unwittingly… But I only caught the usual “camera face” photo….

Precious family time.

Making sweater ornaments for Auntie Christina.

More family time snapshots…

Heading to breakfast LA style! After a most unsatisfactory breakfast at what used to be an old vegan mainstay, Le Pan Quotidien. We were disappointed to discover that they no longer serve their delicious tofu scramble…anf, to add insult to injury, they were completely out of vegan chocolate Noir spread. Boo.

However, we had enough to power us to tackle the Mt. Hollywood Summit.

We thought we’d be hiking to the Hollywood sign, but the 3-mile round-trip hike was really just to the summit of Mt. Hollywood. Still, it was a magnificent outing – – beautiful views and weather! Cameron was stoked to reach 15k steps with this activity alone!

We have plans to tackle the sign when Chloe is a better hiker!

I read about the El Capitan Theater in a guide on what to do with kids in LA. It sounded like maybe, just maybe, they’d see a surprising celebrity guest or something, but, nah, all we got was a movie experience with a fancy drapes up beginning and a glimpse of the props and costumes. Still it was great fun to do a touristy LA thing and to see such a cool and fancy movie theater!

We also strolled over to the Chinese Theater…

To round out the day, we dined at Something Vegan (muy yum!) and saw Uncle Michael’s new (beautiful) home. Loving the good times with family!

I mean, look at that perrrrfect background!

Now this one had her 9th birthday celebration at Exit Santa Cruz (a terrible rip-off, don’t do the Glow party!) followed by a sleepover at our house. She invited a pile of people…and so…we decided it was possible our house would get completely trashed if everyone stayed inside, so we pitched our gigantic 2-room tent outside in the backyard, fired up the firepit for s’mores and kept everyone outside! We had theater, dance, and school buddies and it was epic. Everyone just sang and danced outside all night and the following morning!

Besides turning 9, Cameron just resumed comp soccer, reluctantly auditioned for Nutcracker (this year, she actually said she would rather do theater than Nutcracker, but we put the kibosh on a theater production during the school year — plus, volunteering for 2 productions would have just been too much for us parents!), resumed ballet (Ballet 3 this year), and is now trying a new Modern dance class at the Tannery with her good buddy, G.

She is still loving math and is already close to wrapping up the 5th grade math curriculum. This girl is so motivated, it’s inspirational. Her latest goal is to “get fit” (which she already is??!?) so she has her alarm set for 6:45am and she’s been doing the 7-minute workout (Alexa) before breakfast!

This year, Dylan’s class went on their retreat after the start of the school year (as opposed to right before the beginning of the school year). [I feel like I should have Dylan contribute his own entries on his experiences….]I drove there (Dylan, Julian, Sophia and Lyra) and back (swap Julian for Kaden) and thoroughly enjoyed the view, setting aside my sense that things were not as smoothly organized or pleasant as they were last year.

This sense was confirmed when I arrived on pick-up day (Friday) and several kids mentioned an unpleasant nature guide and sentiments that the games were terrible (Capture the Flag just made everyone mad! There was not enough free play, etc…), and, overall, last year’s retreat was “way better.”

On that last day, though, the kids really made the most of it. We hiked to a beach in Andrew Molera SP where there were already several existing driftwood structures. Dylan and his closest pals got to work improving upon a nice shelter, complete with stepping stones leading into it!

I loved the fact that none of them shoo’d me away (unlike Cameron during her bday campout when she asked me, “what are you doing here??” when I told them all to close their eyes and let everyone get to sleep — cuz it was like near midnight)…! And, sweet Dylan actually came and sat down on my lap for a moment.

I love this guy. I was actually a bit worried that the retreat experience was so negative (he had a lot to say about it) that it was adversely affecting his attitude towards Kirby — he told us, a couple of days later, that if Cameron wanted to go there, he’d switch to public school so she could have a chance. We thought, “oh, no! He is no longer enjoying it!” But, as it turns out, it was just Dylan being his at-heart-kind self. He told us he offered because he loves Kirby so much, he thought his sisters should experience it, too!

He is now back at school…and back to dance and, despite his exceedingly long day, he is happy.

Well, the day had to come when Chloe would choose her own chair over my lap at the dinner table. I knew this day would come and, even though I knew it would make it easier to actually successfully deliver food into my piehole, I dreaded it.

So, it happened the day we went to CPK with Lola, just after visiting Grandpa Mike at the hospital (September 3rd). She was sitting on my lap and suddenly turned to tell me, “I see other kids sitting in their own seats and it makes me feel like I should sit in my own seat, too, but I don’t want to.” I told her I was fine with her sitting on my lap…and so she stayed. But just about every meal since then, she has elected to sit on her own.

She’s the littlest of my babies and she’s growing up, too.