Lydia Elise. When I went through photos over the last six months I selected and downloaded 186 photos that I wanted to include in this post. Whew. And I was being picky! I narrowed it down some, but you're just so wonderful and I want to remember everything about you right now. You're big enough to have big thoughts and ideas but small enough that you still frequently (and unprompted) tell me that I'm the best mom ever and that you love me. You are just such a highlight of my life and even though we sometimes power-struggle, I love you more than you can know. I'm always on your team, Lydia, and I'm so grateful to be your mom.
Stats:
Lost teeth, one. Favorite book series, Princess in Black. Favorite shirt, pink unicorn with glitter mane.
Some things to remember about Lydia and her adventures over the last six months:
-She loves her baby Caleb and takes great care of him. She plays with him, helps get him the things that he needs, and basically considers him one of her best friends. She's such a great sister. She's constantly sharing her toys with Caleb, especially at bedtime. I'll have left her in her room to get in bed while I go put Caleb down and almost always she will come leaping and bounding into his bedroom (as I'm trying to rock him and get him ready to put him in his bed) bearing a gift of a small stuffed animal for him to sleep with and saying that she desperately needs to give him one more hug and kiss. The cute thing about it is that he almost always will take it and fall asleep holding it. They just love each other, I guess.
-She has an incredibly creative mind. She's SO smart and is constantly building things. Magnatiles are a favorite, and she almost always makes me take a picture before she's willing to put the blocks away. Recently she's been making "inventions" that are made out of all sorts of odds and ends. My favorite of her inventions is her "grappling hook". It's made of a pair of suspenders, some old ribbon, popsicle sticks, duct tape, and a few other random items. The other day she popped her head after playing in the snow outside and said "Mom! I need my grappling hook!" I told her I didn't know where it was, but she told me it's exact location. So I got it and gave it to her, my sister Jenna, who was visiting laughed at the whole exchange because what six year old builds and repeatedly "uses" a grappling hook - and that I knew exactly what she was talking about when she asked.
-She went to the dentist and had her first cavity. Womp-womp-womp. Cue extra teeth brushing at night.
-A funny story: we were visiting my parents in Morgan and Lydia said something about cowboys and I told her, "well... grandpa is a cowboy!". She responded with an expression of doubt and my dad's cowboy pride was pricked and he started telling her all about how he's a cowboy. She said "Well, you don't look like a cowboy!" I laughed and said - look at his shirt! That's a cowboy shirt. It has pearl buttons and everything." She was still doubtful so my dad went out and donned his chaps, taught her about spurs, and put on his cowboy hat. She was only slightly pacified, but I think my dad is the best cowboy around. On that note, bowling with Grandpa Walker was definitely a highlight for this girl.
-She loves her stuffed animals and although she rotates through which animal is her favorite at any given day, she usually has one that she's particularly attached to. I usually don't let her take them out of the house because I don't want her to lose them (learned that the hard way, and after hours and hours of tears I swore that I'd never let her take another toy out and about again). But I let her take one to the Doctor and it was a definite win.
-This girl loves her dad and he loves her back. Her friend invited her to a ballet performance and she was SO excited to go. She asked David to take her, and he turned it into a full-blown date. They picked out flowers to take to Raegan and Lydia got all dressed up with her hair curled and they had a wonderful night together.
-She learned how to pump herself and she loves swinging even more now!
-We got a summer pass to the Classic Fun Center and it's been the best thing ever. Playing on the bounce houses, roller skating (Lydia's a pro!), and especially the water slides - it's been such a good fit for us this year.
-Kindergarten was a positive experience for Lydia. She enjoyed going every day and she did really well. She is sad about it being over, but she was the most sad because she said she'd really miss Miss. Jonhson. We've since started homeschool and that's been a good fit for us, too. But I think that Kindergarten was probably the right place for her last year.
(Filled Out at the Beginning of Kindergarten - but changed significantly over the year. I still wanted to include it because we got it back in her end-of-kindergarten packet.)
Full Name: Lydia Elise Peaden
Nickname: Lyddie-bug
Favorite Foods: Pepperoni Pizza, Chicken Bacon Pizza, Hamburgers, Chicken Nuggets, Sausage, Strawberries
Favorite Color: Pink, Purple, Light Blue, White
Something I Really Like to Do: Riding my bike, going swimming, playing with my little brother, Austin.
Favorite Book or Story: Paw Patrol Story Book
Favorite Movie: Paw Patrol
Favorite Place to Visit: Grandma and Grandpa's house. (Favorite vacation was going to the Oregon Coast.)
When I Grow Up I Want to Be: An Artist. (I really love coloring - I make the awesomest designs.)
-This girl loves water like her mama. Swimming at the pool, paddle boarding/kayaking at the lake, really anything wet. She loves it and I love that we can share that together.
(the below pictures were at Palisades state park)
-We went on a quick trip to my Grandma and Grandpa Knowles' house in Boise and next to me, Lydia loved it the very most. She got to hang out with her second cousins (my cousin's kids) and really had a great time with Sian and Ali (Tiffany and Niccole's daughters). The highlight of the trip was a couple of hours at the local arcade. Lydia got really good at the claw machines and she won a prize, then helped Austin win a prize. They were so excited!
-She's really starting to read well and I often find her reading to Austin, or Caleb, or really anyone who wants to be read to. I love catching her at this. I also catch her reading on her own and it makes me so happy for her to be gaining that love of reading.
-Sometimes I have to step back and remind myself that she's getting bigger and that I need to treat her like the older girl that she is. It's easy for me to feel frustrated sometimes when she doesn't comply immediately or when she has her own opinions about something. I find myself trying to force her to bend to my all-powerful-mom-will. But I'm trying to be better about giving her the space to grow and develop her own opinions. Because I do want her to grow into a strong, confident young woman and I know that these early interactions will make a big difference into how she grows.
-She's really been into building with Legos lately and she's really good at it.
-She loves her family, plays great with her brothers and especially adores her dad.
-Swimming Lessons this summer included holding hands with Austin in the line (whose classes just happened to be right next to each other) and a different swimming suit every day. We inherited a few super-cute swimsuits from a neighbor and one time my friend Stephanie (Sister Lewis) made a comment about how Lydia was always wearing a new suit. After that it was necessary for Lydia to wear a different suit each day because Lydia adores Sister Lewis.
-One of the things that Lydia enjoys doing while we are out and about is finding things that she really likes and then asking me to take a picture of her so she can always remember.
-Picnic lunches in the back yard. Look at that smile.
-More kayak/lake pictures. Lydia got SO good at taking the kayak out all by herself. She was strong enough to paddle all over the lake and skilled enough to really direct the boat to the place she wanted to go. I asked her what her favorite part was and she said "I liked going by myself because it was fun. It was SO fun being with my family." One time when we were out at the lake (our favorite lake to go to this summer was Highland Glen) and Lydia saw a few boys with fishing nets. She decided that she wanted a fishing net of her own. So she got a plastic bag from our snack bin and used a stick to make her own makeshift net. She spent a good amount of time standing in the water waiting for a fish to come close enough to catch. (And look at that balance! She was a pro of standing on the paddle board.)
-Adventures with cousins: Bridal Veil Falls and Parades! And what would be the point of gathering all that parade candy if you didn't take it home and smush it all into a big ball before eating it?
-This goofy girl. She has a big personality and she's always up for an adventure.
-Camping this summer = smores + reading + dirt + climbing
-She's really very coordinated and has great large motor skills. But she also knows that she's very coordinated and sometimes that makes her careless. She'll climb something like this tree then "pretend" likes she's going to fall. She will pretend to wobble and wave her arms, because she thinks it's funny. If she'd just climb the thing I wouldn't be so worried, but I'm afraid she'll pretend to fall and then really fall!
We had a great summer vacation:
- We went a cabin with the Middleton's this summer and Ali just did such a great job of capturing the joy and energy of this Lydia girl.
-Her favorite thing right now is unicorns. She has books about unicorns, stuffed unicorns, toy unicorns, and she loves to play unicorns. She started loving unicorns over a year ago- and it's really stuck.
-Lydia had been asking me how she could earn some money and she decided to host a lemonade stand. I'm grateful for good neighbors who gave their kids money and came to support her stand, because she put a lot of effort into it but there had also been like three lemonade stands on our street that week. We live in a wonderful place.
-She loves her dad so much that every single morning she "needs" to wave goodbye to him as he leaves for work. When it's warm they get to stand on the porch to wave goodbye, now that it's getting colder I've insisted that they stay inside and wave from the window.
-She's a great older sister. She just is. Sometimes she's bossy (just telling the truth) and sometimes she won't share. But 90% of the time, she is kind, helpful, and good. I'm so grateful for her.
-Okay, for this next series of photos I really really really tried to narrow things down - but I feel like it should be documented as part of Lydia's 6.5 post. After all, adding her 12th and 13th State - making her quite the little traveler - to her state list is a pretty big deal. That's right, this August Lydia went on her first trip to... NEW YORK!
Her Uncle Bruce invited her and her cousin Aubrey to come visit him and go to a Broadway play with him. He said that we, the parents, could come, too if we wanted (which we did!). Lydia said "We went to the Statue of Liberty and I liked it. I liked being in New York. I liked going to the museums and the big town hall. I liked riding on the Subway. I liked being with my Uncle. I really liked the fountain where I got all wet, then I was SO cold when we went to the dessert place that I had to stay outside. It was so fun in New York."
We ended up walking about 30 miles in 3 days and by the end Lydia was so tired that each time we'd stop at a corner or in the subway station she'd lay right out on the ground to rest. (And who were we to stop her after dragging her 6.5 year old self all over New York?) But she didn't complain hardly at all, and we had a wonderful trip together.
-And now, the thing that I've wanted to write about from the very beginning. Homeschool.
I've written other posts about this, so I won't go into SO much detail, but I do just want to say that this has been such a good fit for us this year. I love having Lydia home instead of sending her to school every day. She's been doing great with our routine and has been excelling in her schoolwork. I know that it's an unconventional choice, but it's been such a beautiful choice for us in our home.
-As a part of the school year, she's also started up a gymnastics class again and she's really enjoying it. We also started Piano Lessons with the aforementioned loved and adored Sister Lewis and Lydia's doing great! She's going to have her first recital next month and she's working on a Christmas duet for it. I'm so happy to see her do so well.
- She likes snuggling and often finds great little places to squeeze into.
-Helping her dad mow the lawn like a champ.
-She frequently declares that it's one of her stuffed animal birthdays and requests that we celebrate. Sometimes we comply and sometimes we don't - but occasionally we will make party hats or cake out of sliced bananas and sprinkles and celebrate.
-Primary Program 2018: (September)
"We can pray anytime, even in the elevator."
Lydia said this as her part, in reference to a very influential Primary Sharing Time taught by Sister Vanderlinden where she shared stories about all the places that you can pray and how Heavenly Father loves us very much and will listen to us anywhere.
-She recently has decided that she doesn't want to eat meat. Which I'm totally fine with. I think it's important to let her have control over the food she eats (within healthy boundaries). Honoring her tender heart by not forcing the meat that I serve with dinner has been working really well. She still eats the same thing that we eat, but I try to make simple accommodations, like serving the meat on the side of the pasta dish instead of inside. Or making some meatless enchiladas to go with our pan of chicken enchiladas. It's working really well so far, and she will occasionally choose to eat the meat anyway. I think that it's good to let her make that choice, too, instead of making it a big deal to where she thinks that she can't eat meat because she said that she didn't want to once or twice. I want her to know that she has the freedom to choose either way. I'm just spending some time teaching her about protein and about things that she needs to eat if she isn't going to eat the meat.
-Lydia loves animals. If you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she will tell you either "A Vet" or "A pet owner." She's really good with animals, and has a special heart for them. We visited Aunt Melissa and got to pet the kittens that she was fostering. She even got to name one.
Another exciting event was when we went to Grandpa Great's ranch and Lydia got to ride a horse for the first time. (Not counting the little horses at the TP Farm.) She helped brush and saddle the horse, and did a great job riding all by herself. She loved using the reigns to guide the horse where she wanted it to go and she liked making it go in a circle. She went all around the corral. She wasn't afraid of the horses, even though they were very big, and she remembered a lot of information that we had read about in a "taking care of a pet horse" book that we'd borrowed from the library. My dad was so proud. She really loved going there and having that experience.
-She loves all animals, but she really really really loves dogs. She wants a dog SO badly. I feel sad that we won't ever be able to do that for her, but I have no doubt that she will buy a dog as soon as she is able.
-At Grandma and Grandpa's house, my dad pulled out a pulley and let the kids play with it in the tree, pulling up buckets and such. Lydia loved playing out in that tree and spent hours doing it. Then they got the great idea to make a zipline. The tree isn't really big enough for something like that, but they had a good time designing and making it happen. Also, Camille and Lydia have drawn up extensive plans for a treehouse that they want my dad to build in the tree, ha. So we will see how that goes.
-Lydia is quite the theater enthusiast lately. We took her to a play before we went to New York because we wanted to familiarize her to it. Then we went to Frozen on Broadway. Then we went to to a youth production of the Velveteen Rabbit as part of our homeschool.
-She lost her first tooth! Literally. *cringe* It was really loose so she asked if I would pull it out for her and I said that I would. So we got some floss and pulled it out. In my inexperience, we pulled the tooth out outside and it went flying. Then we couldn't find it in any of the grass or rocks or driveway or anything! I felt SO badly. We found a small rock and she put that under her pillow, instead. She was disappointed, but still so kind about us losing is.
-She got these snow leopard jammies and spent a few weeks pretending to be a Snow Leopard.
-She was the Princess Pea for Halloween to go with our "Tale of Despereaux" theme. The day before Halloween, she had decided that instead she wanted to be a rainbow unicorn-narwhal. I felt terribly, but I just. could. not. do. it. She was disappointed when I had to tell her that we just couldn't do it. But in the end she was lovely and so happy and kind about the whole thing.
Dearest Lydia. We love you. You are growing into such a smart, kind, funny, crazy, caring girl with such a tender heart. Things aren't always sunshine and roses, but you truly are a bright light in our home. I'm so proud of you, and so grateful to be your mother.
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