Honestly I think the title of this blog actually undersells what’s happening in this new phase of life and parenthood my wife and I are currently entering. My son, now 9, and my daughter (6) are amazing kids…and we couldn’t be prouder of them! AND my wife and I can comfortably say that we were a bit caught off guard by the new changes and stage of life that we have now entered with them.

For the first time in their lives they are not sharing a room. This was a very welcome and exciting change for my son as he has been sleeping better and has loved having his own dedicated space. My daughter however, will tell you that she has not been so thrilled. The biggest difficulty for her being that she now has to sleep alone in her room at night. My wife has come up with some great ideas and solutions to help her but the first couple of weeks were pretty difficult and reminded us a little bit of what sleeping with a baby in the house was like!

We’ve also seen some older kid and pre-teen behaviors that honestly I don’t think we believed would be happening this soon. Both of them retreating to their rooms after dinner and when we get home to listen to audiobooks or play, or read or draw. My wife and I have kind of looked at each other at times a little unsure…do we go in there with them…or just hang out here where it’s quiet? And there has most definitely been the onset of some pre-teen attitudes and behaviors from our oldest…more eyerolls, more exaggerated exasperation, and some general…oh boy…are we ready for this?

They both are really developing their unique personalities and senses of humor as well. It’s fun and funny to see them tracking adult conversations better and adding their own two cents. My kind, sweet daughter has even taking to razzing her old man about some of his features that may not be as young-looking as they used to (see pictures below).

Yep…they’re growing up, and we are still extremely blessed and proud of our wonderful kids. We’re in for quite the adventure with these two and I don’t think we’d have it any other way 🙂

This is fatherhood…