Category: L

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Twelve!

Lana turned 12 last month, and it’s been so fun watching her turn into her real “big kid” self this past year.

Her love of outer space has taken a back seat to pop music and a skincare routine, but her undeniable artistic ability and being one of the most creative souls I have ever encountered remain steadfast and stronger than ever.

I’ll admit, I was a little nervous on how her academics were going to hold up going into middle school this year, but she is absolutely crushing 6th grade. At the end of the first quarter she’s carrying straight A’s, and we got the same email we got for Della about the 6th-grade teachers bringing up Lana’s name as one of the standout students for her work ethic and accomplishments during this first part of the school year. Proud is an enormous understatement there.

Also new this year was her breakout cross country season. Before school started we were talking about Della doing lacrosse and Morrison doing baseball and flag football, and Lana said, “I don’t have a sport.” I immediately told her not to even give that a second thought – tons of people don’t do sports, plus the artist in her blows 99% of people away. But she did a cross country camp this summer, and she and I even threw a couple runs into our almost-daily morning walking routine on the bike path, so I could tell she was kind of looking forward to giving running a shot. Giving it a shot – HA! She ended up being the fastest 6th-grade girl on the team!!! She was also invited to run in an invitational meet 2 weeks after their last Conference meet of the season, which she wasn’t super enthused about since it meant she had to race after her birthday, but she did amazing. They only took 10 girls and 10 boys total from all 3 grades (6th, 7th, and 8th). She even went for a practice jog the night before the meet because they didn’t have any organized practices in those 2 weeks between Conference and the invitational. Unfortunately she was struggling with a cough and chest cold when the meet came around, but she still ran her best 1.86-mile time of the season at 14:38 and was the fastest 6th-grade girl for Bay in the race. Plus the WFB girls placed 3rd overall out of like 27 teams, and all 3 grades ran together! Again, proud doesn’t even begin to describe the emotion I felt watching her not only give something new a try this year but excel in the amazing way that she did.

Her favorite color is back to purple from black, and she even admitted she went a little emo for a bit. 😀 Her favorite foods are still sushi, Thai beef with sticky rice, and Jimmy John’s, which she can’t wait for for her birthday dinner together with me. Goofball! (ETA: we ended up going to Noodles again for her birthday lunch instead of Jimmy John’s – game-time switch in the car as we were leaving) Nigh-Night remains her constant companion, and her flair for the creepy and macabre in her sense of humor always entertains everyone.

My little Shmee!! You impress me by the day, and you’re one of my favorite people in the world. Happy 12th birthday, Lana Marie! We love you so very much, and we can’t wait to celebrate you year after year after year.

The best – photo and yearly post comparisons:

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The second one bites the dust

Lana is off to middle school this upcoming school year, and we’re going to be in 3 different schools now since Della is moving onto high school! I’m sad the girls won’t overlap in school again until Lana’s freshman year and Della’s senior year in high school, but at least they’ll have that year together again.

It’s not nearly as bittersweet for me as when Della headed off to middle school for a couple of reasons – Lana is so ready to move out of Cumberland and elementary school, and I know how great our middle school is. They have an absolutely amazing staff, they are so inclusive, and Lana will get to just keep growing and blossoming into herself even more than she did this past year in 5th grade.

Just like when Della moved onto middle school, though, our walking crew is again shrinking. I need to check on how far after the middle school bell the high school starts, but I’m hopeful the girls can at least walk to the middle school together then Della can branch off to the high school, which thankfully is directly across the street from the middle school. We are seriously so lucky to live in a walkable community. Growing up in a larger city that was the complete opposite, I never knew what we were missing!

Our last walk home together
Our last walk to Cumberland together
Last day at Cumberland!

We will absolutely miss you in our Cumberland crew, my little Shmee, but I’m so excited for you to have even more opportunities to spread your wings and fly. You were born for greatness, I can just tell, and now it has the chance to get louder and louder and impress us all. And I can’t wait to watch!!

First and last days at Cumberland
We’ve changed a little 😉

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Eleven!

Lana turned 11 last month, and I just love watching her grow into this amazing, smart, funny, ridiculously creative big kid. It’s like every time I think I’ve got her figured out or know what’s coming next, she throws me for an incredible loop that makes life with her just get better and better.

ETA: We had her 11-year-old checkup in November, and all is healthy! Her doctor ordered a blood draw to check her cholesterol, and that was normal, too. Apparently between the ages of 9-11 they can determine genetic cholesterol conditions that would otherwise be undetectable at other ages. Poor kid got her vaccination shot, tetanus shot, flu shot, and blood draw for that all in the same afternoon. So I got her some candy at the clinic pharmacy on our way out. Here are her official 11-year stats:

  • Height: 4′ 11.25″ (79%)
  • Weight: 84 lbs. 6 oz. (53%)
  • Blood pressure: 112/62
  • BMI: 16.9 (40%)

Her artisitc ability is undeniable. She’s entered this local art show 2 years in a row now and still hasn’t gotten chosen to showcase, but she’s also entering against all adults. I know in my heart and soul one of these years she’ll be chosen to be featured, and they will be blown away. She loves acrylic paints, pencil with shading, and is super into gue/slime right now. I will forever be astonished by her creations, because I have never been nor will ever be able to draw anything anywhere close to what she can do.

Last night of 10!
Last sleep as a 10 year old…
Her art show entry this year

She struggled so much with math in school last year, so I was really nervous for her going into 5th grade this year. But I just had her parent-teacher conference right after her birthday, and she is absolutely soaring. Her teacher even said that she’d done so well in the math unit they just finished that she was going to push her harder in these upcoming units to see just how much she can do. I was blown away! Her scores on every math test and checkpoint in class plus the standardized tests from this fall are leaps and bounds higher than last year and back up where she used to be. All of her other subjects are great, too, and she loves writing. They recently completed a personal narrative in class, which she really enjoyed. Her goals for this year include getting better at social studies and getting good grades, and my pride for her grows exponentially when I learn tidbits like that about her. Because her often stonefaced, “meh” persona rarely belies the genius that lies beneath.

She plays the #2 child role in the family perfectly. She’s more than happy to let Della take lead of the siblings while she does her own thing, but when it’s her turn to be in charge, she steps up to the plate beautifully. She just passed her Red Cross babysitting class, and we had no qualms leaving all 5 of them home together when we recently went to Madison for a football game day.

Nigh-Night is her forever friend; she loves monkeys and sloths; she tried water skiing for the first time this summer and almost got up on her very first try with her natural athletic ability; she fearlessly tries stunts that would make most kids cower, like rock jumping and flipping off diving boards; she likes all things outer space and would love to be an astronaut; she can do the worm better than anyone I’ve ever met; she likes the color purple and cheesecake; her favorite foods are still sushi, meatloaf, and Thai beef with sticky rice; and her life dreams include being a glass blower, lava collector, owning a little shop, traveling the world, and just having a life that is fun and exciting. She keeps her confidence quiet, but she is not shy about letting it out to roar when it needs to. Never give that up, my love! No one will keep you down.

Happy 11th birthday, my sweet baby girl, our little Lana Marie! You have made our world so much better simply by being in it, and for that I will be forever grateful to you. I hope you had wonderful birthday celebrations and have the most magical year ahead. We love you to the stars and back and if I could lasso all of them and give them to you I would, because you deserve nothing less!!

And now for the throwback pics and posts, from Baby Lana to today. This one’s amazing!

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Ten!

Lana turned 10 last month, and it marked the end of single digits for the girls in our house…

She is still one of the most amazing creatures I’ve ever known. Her level of artistic ability has always amazed me, and it just gets stronger by the day. She recently told me she didn’t want to study for science because artists don’t need science, so there’s a glimpse of the aura of attitude she can possess as well. 😉

She is so smart and loves school, she says because her siblings never bother her there, ha! She has a great group of friends this year, which I absolutely love to see because it took a long time for me to ever hear that she has a “best friend.” And of course they all act like crazy little 10 year olds when they get together.

Nigh-Night is still her third arm, her favorite colors are lavender and teal, her favorite foods are meatloaf/sushi/Thai beef and sticky rice, she would watch Moriah Elizabeth for days on end if we let her, and her dream is to go to space. I took her to the planetarium at our public museum a few weeks ago to hear an astronaut speak, and she was enthralled. It was one of the best presentations I’ve ever attended, and both she and I were in awe at what this man had accomplished in his career and how life in space really works.

She hates brushing her hair, getting in trouble (especially from Ryan) is her biggest fear, and she’s already told me that the “speeches” we give them when they all get in trouble do nothing because they never listen to them anyway. Well fantastic. Again, the ‘tude seeps out of this one sometimes. However, she asks for an extra hug almost every night when I tuck the big kids into bed. This one will always claim a very special piece of my heart.

Happy 10th birthday, my sweet baby girl Lana Marie! Daddy and I could not possibly love you more and are so proud of you, no matter how scared of him you may be. You are my one and only Shmee, and my life has been exponentially better just for having you in it. We love you to the stars and back, my space girl wonder!!

And for posterity, the past years’ birthday photos and posts:

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Nine!

I am SO far behind on this blog, but no better way to catch up than to start catching up, eh?

Lana turned 9 in October, and I continue to be amazed daily by this wondrous creature.

ETA: We had her 9-year well check on February 24, 2022, and here are her official stats:

Height: 4′ 7.75″ (86%)
Weight: 68 lbs. 12.8 oz. (56%)
Blood pressure: 106/64
BMI: 15.56 (32%)

She still hates putting away her laundry, leaves her dirty clothes and pajamas all over the floor, and despises brushing her hair, but the creativity that exudes from her constantly is almost a force of nature.

She loves to bake, enjoys playing with the twins and teaching them games, tucks Nigh-Night into a comfy spot each morning before we go to school, gets into some of the most ridiculous arguments I’ve ever heard with Morrison, and often acts as crazy as a loon with Della.

I have, however, seen a level of maturity emerge from her this school year that I’ve never seen before. They were given an assignment notebook by her teacher at the beginning of the year, and since day 1, she has taken complete ownership of that task. She writes down her daily assignments and to-dos in it, checks each one off as she finishes them, and dog-ears each page as the week is completed. The pride and responsibility I saw from her when this little task began was incredible. I didn’t want to jinx it either, so I very nonchalantly told her how proud I was that she was taking her schoolwork and assignments so seriously this year a couple days in. No big deal, you’re just actually becoming a big kid.

She started taking piano lessons with Della this summer and will complain until the end of time about having to practice and do them, but she’s getting good. She also mastered diving during their swim lessons this summer, and she is now always called on to be the diving example in their weekly lessons. Della is still trying to catch up, much to her chagrin. And the year of schooling at home had nothing on this kid. Lana’s standardized test scores from the beginning of this school year in both reading and math were her highest yet at the top of the charts, and her percentile rankings were the highest of all the big 3. I was blown away. Especially because she always says how much she hates math.

This one. My little Lana Marie. My sweet baby girl. My fairy spirit. I will never be able to put into words how much I love you, but I hope you always know. Even when my body is dead and gone, my spirit will come out and bug you forever. Happy 9th birthday, Lana Marie! Our last year of having a daughter in the single digits! We could not be prouder of the wonderful big kid you’re becoming, with just enough goofiness of your little-kid self still fully intact. You are the beautiful definition of one of a kind, and we love you so very, very much. We are so lucky you’re ours!

Here are her annual birthday posts:

And here are the pictures. I just love this one!

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Eight!

Lana just turned 8, and I can’t believe my littlest girl is already turning into a big kid! We don’t have her well check until January, so I’ll fill in her stats when I have them.

**ETA: We had her well check on February 17, 2021, so here are the official 8-year stats:

  • Height: 53.5″ (86%)
  • Weight: 62 lbs. (62%)
  • BMI: 15.2 kg/m2 (34%)
  • Blood pressure: 98/55

She had an absolutely amazing day, and it made my heart SO happy to see her skipping around all day saying, “This is the best day ever! Thank you so much for my birthday!”

Then and now – 6th birthday and 8th birthday.

She got a boatload of presents, which was fine by me because I feel like last year she kind of got jipped. Her favorites were this awesome glass pen that Ryan got her that came with glitter ink, ocean kinetic sand (thank you, Auntie Mer!), and a smart watch (thank you, Grandma!).

A week or so earlier I’d asked what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday this year, and she requested marble. Little did I know that required combining 2 different batters, but I figured it out and it actually turned out pretty great. I made a double batch of buttercream frosting and it’s a good thing I did, because we ended up making it a double-decker cake and used every last bit. Lana came up with a dia de los muertos skull design and decoration scheme, and it turned out awesome! She helped crack the eggs, cut out the skull shape, and frost with the piping bags, and she was SO excited about it. It was delicious!

Her birthday fell on an asynchronous day for school, so we didn’t have to worry about watching the clock to sign on to live class meetings. This allowed us to just follow a fun birthday schedule. She opened a bunch of presents in the morning, saving just a couple for later in the day after Daddy got home from work. They did their school work until about 10:00 that morning, then we headed out for a couple “field trip” errands. We picked up school supplies for D and M, picked up our online grocery order, stopped to take her picture in the beautiful frame her Girl Scout troop leaders made this summer for their bridging ceremony from Daisies to Brownies that never got to be used because of the pandemic, then we checked out a really cool house that’s right down on the edge of Lake Michigan and has a yard full of sculptures. The woman who lived there was an artist known as “The Witch of Fox Point,” and the kids were studying her that week in art. It’s a pretty cool sight to see, and they thought it was fun to see something from their studies in real life.

Then they finished up their lessons during the afternoon, Ryan took them to the park when he got home because it was the only beautiful day in a week full of rain, I picked up her requested sushi for dinner, and she opened the rest of her presents that night. Talk about the perfect way to celebrate a birthday! She was in heaven. We even sang “Happy Birthday” to her twice, because the video camera malfunctioned during the first rendition.

Lana is an absolute wonder. She is still the most creative person I know, and her fairy spirit is alive and well. She is loving her virtual classroom this year and is doing a great job in school. She just had her first play date of the year, inviting one of the girls from her class who goes to the other elementary school over to play outside for an afternoon. Another girl in her class sent her her first chain letter a few weeks ago, a sticker club, so she’s enjoyed mailing letters to her friends and getting stickers in the mail as well. I just love how her eyes light up and she starts literally bouncing up and down when she’s excited about something, and I never say no when she wants to read me something she’s written or show me a new background on her computer for school. The other night she wanted me to carry her to bed, and she said, “I want you to be able to carry me forever.” I do, too, my love; oh, how I do, too.

Happy 8th birthday, Lana Marie! Words can’t even express how much I love you, and you make us prouder by the day. It still takes me a couple tries to get you to hear me when I need to you do something and you are the queen of shoving toys wherever you want to put them instead of actually cleaning up, but I now know that’s just you, it’s not deliberate misbehavior. I will never, ever forget the night we brought you home from the hospital – the early darkness of a fall evening, which I usually hate, could do nothing to dampen the elation I felt having another baby girl in the house. Don’t ever let this world take your gorgeous essence away. It is the most defining part of you, and I couldn’t love it more. May your days always be filled with twirling, Nigh-Night, and love, my sweet baby girl!

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Six!

My sweet baby girl turned 6 last month, and the world is absolutely a better place because she’s in it.

Lana started full-day kindergarten this year, and even her teacher has said a number of times how ready she was for it. She loves school as much as Della always has, is thriving in her class, is a good friend to all her classmates, and has the most amazing teacher ever. Lana’s teacher is also the middle of 5 children, loves all things tiny, and just “gets” Lana better than I could have ever hoped a teacher could. I told her this is definitely a student-teacher match made in cosmic heaven.

Tinies still reign, Nigh-Night is a forever friend, and unicorns are the newest favorite. She loves playing by herself, yet adores her sister and brothers and would follow Della to the ends of the earth.

She is the perfect embodiment of the word “kid.” Her imagination is beyond any I have ever known. Her creativity overflows every second of the day. And her artistic ability amazes everyone.

I really can’t put into words how much I love this girl. I hope and pray that I never know life without her, because she makes every day so much better. Happy 6th birthday, sweet Lana Marie, and many, many, many more! We love you to the stars and back!!