7 Years, 3 Months

One evening, Steve had to step away from his online game night to put one of the kids back to bed (I was talking with my parents on the phone and didn't hear that a small child was roaming the house). Upon returning, Steve's brother Philip asked, "Which one was it, Thor or Loki?" which is probably the most astute description of my kids and their dynamic that I've ever heard.

Fraternal twins: siblings that just happen to be the same age...

... and may have nothing else in common.

Jack, seeing how many necklaces and bracelets he can wear at once:

Engaging in their favorite hobby these days, playing Tears of the Kingdom on their Dad's Nintendo Switch:

The kids dig in our backyard. Jack did not agree with me that he is too big to use the digger toy:

The original intent of all of this digging was to extract some old concrete chunks from the planter bed. Once hauled out, Jack ensured the safety of the worksite with copious cones:

Jack spotted a really cool RC truck in the Target holiday catalog. It has tracks and can even float and drive on water. I was so intrigued, I agreed to buy it... for the kids, of course. Not at all just so I could play with it.

Jack takes the new vehicle for a spin:

Henry's assessment, "I think this truck is too fast for itself!"

As is probably normal for many sibling pairs, Jack and Henry spend approximately 1/4 of their time together playing nicely, and about 3/4 arguing and fighting. 

Signs Jack posted around his bed:

A $100 ticket Henry attempted to issue to Jack for misbehavior (which Jack tore in half):

Sigh.

One of the kids took this picture of me in our kitchen:

Mom and Jack:

Mom capturing a wild Henry:

Jack, compulsive climber: 

Jack is a very hard worker, and always happy to help out around the house. Here, he offered to take over scrubbing the stovetop for his dad:

Later, when scrubbing fingerprints and shoeprints off the walls in the bathroom, we told him to stop and come have dessert. He grumbled, "I'd rather scrub the walls."

Henry, enjoying his trip to the hardware store with Dad:

Jack and Henry got invited to a roller skating party by one of their first grade classmates. Neither of them had ever worn roller skates before. Henry didn't care for it and stopped after one lap. It looked like Jack was going to give up too, until several other boys from his class joined him on the rink. They didn't do a particularly great job of actually skating, but had a grand old time crashing into each other and dramatically falling. Luckily I had a full set of pads for him that we'd purchased previously for skateboarding. 

Jack on skates: 

And now for some school assignments from the month...

Jack with his November calendar: 

Jack painting fall leaves in art class:

Jack and his self portrait: 

Henry's self portrait:

Jack's thankful turkey: thankful for Mom, sushi, plants, Dad, Henry, and family.

Henry's thankful turkey: thankful for animals, mom and dad, food, Ms. Lenz (his 1st grade teacher), rain, and plants.

Jack: When I grow up, I want to be a mechanic that works on cars.

Henry: When I grow up, I want to be a doctor.

I expressed some surprise, since Henry had never mentioned any interest in medicine before, to which Henry replied, "I couldn't think of anything else." Fair enough.

Henry in art class, making still life with pastels:

Jack showing off his still life:

At the end of the month, Henry was selected to be "Star of the Week." 

Henry selected pictures for his star board of his family, grandparents, trips to San Diego Zoo and Legoland, and a couple pictures (that he's standing in front of) of himself with Aunt Jessica's pet bird. Henry loves animals, including birds and reptiles, and has been lobbying for a pet of his own. 

Henry listed his favorite food as sushi, Dad and Mom as people he admires, Llama Destroys the World as his favorite book, Ms. Lenz as the thing he likes most about school, "games" as what he does well, budgie birds as his favorite animal, and going to Disneyland as his wish.

Henry holds court with Pinguino the penguin: 

The teacher allowed Henry to have the penguin answer questions from the audience, which the class apparently found very amusing. The class makes a "Star Book" for each kid when they are Star of the Week. The most common compliments in that book were that Henry is funny and makes people laugh. Next most common were that Henry is helpful and good at math.

Jack shows off a Lego creation at his school aftercare program:

Thanksgiving!

This year, we went to Steve's Mom's house in the Sacramento area. We were excited to have three of Steve's siblings there with their families.

Jack using one of Grandma's cool puzzle toys:

Jack and Henry love any attention they can get from their cousins (all of whom are much older). Here they are having a blast watching their cousins Camdan and Rosey play Smash Brothers:

Henry gets a chance with the controller, surrounded by cousins: 

Playing Uno with Rosey, their closest cousin in age at five years their senior:

Jack and Henry then taught Rosey some of the card games they've learned at their school aftercare program:

Henry helps Grandma with her shredding, with the assistance of Aunt Jessica and Cousin Ben, while Jack and Cousin Michael look on:

While visiting the park near Grandma's house, Jack (a.k.a. Thor) shoots to the top of the climbing structure in just over a minute:

Henry, who is a bit afraid of heights, made it about halfway up. A sensible child, in my opinion (says his mom, who is also afraid of heights).