39 was so last year. These days, our dad is a new and improved 40-year-old! Because you know what they say: “40 isn’t old if you’re a tree.” Wait… that’s the wrong pep talk for aging gracefully. Let’s try this again…

Dad, listen closely to the trees planted over the hill; they whisper wisdom in the wind:

• Drink plenty of water and seek nourishment from the good things in life
• Be flexible; bend before you break
• Go out on a limb once in a while
• Remember to turn over a new leaf or let some go at times
• Accept the changing seasons
• Stay grounded and connect with your roots
• Stand tall and proud and celebrate each growth ring
• Enjoy the view

Mom surprised Dad with a La Crosse Segway tour!

He’s a natural!

Mom? Not so much.

Here’s dad, heading over the Mississippi River

They made it to the top of the bridge

Cruisin’ through Pettibone Park

Segway Selfie – take 1

Segway Selfie – take 2

Mom eventually got the hang of it!

Silly photo op

40 hasn’t slowed dad down!

Cuties!

Another surprise! Dinner with some of Dad’s besties

Hibachi grill

Yum!

The Shogun gang

Birthday dinner, prepared with love by Grandma

Dad’s lovely gift-opening assistant

The fish cake, with extra buttercream frosting!

Family photo

Help! The cake is on fire!

The birthday dad!

Happy birthday, Dad! Forty sure looks good on you!

Because 7, 8, 9.

Ha! See what I did there? I told a funny joke to distract you from my lapse in posting Genesee’s monthly milestone photos. My only excuse is that I’ve been busy doing life with her, but for what it’s worth, let’s all take a moment to look back through the blur…

In February, Genesee turned 7 months old. I have no recollection of her 7-month accomplishments, but I can tell you she was alive and well and…

…not at all cooperative for that month’s photo shoot.

At Genesee’s 8-month mark, she was more of a pleasure to work with. But only for the photo shoot.

Because by March, Genesee learned how to arch her back and then regularly practiced this new move during diaper changes and car seat buckling sessions. Equally unamusing were the poopy blow-outs she started having that month… it’s just not a cute look. She also became even more resentful of having her nose/mouth/any-part-of-the-face wiped, and she absolutely despised those 2 seconds when a onesie was pulled over her face.

But there were a few impressive events that happened as an 8-month-old; Genesee:

• grew two little teeth
• started to stand up (with assistance)
• could hold her own bottle
• loved eating Puffs
• made major strides in her walker

And then she turned 9 months old!

By the end of April, Genesee learned how to sit up on her own, got really close to crawling, weighed just over 17 lbs (32nd percentile) and measured 27.56 inches tall (45th percentile). Doc said she’s doing great, even though that pesky cough has persisted; we may need to keep an eye on her for asthma or allergies.

Throughout all of these months, Genesee has consistently rejected vegetables, identified Uncle Cory as one of her favorite people, maintained a smiley disposition, and laughed at all my jokes. I’m not sure I could have asked for a better little sidekick.

I’m the proud brother of an honor roll infant!

At Genesee’s parent-teacher conference, her teachers informed us that Genesee always greets people with a smile and can sit up on her own. Additionally, her progress report confirmed that my sister shows great purpose in life.

I beamed with joy at the influence I must be having on Genesee. Based on the teachers’ observations, it is clear that my sister is a miniature humanitarian-in-training and Olympic-bound athlete. I’ve taught her well.

Why should I take all the credit, you ask? Well, sissy doesn’t just look up to me because I’m taller. I’m also a model citizen, which was the main takeaway from my parent-teacher conference that same evening.

I mean, let’s be honest… no one was surprised to learn that I exceeded all of my 4K readiness goals, like counting way past 20, safely using scissors to cut out shapes, listening to directions (only outside of the home and when given by someone other than my parents), and spelling/writing my first name.

“Miss Sara, can I write the rest of my name with lower-case letters like Grandma taught me?”

But, my evaluation further proved that I’ve still got stellar sports skills and that I play well with others.  See exhibit A:

“A great coach takes his players friends where they can’t take themselves.”

However, the feedback that put the biggest smile on the faces of my parents was when Ms. Nichole and Ms. Sara said that I’m very kind. “He always lets us know when another kid is hurt or sad, and he can always tell us why they’re feeling that way,” they elaborated.

In summary, I’m not just your average toddler. Above and beyond all the skills I should possess as an aspiring 4K star, I also exhibit promising athleticism, an empathetic heart, a helpful spirit, and the friendliest soul.

Or in other words, I’m basically an Olympic-caliber athlete and local humanitarian. So, yes, let’s give credit where credit is due: all of Genesee’s success is indeed my success.

I requested a green four-wheeler, a pet kitty-cat, and homemade lasagna for my 4th birthday…

…I guess 1 out of 3 ain’t bad.

It was mom and dad’s first-ever attempt at lasagna. After collecting a few recipes/tips from Grandma, Aunt Julie, and the internet, I watched my parents pour lots of love and cheese into a barely-deep-enough ceramic baking dish. My mother worried and stressed as she repeatedly read each set of directions. Eventually, dad stepped back to supervise as mom spread the perfectly measured meat sauce between the meticulously layered noodles. Finally, my devoted parents lifted that heavy masterpiece into the pre-heated oven to bubble and brown into a decadent dinner. Then they waited. And crossed their fingers. And hoped. And waited a few more minutes for good measure.

Do you know how it turned out? I’m kind of curious myself since I got so caught up in the birthday spirit that I only managed to ingest two, tiny, forgettable bites. Oops.

But the menu wasn’t a total loss. In fact, my unplanned disinterest in lasagna freed up additional belly space for the Minon-themed birthday cake that I selected from the Festival catalog.  The candles were a bit tricky, but I made a wish, blew out the flames, and bid farewell to my three-year-old life as it vanished into the smoke signals. And with one last glance back before moving forward, I can tell you this:

Three was cute and all, but Four is going to really look good on me!

Get your party on!

The spread.

The first victim. I mean, taste-tester.

Looks good, parents!

Evidence that I took at least one bite.

Minion Birthday Cake

Happy 4th birthday to me!

Sunglasses. In case the candles get too bright.

Being serenaded

Genesee approves of the ice cream!

Let’s open presents!

A new bow!!

Kitty cat… are you in there?

What!? A new bike!? (Or is that my old bike ’cause I swear I have one that looks just like that.)

Being celebrated at school!

The sign on the door announced that it’s my birthday… cool!

I’ve been crowned King Jaeger.

No birthday is complete without cupcakes. (Thanks for dropping these off, Grandma and Grandpa!)

Party on the top. Pajama on the bottom.

Officially four.

Making another wish…

As I’ve said before, a lot can change in a year…

During my 2017 birthday weekend, we all went on a beautiful, warm 4-wheeler ride.

On the eve of my 2018 birthday, we all went on a nice, cold sled ride instead.

Luckily, we know how to make the best of living in a snow globe Wisconsin.

Remember that swim class I took? Well, I repeated the course just for good measure and am happy to report that I graduated from the Water Acclimation stage and got approved to skip to Level 3: Water Stamina. After that, I’ll be well on my way to becoming a Baywatch-certified lifeguard, so long as I can conquer my fear of the dreaded locker room wardrobe change.

Becoming friends with Colin was a great idea! Mostly because he greets me with a hug at the beginning and end of each day, but also because I got invited to his super-fun birthday party, held at La Crosse’s new Jump Start Adventure Park, where I enjoyed free admission, free jumps, free pizza, free cupcakes, and free smiles! All I had to do was show up with a wrapped birthday present that I didn’t completely want to part with.

I love having “friends with benefits!” … Is that what that expression means?

A lot can change in a year. Last Easter we learned that I was being promoted to Big Brother.

Title Change | Easter 2017

Since then, I’ve met that little sister and have mastered many responsibilities that come along with my new title, including 1) making my sister laugh a lot, 2) blaming Genesee for things I’d rather not take the fall for, and 3) other duties as assigned.

For Genesee’s first Easter, I was asked to oversee special projects, like 1) stealing all her assisting her hunt for Easter Eggs, 2) giving her confidence to smile when posing with the Easter Bunny instead of screaming bloody murder like the rest of the babies (and some of my 3/4 year-old peers), and 3) eating all her candy keeping her safe from any jelly beans within arms reach.

It hasn’t always been stress-free, particularly when a poopy diaper is involved, but 8 months into my new role, I’m happy to report that big brotherhood is mostly fun, convenient, and easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy. Unfortunately, I have been reprimanded a couple times for not-nice brotherly behavior/neglect, and I even threatened to quit my new job once. Other than that, the benefits of brotherhood are really good and the experience will surely strengthen my resume: it builds character, requires patience, and demands great attention to the details of what goes in sissy’s mouth.

Now, if only this new job came with a better paycheck and more vacation…

You could say I clean up well.

But that would be an understatement. More accurately, I was the best-looking miniature groomsman in town.

I hated to outshine everybody like that, but I had an important job to do as the official ring bearer for Garrett and Morgan’s wedding. But I wasn’t the only one responsible for ensuring the success of those Goodenough vows. My ordained-minister-Mother was tasked with performing the act of marriage.

Just call us “The Dream Team.”

So after posing for several pictures with my wedding-party fan club,

the big moment arrived to show off my ring-bearing skills. That’s when I grabbed my pal Cora, informed the guests that the beautiful bride was coming, and then smiled my way down the aisle LIKE. A. CHAMP.

If it wasn’t for me and mom flawlessly executing our duties, Garrett and Morgan might not have become husband and wife that day. But luckily, this story doesn’t only have a happy ending; it also has a happy beginning…

Let me introduce you to the newly-weds: Mr & Mrs. Goodenough!

Overwhelmed by a sense of accomplishment at the conclusion of the ceremony, I buckled myself into the car seat and passed out with pride. But my job wasn’t done. After that well-earned power nap, it was time to rip it up on the dance floor!

And by “rip,” I mean my pants. And by “pants,” I mean my $180 tuxedo rental pants.

Oops. Well, if that isn’t evidence of a good time, I don’t know what is. Besides, we can’t really put a price tag on fun, right?

Answer: “Yes, we can… once we get the bill.” Source: (A. Goodenough, personal communication, February 24, 2018.)

So while Garrett and Morgan celebrated a holy matrimony, my parents experienced something different: “a hole-y matrimo-knee.” Guess which pair left as a happy couple:

… Just as it was meant to be! It was their day. It was their love story. It was perfect. And it was an honor to take part in it.

Congrats, Morgan & Garrett! I hope I did you proud!

The bad news?
Our trip came to a tragic end: It was cold and dark and Wisconsin when we arrived home.

The good news?
All went well in order to get there. We actually got to sit together on the plane – in the same row AND same side of the aisle! Thanks to Mom teaching me the basics of seat identification, I was able to find our assigned row by counting out loud as I walked by each one. Everybody on the plane thought it was soooo cute… I got high-fives just for knowing how to count and fist-bumps for getting closer to my seat. (Some people are easily impressed that I can count to 28, I guess.) Plus, Genesee and I were stellar travelers once again, and I’m sure it had nothing to do with us being sleepyheads for almost the entire flight. (Because, you know, vacationing is hard work!)

But, for the short time I was awake, Mom and I looked for Nana Florence in the clouds, like we always do. I think that’s why Mom enjoys this particular vacation spot… because the Moon Palace remembers our family stories of togetherness, of spirits who were once among the living, and of nuptials that foundationally created her pride and joy: me & G.

Fortunately, we find these stories at home, too. New chapters, perhaps, but they continually intertwine with the past and honor the passed. Our story unfolds with much soul…