23 Things About You at Age 23

 

1. Your Italian/EU dual citizenship has been adjugated, now we are just waiting for some bureaucrat to sign some piece of paper to finalize everything.
2. You read Don Quixote recently and it is your favorite book ever.  And now you are listening to Man of La Mancha on repeat. 
3. You like reading about other cultures and things like hygge and jeong
4. You are only working one full-time job right now.  You go in around 4 a.m. and are done around 1 p.m., which means you go to bed really early.
5. You bought a car a few months ago and are really enjoying that independence and being responsible for payments and insurance, and building up your credit. 
6. You would like a place of your own in the near future.  Buying something is your preference but renting would be ok until the right thing comes along.
7. You are still embracing a minimalist decor aesthetic, everything clean and simple.
8. You traded your bed for a futon on the floor.   
9. Still a night owl when the job allows.
10. You have recently become a vegetarian and are exploring new foods and recipes.  You like to browse the specialty grocery stores and come home with new ingredients.  A recent find was lotus roots.  You made spicy soup with them and declared it delicious.  You lived on dinosaur chicken nuggets and boxed mac&cheese when you were a little kid, so this is neat for us to see.
11. This Christmas and birthday you asked for plants and books and especially cookbooks.
12. You still like to wear hoodies but you have expanded your color palette beyond grey and black.
13. Your friend group continues to expand and you all have a lot of fun together.  You have gone to some music festivals together and you really enjoyed that.
14. You are generally good about texting us and let us know if you are staying overnight at a friends.
15. You are growing your hair out again and still using the curly hair products.
16. You are very helpful with cleaning around the house without being asked.  Though I'm not always sure where you put things away to!
17. You got Invisalign braces and are really good about taking care of your teeth and following that protocol.  
18. You still doodle a lot and draw.
19. You have several notebooks that you are always busy writing in. 
20. You go to the gym just about every day.
21. You are still very close to your cousins.
22. You want to have deep conversations with people about meaningful subjects.
23. You wanted to spend time with your brother this year, taking your day off to celebrate your birthday together on your own.  You had a big day planned - out to breakfast, a movie, the trampoline park and lunch or ice cream.  Not all of that happened and I think you were a little bit disappointed but you understand that your brother processes things slowly and has trouble going tooooo far out of his routine.  What you did get to do was a lot of fun though.

1. You still love going to CAPP every day and seeing your friends and doing a mix of volunteering and fun activities.  Your favorite activities are going to Meals on Wheels, Dog Ears Book Delivery and Cooking Group.  You love it when there are special dress up spirit days.
2. You have recently started buying a lot of pop on your outings, which you don't really like.  You will take a few sips but not finish it. I think you just want to do what everyone else is doing.  Staff is encouraging you to get iced tea or lemonade instead.  Sometimes you get coffee.
3. You very much want to do social activities now.  You love that interaction with friends and will choose that over solitary activities like swimming.  That is new because swimming was your thing for so long.  But we are taking a break from that and we'll see how you feel about it over the summer.
4. In the evenings, you have two fitness classes, one dance class, one cooking class, a recreational group, Special Olympics bowling and just started Special Olympics basketball.  You have PT too once during the week. By the time Friday comes you are tired!
5. At dance you still like to go into my office and steal my snacks!  And the swinging egg chair in the waiting room is a favorite too.  This year's dance is to one of your very favorite songs and all of you guys are getting a little solo.  You are thrilled to bits about that!
6. For Christmas this year you got a big bean bag chair with an ottoman.  We're still trying to figure out the best place to put it.
7. Meat sticks and pickles and craisins are still your favorite snacks.  Pasta is still your top meal request.  If there are leftovers from dinner, you like to have them for breakfast the next day. You LOVE salads.
8. Baseball hats continue to be a recent favorite, especially a new one with Snoopy on it.  You love spirit days when I let you wear some of your crazy hats, like the one that looks like a hamburger.  You like to take Dad's hats now too. Your favorite shirts are still the ones from Life Is Good.
9. Orange is still your favorite color, but now you like blue a lot too.
10. You wear your Bills tshirt when it is a game weekend.  Even though we don't watch the games.  More friend influencers LOL 
11. We are hoping for two respite weekends at Cradle Beach this year, hopefully one of them will be in the summer so you can swim.
12. You like piling up the pillows and stuffies in your bed, now a new big pillow in the shape of Snoopy's head has joined the crowd.
13. You still lobby hard for takeout on the weekends and planning what we are getting from where. 
14. You do NOT want to go to bed.  It can sometimes be a battle and you let us know that you are not happy about it.  And then in the morning you let us know you are not happy about being too tired!
15. You still love retelling stories with Dad, like the 3 Little Pigs or the 3 Kittens or the 3 Bears or the 3 Billy Goats. 
16. Every day you come home and tell Dad that you saved him some of your lunch and then when he opens your empty lunch box you laugh and laugh at the trick you just played on him.
17. Your verbal speech continues to improve.  
18. Your thyroid still normal!  Your cholesterol is under control since we started medication last year.  But you are in good health and staying active helps greatly with that.  You never complain about taking your meds and vitamins.
19. You put away your laundry and unload the dishwasher.  
20. You still really do not like dogs or any animals really, but you will tolerate Aunt MaryEllen's dog if she happens to come into the room, so long as she doesn't surprise you.  You still get spooked if she barks though.
21. You went to see Lion King at Shea's with Dad and really enjoyed that.
22. And going to the North Park to see movies is another activity you love to do with Dad.  And going to Spot Coffee for lunch afterwards.
23. You are so happy when Mark gets home if he has been at work or the gym and he is not here when you get home.  You LOVED taking the day off from CAPP and going out to breakfast with Mark to celebrate your birthday!  You couldn't wait to tell me all about it when I got home.  I think ice cream might have been involved in the day as well!

22 Things About You at Age 22

 

1. Your Italian/EU dual citizenship should be finalized any day now!
2. You have such a variety of interests -- I never know what you will tell me you are reading about.
3. You are only working one full-time job right now, which means we see you more and when we do see you, you are awake.  That's very nice!
4. You've taken on more responsibility at Tropical Smoothie Cafe, in addition to more hours.  You are a shift leader and often open the store at 6 am or close it at 10 pm.  
5. You are thinking about going back to school, exploring some options right now, no decisions yet.
6. Still a night owl!  But you also prioritize sleep when you need to.
7. You went skiing for the 2nd time and all your bones remained intact.  Parental Relief!
8. You spent a lot of time Christmas shopping this year and got very thoughtful, insightful things.  You debated about figuring out a "signature" wrapping paper and ended up going with brown kraft paper and white ribbon.  You had all your gifts arranged in front of the fireplace as you were getting them ready and some visitors thought it was decor.  
9. You used your tools and knowledge to hang a curtain rod for me.  Thank you!
10. You are a caring friend, always ready to help someone or provide a listening ear.
11. Your friend group does a lot of fun things together -- skiing and cookie baking and potlucks and secret santa exchanges and game nights and weekend trips, in addition to just hanging out.  
12. You are generally good about texting us and let us know if you are staying overnight at a friends.
13. You are interested in cooking.  Aunt Di taught you how to make Grandma's recipe for chicken soup.  She also taught you to make her specialty cookies. You bought yourself a rice cooker. You are still adventurous with the food you will eat.  Current favorite foods are salmon, collard greens and anything involving eggs.
14. You now use some specific hair products for curly hair so you always look your best.  You are very particular about how your beard is trimmed.
15. You're very interested in essentialism and have been purging things that you feel are unnecessary.  But I have to check the bags before they go to Goodwill because sometimes it's not just your stuff in there!  
16. For instance you went through your closet so you could maintain a "uniform" of grey/black/navy shirts & hoodies as well as dark wash jeans.
17. One of your goals for the future is to own property, both for investment purposes and to live in. You are asking lots of good questions about how all that works.
18. We got a third car and that has given you more independence.
19. You bought some storage furniture and attempted to rearrange your room according to feng shui principles.  As much as you could anyway given that you have no control over where the doors and windows are.  The beds had to go back to where they were before because there's no other way they fit in the room!
20. One of the things almost no one talks about when becoming an adult is taking charge of your own medical care.  You have been making your own doctor's appointments and getting things taken care of.  Filling out all those forms and learning all the answers to those questions you don't necessarily know because you haven't had to is a rite of passage that you are managing wonderfully. 
21. You are really good with little kids.  You listen to them and get down on the floor and play with them and just enjoy being around them.
22. We have a little whiteboard on the refrigerator and every so often a cartoon or a drawing appears on it.  But never when anyone can see you do it - you're like Banksy!

1. You graduated from North High School in June 2023. You started going  to a People Inc Dayhab Without Walls - Lincoln CAPP in July 2023.  You LOVE it!  You do a mix of volunteer things like Meals on Wheels or helping at the Senior Apartments as well as some fun things like bowling and playing mini golf and cooking classes.  There are several other participants you know from school or dance or bowling so it was nice to go in already having friends.  The staff there is really great too.  We are all very happy with this change in your daily routine.
2. You carry your own money every day in your wallet so you can make purchases and pay for activities. Sometimes you come home with receipts from your purchases and I see that you have gotten a Mountain Dew or an Iced Capp with praline syrup.  These are not things you generally like *at all* When I ask if you really drank/ate that, you give an enthusiastic yes and then you laugh and laugh.  So I don't know for sure if you really did?
3. You love it when Mark picks you up from program because you stop for snacks!
4. You still go to dance once a week and swim twice a week and bowl every other week.  At dance you like to go into my office and steal my snacks!
5. In big bowling news - you now just walk up to the line and throw the ball.  Right out of your hand on the first go! No more swinging the ball ten or twelve times before you let it go.  We're not really sure what prompted the change but a game takes less time now and I'm also sure it will be noticed in your next chiropractor visit!
6. New this year were two different fitness classes, one of Mondays and one on Fridays.  The Friday one is over for now so we may look into a gym membership to keep that momentum going.  Miss Christine works all of you hard but you like it and are very proud of yourself when you come out of class.
7. When we are driving to and from "work" you sit in the front seat.  When we are going to "fun" things you insist on sitting in the back LOL
8. Meat sticks and pickles and craisins are still your favorite snacks.  Pasta is still your top meal request.  If there are leftovers from dinner, you like to have them for breakfast the next day. You LOVE salads.
9. In big hat news, you have decided that you like baseball hats now!  Your favorites are a new burgundy corduroy one you got for Christmas and an orange one that Dad brought you back from Florida. Your favorite shirts are still the ones from Life Is Good.
10. Orange is still your favorite color, but now you like blue a lot too.
11. We are hoping for two respite weekends at Cradle Beach this year and a session over the summer.   
12. You got a new Toy Story blanket to use just for camp.  The other one was getting too worn but I know you like the routine of what you bring there.
13. You still lobby hard for takeout on the weekends and planning what we are getting from where. You and Dad will often go out for lunch on Saturdays which you love.
14. You are starting to like staying up later at night and sleeping in (somewhat - getting up at 9 am is really late for you!)
15. You take a long walk with Dad almost every night and you have a routine of retelling stories on - your versions of the 3 Little Pigs or the 3 Kittens or the 3 Bears or the 3 Billy Goats.  And then you mix-in all your other favorite characters from various shows and family members.  Elmo is Piggy #1, Anthony Wiggle is Piggy #2, Kipper is Piggy #3 and Mark is the Big Bad Wolf.  You laugh and laugh. Sometimes you get so involved with the storytelling that you have to go down a few more streets until you finish the story.
16. We have noticed a real improvement in your verbal speech.  Whether that is being out in the community more and having to interact more or maturity or I don't know what, but it is lovely to hear.
17. You grew 3 inches this year!  Your thyroid still normal!  Your cholesterol is still somewhat high but all your exercise and being active throughout the day is really helping with that.  We did decide to start a low dose of medication to help with it, which I think we avoided for as long as we possibly could.  The reality is that DS already makes you susceptible to Alzheimer's & Dementia and high cholesterol increases that risk even more.  So we've got to keep that risk as low as we can for as long as we can. Whatever we have to do to keep you healthy!
18. You love going to the grocery store.  Pushing the cart, picking out the items, putting items up on the conveyor belt or scanning at the self-checkout, you are there and ready to help!  You come home and help put things away too.
19. In fact you have been really taking the initiative to help around the house with all kinds of things.  You would always help before when we asked you to but now we are finding that you have already unloaded the dishwasher or switched the clothes from the washer to the dryer or taken the dirty clothes down to the basement ready for the next load.  Wow!
20. You went to the dermatologist recently to have some moles and skin tags removed.  You were really great about it and didn't complain at all.  Except about the band aids, you still hate those.
21. You still really do not like dogs or any animals really.  You still meow a lot, sometimes we have whole meowing conversations which we both find hilarious.  But an actual cat?  No.
22. Going to Disney on Ice is still one of your favorite things to do each winter.

Ten Celebrations for Ten Years

We certainly didn't set out to celebrate in this way, but it could become a trend... (not really!)

1. Cake & ice cream with the local relatives.
2. K. takes them to SkyZone!
3. Actual birthday - wake up to balloons, birthday treats at school, then special dinner & presents with Mom & Dad
4. Dinner out with Grandma
5. Visit to Strong Museum with our friends the C's and we celebrate S.'s birthday too.
6. MagicQuest with the NJ & PA cousins.
7. Cake & ice cream with the rest of the NJ relatives.
8. Dinner at Friendly's (free coupons!) with our friend J. It's her birthday too!
9. Treat (more free coupons!) at Barnes & Noble.
10. And to round it out... the all-important spending of the birthday gift cards!

Ten Things About You at Age 10

Double Digits!

1. If you could figure out how to play Wizard 101, Skype with your cousins, play on your DS, eat, and still be able to roam around the house, your life would be set.
2. Ipod Touch!
3. You and Dad are bonding over 3 Stooges episodes.
4. You've got quite the witty sense of humor and are quick with plays-on-words and puns.
5. Fourth grade has not been wonderful this year, but we're working on it.  Art Club was a bright spot.
6. You've taken to calling your brother "B". At first I thought it was "Bee" but it's "B" as in Baby B (you, of course, were Baby A).
7. I love that you use words like "shall" in everyday conversation.
8. Making balloon animals is a new obsession.
9. When you find a good book, you can't put it down.  A series is even better.  Last weekend you started and finished a 200 page book and wanted to know did we get books 2, 3 & 4 from the library too?
10. You and Dad have been going to Mandarin Kung Fu twice a week and I catch you practicing your stances when you think no one is looking.

1. You're starting to make up jokes and silly games and your teacher reports that you're very funny at school.
2. If you could have the Christmas tree up all year you would.
3. Dance class is still going great.  Once you get there, that is.
4. The "David" books by David Shannon crack you up, and you'll sit there reading them to yourself now.
5. You still love your hats and now you think everyone should wear one too. But oddly enough the hat love does not extend to baseball caps. You will absolutely not wear one of those. You look at me with an expression that says "Too common! Everyone wears those, darling."
6. You've moved on from the Wiggles & Barney to Hi-5 and love to sing and dance with the show.  You also really love Signing Time and sing and sign and talk with Rachel, Leah & Alex.
7. We got a touch screen laptop and you have been figuring it out quickly!
8. This year at Fantasy Island we let you go on most of the rides without a grownup.  You were so proud of yourself!
9. You love to buy lunch at school when it is spaghetti or turkey & mashed potatoes.
10. You are only a morning person when there is no school.

Life With Boys

The newest game here is "throw your socks at the brick fireplace wall and see if they stick" accompanied with lots of hysterical laughing. All this Mom can say is "Huh?"

I Hide, You Seek

The other night P. wanted to play hide and seek before bed. "No way, " I told him, "it's already very late! Get in bed!" I turned around from putting clothes away, turning on the fan, confiscating the books, etc. and there he was under the covers. "I see you! I know you're under there!" M. cracked up laughing. "That's not him, Mom. He's in the bathroom." Sure enough, I go in the bathroom and there he is, laughing at me. You can trick Mommy sometimes!

This Morning I Came Downstairs

to find P. getting breakfast in bed ready. (M. who is usually the mastermind at shenanigans like this was still fast asleep.) He had the baking sheet we use for a tray out on the counter (I really need to buy a bonafide serving tray), a coffee cup with an inch of water in it and some leftover ravioli and a fork. Such a smile when I asked him if he was making breakfast in bed. He even got it off the counter and over to the stairs without spilling. Then he yelled "Help!" And when we got upstairs he climbed back in bed and ate it. Wouldn't share with us at all. Is this kid too much or what? The wheels are turning in there, P. I can see them turning...

Nine Things About You at Age 9

Nine Years Old.

Wow.

1. You think the best vacation in the world would be a) Disneyland b) Wizarding World of Harry Potter c) Disney cruise or best of all d) all of the above in the same vacation. I don't know if that last one is possible but we'll work on it...
2. Kingdom Hearts rules!
3. You've stolen my buckwheat heating pad and refuse to give it back.
4. Suddenly you have incredibly large feet and hands. Boy Feet and Boy Hands. I don't know where the cute little baby ones you had yesterday went.
5. You like to write letters. So far you have heard back from 2 of your favorite authors (one with original artwork!) and the White House.
6. You are always singing.
7. You have a lot of curiousity about the world and it's history. For instance, because of a very brief scene in Return to Neverland, a trip to the library was in order to find out more about WWII and why kids in England were sent to the country.
8. You notice everything and you hear everything.
9. You will talk to your cousin G. on the phone for as long as I'll let you. And then do it again tomorrow.

1. Wrestling matches & pillow fights with Dad & M. are the best.
2. You go through a fake litany of body parts that hurt, trying to get kisses. You haven't figured out yet that you can just ask for the kiss by itself.
3. Current favorite movie: Lilo and Stitch. Which has led to an interest in Elvis music and the hula.
4. You will sit and play a board game or turn-taking game now, if you understand the rules. Zingo, Richard Scarry's BusyTown, dominoes...
5. You got a set of Disney figures for your birthday. You were thrilled and told us over and over who all the characters were. I watched you playing with them today and you were very purposefully making them interact together. What was very interesting to me was which figures you paired together: Winnie the Pooh and the Evil Queen from Sleeping Beauty. Ariel and Scar. Cruella DeVil and Cinderella. I wish I could hear the stories you are telling in your head.
6. You have been doing great at dance class, participating in everything and getting ready for your recital in May. We've gotten past the "smoothie as a bribe" stage.
7. You are finally old enough to participate in Special Olympics. Bowling is the sport right now, which you have done before and enjoy. Bonus that a lot of your friends are participating too.
8. You like to go around turning the lights off on everyone. Unless we want them off. Like when we're sleeping. Then you go around turning them on.
9. You adore the babysitter, K. In fact when I come home from work, you try and shut the door on me because you know that means she has to go home. She adores you back.

They're a Great Team

This morning D. and I woke up to our sons proudly bringing us breakfast in bed. M. operated the toaster, P. buttered and cinnamoned the toast. P. got out the bottle of juice, M. poured it. M. scooped out the yogurt for the parfait, P. put the berries in. P. decided ice cream would be good, M. scooped it. P. sang up the stairs, M. carried the tray.

Could they be any cuter? That's why I write this stuff down, so we'll all remember.

Who Knew?

Apparently, if you angle the jets in the whirlpool tub just so and let out just enough water, you can have a nifty water cannon that shoots hot soapy water out the bathroom door and down the stairs!

Lists from a Vacation

The boys and I just spent the better part of a week in NJ visiting my family. On the long drive home, this is what I was thinking about:

Stuff Brought to NJ:

• Too many clothes for the boys, not enough for me.
• Too much food in the cooler
• Apparently not enough books

Stuff That Should Have Been Brought to NJ:

• The main vitamins for P. (I bought all the secondary vitamins but left home the one that they all get mixed into)
• Some meds (non-necessary ones)
• The medicine eye dropper for the necessary one (but P. learned to swallow pills, yay!)
• my swimsuit cover-up

Stuff Left in NJ:

• Lots of hugs and kisses
• 2 boy socks (not matching, naturally)**
• 1 Buzz Lightyear*
• 2 oil portraits of M & P (they needed to dry first)
  
• 1 book the nephew was in the middle of
  

Stuff That Has to Go Back to NJ:

• 1 portable DVD player and some movies, most particularly Beauty & the Beast
  

Stuff Acquired in NJ:

• Lots of memories! cousins reading to each other in bed, Wii dragon battles, Friendly's ice cream, swimming, reading the paper, one little cousin dragging one big cousin *everywhere* (c'mon!), yummy food, book club, seeing friends, riding in each other's cars, going to the movies, taking uninterrupted showers, and many more...
• As many snacks and drinks for the ride home as I could "steal" :-D
• Some great photos that my friend K. took
  
• Toy Story 3 toys/games (thanks Aunt D!)
• 2 Koosh balls that also become spiky hats (thanks Aunt R!)
• Clean laundry! Yay!
  

* updated: Buzz has been found under the seat of the car. Call off the search party!

** update to the update: I think I found the socks too, mixed in with mine.

8 Things About You at Age 8

1. You are into trading card games. Any and all of them. Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, Harry Potter, Dinosaur King, 39 Clues... If there are cards to collect, play with and trade, you're in.

2. You're developing your own sense of style. Graphic tshirts, dragon pendants on a leather choker and Silly Bandz. You're pretty cute.

3. You decided on your own to audition for a speaking part in the Second Grade play. And you got one of the leads! You've also asked to take Irish dance lessons.

4. At the lunch table you and your friends discuss economics, theories about the Bermuda Triangle, the existence of alien lifeforms, inventions the world needs, and the differences in various religious traditions. I am totally blown away by that.

5. You put all the change in your piggy bank in a donation bin to help underprivileged kids go to camp.

6. You're a really great brother. I love seeing the bond between you and P. You can always make him laugh. You never think twice about helping him, playing with him, translating for him and advocating for him. He's lucky to have you.

7. You still love sugar above all things. With french fries and chicken fingers coming in a close second.

8. You still really hate it when we have to wash your hair or cut your nails. But you're a lot less whiny about it than you used to be.

1. You still love all things Toy Story. We're definitely going to see TS3 in the theatre as soon as it's released!

2. You will eat frozen meatballs if I don't catch you fast enough.

3. Swimming is still your favorite but you're starting to enjoy running too.

4. You just got a STAR award at school for showing the most growth over the school year.

5. A 1929 Model-T Ford drove into the parking lot of a local diner while we were having dinner. You turned to me in great excitement and said "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!"

6. You're a really great brother. I love seeing the bond between you and M. You can always make him laugh. You miss him when he's not around. You'll bring him the toys and books you know he likes and play for awhile, even when they're not your favorites. You ask him to sing to you at night so you can go to sleep. He's lucky to have you.

7. You think hanging out in a fort made of boxes and couch cushions and blankets is the coolest thing in the world. Bonus if there are snacks and a movie on the portable DVD player involved.

8. You've been using an augmentative speech device and doing really well with it. We've also noticed a real increase in your vocal speech since you've been using it.