Jesse 14! And Abe 22!

I went for an eye exam today. I'm entering a new phase of ... eye age ... where the the more fully we correct my distance vision, the less clearly I can read. I bought my first reading glasses the other day (to use when my contacts are in), and today the doctor recommended I try a lens corrected for distance in one eye and a lens for reading in the other. (The idea of each eye operating independently troubles me for some reason I can't quite explain. So I might continue with medium-good distance vision and occasional reliance on reading glasses. We shall see.) 

In any case I always find it odd that the same small space of years that were full of these last babies (and all the related experiences of labor and nursing and sleepless nights) ... have been so closely backed to ... wrinkles and age-related eye problems, etc!

I guess that's just what happens when you have kids over two full decades. 

We've been discussing this lately because my older kids (and I) have been surprised to discover that their younger siblings don't have any memory of some of the most basic things the older ones recall: watching cartoons on Quibo, getting Netflix discs in the mail, swing-swongs from Grandpa Gordy, etc. The other night I took the youngest six (the only ones who were around) to see the drive-through lights at Willard Bay. I've taken our kids there several times in the past, so assumed it would be a familiar Christmassy event. But none of the younger kids recalled ever going at all! It really is a strange thing birthing kids over such a large space of time. 

But! All of that was somehow to say that we've celebrated several birthdays this month. As we always do amidst the wildness of December. Our oldest--Abe (who is now 22). And the last of the kids who might somewhat be considered part of that older crew--Jesse (who turned 14). 

I remember so well that December in 2008 when Jesse was born. Abe, who was just days away from turning eight, had never suffered from a lack of siblings (why he'd had a sister by the time he hit 16 months--and two more within a few more years) but ... he'd yet to experience a brother. We were waiting for his fourth sibling to come. It was several days past that sibling's expected delivery date. And only three days til Abe's birthday. And none of us knew the coming baby's gender. 

So wasn't it a fun surprise when Abe got the slightly early birthday gift of his little brother Jesse!

I don't know how 14 years have passed since that day! 

Here we are celebrating them both last week!

Starling likes to help when Jesse does any type of baking (though here he was just decorating his cake). Recently he was making something and called, "Who can get me more flour from downstairs?" 

"I will Jesse!" Starling eagerly replied as she ran for the basement pantry. A short while later she came up the stairs carrying a little package and telling Jesse (in a "this will just have to do" sort of voice), "Sorry Jesse. I could just find a cup of noodles."

(Re-lighting candles.)

(Abe told us how sometimes he goes to his cupboard and discovers he has no Ritz and then just feels kind of blue for the rest of the day. Haha.)

(Daisy is a good gift-giver. She gave Abe this Mandalorian hanging that he loved. And she also gave Jesse the sword he was happily holding in pictures above.)

(Bouldering pads.)

Get a good last look at little-kid Jesse. It seems like my kids still look ... like kids at age 14. And then, something crazy happens, and by 16, nearly all trace of little kid is gone. (It's already beginning: I keep having to buy him new pants!) And I'm sure I'll be comparing these pics below with some new ones in two years--marveling at the change. But for now, I'll keep enjoying this semi-kid version of my Jesse.