Eight is Great!

Kalyb decided that ‘Seven wasn’t quite heaven’…but we decided that EIGHT is inevitably going to be GREAT for him!

Kalyb Isaiah Dicken,
I cannot believe you’re already 8. I love that it’s to the point now that I’ve known you more than half of your life and every month, I feel like I learn more and more about you.

This summer has been one of my favorite with you. You’ve grown so much and shown so much maturity – sprinkled in with some crazy outbursts, emotion, and your strong-willed nature! Your courage to try new things is through the roof – you’re climbing more than you had the nerve to before, rock climbed with our youth group and ROCKED it, etc. Things that would’ve caused you to slow down before, you’re kind of getting control of.

When it gets down to it, you are one of the sweetest and most compassionate little boys I’ve ever known. You’ll still jump up on my lap to cuddle and crawl in bed near me on the weekends. You love Remy so much and absolutely adore your little sister – though now that she’s getting more involved, she can drive you a little nuts with her over-involvement in your activities (especially toys with small parts…).

You’re really taken to the idea that you have so much power over speaking life or death in your life and while writing your thank you notes, came up to me and said, ‘I’m one blessed and well-loved little boy. I have SO much to speak life about!” You’ve worked really hard with your play therapist this year, as have your Dad and I. We learn so much each time we go – it’s like a family growing experience!

This entire summer, you were so excited about starting to go to school with me this year. I’m so glad you’re here as well. The adults here get you – as I’ve spoken about you often. Although you might not like Mrs. Wilson, she’s doing a great job being consistent with you. And that’s exactly what you need, though it’s rarely what you want!

You love learning more about yourself and how your brain works – you sit with me to look at the information from ‘Whole-Brain Child’, a book that I’m reading. You’re always curious to know what you’re meant to be. You’ve finally decided maybe you shouldn’t be a rock star since you have stage fright, but maybe you’ll be a guitarist. You’ve taken really naturally to the guitar; we really should get you lessons. You finally started gymnastics after asking for years – you don’t totally like that you just don’t have free reign over the whole place. There are still rules and boundaries; story of your life – and you must push all boundaries to see what you’re able to get away with in what environment.

This summer, you decided that you finally believe in God for sure. The night after I had a bad feeling and Dad found you on the roof, you told Gammie that you’d been praying for weeks that God would reveal Himself to you or speak to you. This is what you needed, I guess! I explained to you that God had let me know you were being unsafe – and since that day, your heart hasn’t been the same. You’re still trying to figure it all out (as am I, at 32) – but you’re seeing things more in light of how the Lord is working. It is so sweet to see!

I love you so much and love getting to watch you grow up and mature and become more of the person God has designed you to be. You have a big calling on your life and I feel so blessed to even be a part of it. May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you, Kalyb Isaiah. The neatest boy I’ve ever loved!

Kadence Emercyn Dicken

Of course, I intended to write this for Kadence’s first birthday – however, that time has come and quickly gone and now Kalyb’s birthday has passed and still nothing has been written…so here I am, with Kadence already 19 1/2 months old and far beyond being our little baby anymore. I did write a note in my iphone as to her interests at 12 months. She loved balls, her brother, bouncing, spicy foods, empty plastic bottles, reading books, diving off the couch head first, climbing on furniture, all music but particularly drums, cords and all things electronic, and different textures. Her 12 month stats remained the same with her at about the 35%ile for weight and 50th %ile for height. Comparing her height with mine at her exact age, I was almost 3 1/2 “ taller. I’m still not convinced she will be quite as tall as I am (or I’m just hoping!). We had her 1st birthday party scheduled at the Focus on the Family play area; however, a blizzard stopped that from happening and nearly deterred my family from making it in town from AZ and CA! Thankfully, my mom, dad, Jim, Becca, Jeremy and Charlie were able to catch flights out the next day and everyone stayed at our house – cozy! The party was quickly reestablished at our home which we should’ve done from the beginning so we didn’t have to shorten the guest list. Oh well! We had a great time celebrating (despite poor cousin Charlie ending up with a HORRIBLE virus that was SO SAD). Kadence started her first steps about a month later on March 13th but didn’t fully commit to walking until the middle of April.
Now that she is 18 months, her personality is just bursting! She is quite opinionated and knows exactly what she wants, though sometimes struggles communicating that with us! She can sign ‘please’ and uses it quite often for everything – from ‘help’ to ‘more’ to ‘all done’ and of course, ‘please’. I guess it works for it all! She is smiling and laughing and dancing and talking and SO. MUCH. FUN. Her words that she can say are: “Pupu, Dada, Mama, Bubba, Hi, Hello, Bye, Bye-Bye, Shoes, etc.” She’s starting to repeat phrases. She says ‘pu-pu’ for about every moving animal – and though she had said Mama, Dada and Bubba before – Puh-puh was definitely the word she said most often – it started when we adopted our dog, Remy. We have an animal lover! She even ran out of Kohl’s the other day while making returns to chase a dog…
She LOVES music. She loves dancing – clapping, waving her arms and bouncing up and down. She even puts her hands in the air and attempts to say hallelujah thought it comes out more ‘ah-you-yah’. She loves being on the trampoline with her brother – well, just about anywhere with him, really. She’s really good at following instructions (when she wants to). She’s a climber – we’ve found her stuck on Kalyb’s bunkbed’s ladder – and just last night, Josiah heard her screeching and caught her just before she fell onto the floor as she was being stretched with her arms on Josiah’s desk and her feet stuck on his rolling, moving chair – little daredevil was trying to reach her shoe! Haha! She is often with a bruise on her forehead, no surprise there. So cute – Earlier this week, she dug through her shoe basket, found a matching pair, handed them to Josiah and said, ‘shoes’. She’s also a girly girl. She picks out her outfits and loves to try to put them on.
She is full of personality – can give quite the unimpressed face when she is not impressed but absolutely lights up with delight when she is. We are loving getting to know her more and Kalyb’s praises have been ‘thank you, Lord for making Kadence even more fun every day!’ (although he has been known to complain about her antics that tend to be rather aggressive towards him! – all in love, of course!). She continues to be a great sleeper – going to bed during the summer around 8 and waking up 12 hours later (sometimes even longer!) She prefers one nap in the middle of the day and that can last anywhere from 2 to 4 hours! Ever since her 9 month mark, she has been an incredible sleeper and we do not take that lightly! We are so thankful! At her 18 month appointment, she’d jumped in stats – nearly 25 pounds (50th %ile) and 33’’ (80th %ile) – so we shall see!!
Kadence Emercyn, We all absolutely adore you. Miss Andrea says everywhere you guys go together, you light up the room saying hi to everyone. You are so social and outgoing, yet you can easily spend time entertaining yourself. It’s so fun watching you explore and grown in your dependence – no longer needing us to open doors, walk you outside, or watch your every step. You make us laugh so much! You have quite the feisty personality, though you come by that honestly! Your brother just dotes on you and it is so fun to watch your affection towards him. Thank you for blessing our lives with so much joy, laughter, entertainment, independence, and love. One of your favorite things to do is to blow kisses to us (and most everyone you see) and we absolutely melt. I can’t wait to learn more and more about you and watch you grow sensitive to the ways of the Lord – may you be ever increasing in the fruits of the spirit as we try to be an example. We love you, little girl. You are so special.