You lost this tooth at school today, and brought it home in a blue mouse-shaped tooth box. It's been loose for a while, and yesterday was hanging on by a thread. You insisted it needed to wait until today, because Greta "wanted to walk you to the office." When you got in the van after school, it's the first thing you wanted to tell me about, that you made sure to do it while Greta was with you. That she did take you to the office, along with a couple of other girls who wanted to be in on it, too. Losing these front teeth changes how you look so much.

You were sick tonight, baby girl, with a bad cough and a fever. Neither of us got much sleep. It's kind of funny to me that you, our biggest and most full-term baby, is the most prone to croup and wheezing when you get a cold. I expected my preemies to do this, but not you. I hope you're better soon, you poor thing.

You have to find ways to entertain yourself while we wait for your sisters in the pickup line at school. On this day, making a card for your daddy, and decorating the envelope, was your way to spend the time. I can't believe that next year you won't be in this car waiting with me, you'll be in the school. I'll miss you.

Baby boy, this has probably been an image in your daddy's mind for more years than you could imagine.

You try to be very helpful with laundry. You take things out of the dryer (and put them on the floor), you scoop up things you find and try to sneak them in the washer or dryer when I open them. You want to be involved in anything we do.

You love this book. You bring it to us over and over again, to be read to. And you laugh like a little maniac when Gerald sneezes. Then we laugh at you laughing. You're so much fun.

Naptime routine.

Me and my little ones in front of the library.

Moody girls. Saoirse explaining to me why Fiona is sitting in the corner crying. (Hint: A sister fight)

It's not easy being a big sister. You kindly agreed tonight, Saoirse, to build stuff for him while I made dinner, to be his entertainment. He is so fascinated with you.

You want to be wherever your daddy is, whenever he is home.

I hate winter. One of my least favorite things about it is how dark it is, and how dreary. But one thing I've realized this year is that although the light is fleeting in the winter here, it is absolutely stunning when it comes. It is hard, and brilliant, and without all the green filters and humidity haze that it has in the summer. It is pure and golden in the mornings, and this morning it called to me and I just had to try to capture it.

Meet Jessica and Rose. For a long time, Rose (on the right) just went by Piggie, when Rowan was little. She has snuggled with Rowan at night for seven years now. Jessica (Rose's baby) was added to the family at a carnival a couple years ago. They got their names this last year. How long will they be this loved? I don't know, but I do know I want to remember them.

You love brushing your teeth. The funny thing is, when your sisters were little, I couldn't imagine letting them brush their own teeth. It was my job. But you think that you're one of the big kids, so you climb up on that stool, get the toothbrush out, and take the cap off the toothpaste like a pro. I have found you eating toothpaste more than once, your little fingers are the perfect size for sticking right down into the top of the tube. Silly boy. Of course it probably doesn't help that Fiona picked out toothpaste flavored like chocolate mint.

Last night your dad told me, after lying with you at bedtime, that your bed is too cold. Since your dad would prefer to leave the window in the bedroom cracked in the dead of winter (not that I agree to that)...I knew that this was something to be taken seriously. So today we made a trip to Target for flannel sheets and a new fuzzy blanket. Your bed is now "cozier" than mine, according to you. Will it keep you in your own bed all the way to morning? We shall see...

Packing school lunches in one of those little things that illustrates bigger things about parenting, and marriage, for me. Before I had kids in school, I looked forward to packing school lunches. I love food, after all, and read cookbooks for fun. I agreed that packing lunches would lead to more healthful meals, that variety beyond pizza, chicken nuggets, and burgers would be good for children. "Kid food" is not good food, for the most part. So I had high hopes. But the reality is different. My kids have expectations of their own, and they wear me down. Packing lunches is a lot of drudgery, and my creativity is rarely appreciated by little kids, to be honest. Pinterest, Facebook...they all remind me that I'm not a star in the lunch department. Your dad, on the other hand...well, he doesn't sweat it. Packing the same small rotation of sandwiches, with a few pretzels and a piece of fruit every day...done. No stress. So I am always grateful on the days that he takes this task over and lets me forget about it. I should tell him that more often.

My baby napping in a crib is new to me. Rowan did sometimes, I suppose, by the time she was your age. Saoirse never did, and neither did Fiona. I lay down with them, and then snuck away once they were safely asleep, if I could. I left a pillow barrier around them to keep them from rolling out. It's very different with you. I miss lying next to you, snuggling you to sleep. On the other hand, I don't miss feeling trapped there, waiting for sleep to come, and then having to get back up when I'm almost asleep myself after lying there for so long. I wonder if it will make you different from them in some way, this different beginning. I'll never know, since this is the life you know and no other...but these are the sorts of things I wonder about while I rub your back and sing you to sleep in your own room.

The best thing about winter is your cute little face in fuzzy hats.

Add this to the list of gifts I would never have bought you, but that you love dearly. Thankful for grandparents.

You have started to sit still long enough to listen to books, Liam, even over and over again sometimes. You're joining us as a reader, and we love it.

Daddy is waiting for you to be able to play video games with him so anxiously, baby boy.

Saoirse wanted these hair chalks for Christmas so much, she circled them in every catalog in which they appeared. Despite the possible mess, she got them! Her fascination with these and with braiding are the reason she's growing her hair back out. Today you girls tried them out for the first time.

A new year. This is you, today, each of you. Love you, today and every day.