An interview with a 5 year old

At 5 years old Rowen...

• loves to play pretend anything- doctor, daddy, zoo keeper, race car driver, dinosaurs, chef, lion, superman, veterinarian,
• loves to write books, lists, letters, notes and has excellent phonemic awareness- almost always giving every sound a corresponding letter at this point
• can write several sight words on his own
• can read several sight words
• can read many other words in stories I read to him just by knowing the beginning sound and thinking about what would make sense 
• is reading many books on his own but becomes pretty frustrated if the words don't come really easy; however, he is a bit of a perfectionist :).
• is VERY excited to be a reader!
• is becoming a swimmer (very close to swimming independently), takes private lessons at the YMCA; jumps in on his own, goes under water easily/comfortably, "dives" underwater for his "dive toys" and touches the bottom of the pool to get them, swims to me from the pool wall for about 10-12 feet on his own then back to the wall on his own
• loves preschool, his teacher, and his school friends; they love him back!
• enjoys having friends over to play (Cooper and Ally are the friends we have over to play the most these days but he has been invited to play dates and we have had a few other friends from school over a few times this school year)
• still tells us that he will never move away from mommy and daddy, in fact he becomes very emotional if we talk about how someday he will be all grown up and have a house and family of his own
• has "kids" of his own- these are his stuffed animals; his family grows each week it seems with a new baby being born frequently; he has given each one a name and an age; they all sleep with him at night; Ro is sure to tuck them all in; he often tells the oldest kid to watch the others while we are gone; brings his youngest (the baby bear wrapped up in his "blue baby" in the photo below) with us when we go to the store, to Papa and Grammy's house, Gigi's house, etc.
• gets very rambunctious sometimes, jumping off the furniture, running around the house nonstop at times, wrestles with anyone who is willing, has to be told often to not jump on the couch/jump from one piece of furniture to another
• likes to wear only his underwear around the house
• has a great sense of humor; he just gets stuff that we wouldn't expect a 5 year old to understand the humor of
• LOVES his little brother fiercely!  Very protective of him, gives him lots of hugs each day, likes to play with Pax, misses him when he has been gone at school, play wrestles with Pax very appropriately (and on the other hand can be a bit rough with Pax at times when Ro has lots of pent up energy just dying to get out).
•  is registered for full time Kindergarten starting in the Fall of 2013 and he can't wait!
• still gives me lots of hugs each day but the kisses are not as frequent
• Weighs 45 lbs and is 46 inches tall, wears a size 11 1/2 shoe, size 5 pants or xs boys pants, size 5 or 6 shirts or xs boys
• And there is sooooo much more! 

Rowen's doctor clinic is "free". However his eye clinic is not free. Here Rowen is giving Daddy a check up.

This is the "open" and "closed" signs he made for the clinic door.

Rowen's Aunt Nina and Uncle Chris gave him this Fur Real baby bear for his birthday. Rowen LOVES this bear. It moves, opens and closes its eyes, makes cute little baby bear sounds, and snores when it sleeps. Rowen takes very good care of his "Honey Bear Honey Buns".

I love this boy! He is so kind, gentle and nurturing.

1) What is your favorite color?

Red

2) What is your favorite toy?

Liger

3) What is your favorite fruit?

Strawberries

4) What is your favorite TV show?

Imagination Movers

5) What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?

Chips and salsa, cheese and crackers

6) What is your favorite thing to wear?

Superman costume

7) What is your favorite game?

Duck duck goose

8) What is your favorite snack?

raspberries

9) What is your favorite animal?

liger

10) What is your favorite song?

Magic (from Cars 2)

11) What is your favorite book?

Superman comics and Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Williams

12) What is your favorite cereal?

I don’t have one

13) What do you like to do outside?

Swing on the swings, ride my bike

14) What is your favorite drink?

Chocolate milk

15) What is your favorite holiday?

Easter

16) What do you like to take to bed with you at night?

My kids (Rowen has 11 kids! All stuffed animals of course J. He takes very good care of them.)

17) What is your favorite breakfast?

Waffles with peanut butter and chocolate chips on top

18) What do you want to be when you grow up?

A zoo keeper

19) Do you like being 5?

Yes!

20) What do you like about being 5 the most?

I can swim!

21) What is your favorite thing to do?

Play with Cooper!

Pax at 18 Months

He is 1 1/2 years old! This little sweet heart of ours keeps us on our toes and sure makes us happy!

At 18 months old Paxton... 

• is saying lots of new words in addition to the old ones. Most recently... "cool", "oh boy", thank you sounds like "tay too", please sounds like "peas", said "pie dish" as clear as day recently, "go go" when playing with cars/trucks, "Co Co" for Racoco, said "tickle tickle" recently when he was tickling with Grammy, "nigh night"with the t on the last night clearly enunciated, "Papa", "baba" for bottle, "Nana", and of course "mama" and "dada" but he says "MA!" often to get my attention :).
• says "Hey!" or "Hi!" when he walks into a room or greets me in the bathroom :); this is particularly sweet because it pretty much sums up Pax- happy and easy going for the most part.
• says "Roro" and looks around the house when Rowen is at school
• loves books still. His favorite books right now are Wheels on The Bus and Old McDonald. We MUST read books before nap and bed time OR ELSE :(.
• loves to have his shoes on. Pax brings me his shoes and points to his feet.
• still LOVES to be outside any chance he can get. Seriously, this kid is so into being outside. He could be outside all day long if I let him. He pretty much has a temper tantrum every single time it is time to come inside. 
• hums along with me while I hum when rocking him to sleep for nap or bed time.
• no new teeth have come in but his one year molars have just continued to work their way down this past month
•  knows how to be silly and can sure be a ham (as you can see from the photos above).
• says "dada" when he walks into our office/gym even when daddy isn't home.
• LOVES cars! He hasn't been introduced to CARS yet but he loves all of the hot wheels cars we have out. I am sure once he truly discovers Lightning McQueen it will be all about him so I cam putting that off for awhile :). Been there, done that and it was fun but we are in no hurry to return to Radiator Springs every day! 
• Lines his cars up in nice straight rows, races them off the couch, chairs, bed, etc
• loves ice cream! And not much else... well, he eats but he doesn't seem to be crazy about anything in paticular. Pax mostly eats yogurt, cheese, bananas, strawberries, oranges, chicken, mac and cheese, Ritz crackers, pirates booty, 
• continues to have a great sense of humor! He gets how to be silly, how to flirt, how to tease.
• loves the ipad app, ABC Little Animal Explorers
• takes a 2-2 1/2 sometimes 3 hour nap each day and sleeps from about 7:45 p.m. to about 7:00 a.m. if we are lucky. Pax thinks getting up at 5 a.m. ready to hit the toys is no big deal. Mom and dad disagree BIG TIME! But he sleeps all night unless sick or teething badly so we can't complain too much.
• LOVES to dance! He has some pretty cute moves. Recently the boys have been dancing to The Harlem Shake- pretty hilarious!
• goes to music class with mommy every Monday. He loves every minute of it.
• got his first hair cut while 18 months old-towards the very end of the month.
• likes to play "hide and seek" with Rowen. He thinks this is so funny!
• laughs/giggles out loud at "CoCo" every day. He thinks she is very entertaining. He also sits on her and tries to control her but he sure does love her.

Paxton at 17 months

• Look at that wild hair! I love Pax's hair. It truly has a mind of its own! 
• Says RoRo, mama, dada, papa, something like "mama" for Grammy, yes, no, eyes, up, down, hot, and I am sure there are a few more that I can't think of right now
• He really needs words for many more things because he screams for lots of things and gets very frustrated. I am sure the words are in there he just hasn't figured out how to make them come out yet :).
• Makes all sorts of "boy sounds"- flying sounds, choo choo, and car noises are the favorites right now.
• Wearing mostly 18 month and 18-24 month clothing
• Barks like a dog, tries to moo, can meow like a cat, tries many other animal noises but they come out mostly like grunts :).
• LOVES bath time still. Tries to blow bubbles like Rowen does.
• Loves to climb anything he possibly can.
• Brushes his teeth every day ;).
• Those 4 molars are all the way through now. We have had a little break in the teething department. I am dreading the next 4:(.
• Spontaneously gives Rowen hugs throughout the day. Rowen loves this of course.
• Continues to give us all kisses. Mostly they are little sweet kisses on the mouth, shoulder, tummy, leg but some are pretty wet. In fact Daddy got a big open mouth kiss on Valentine's Day from Pax. What a sweet gift don't you think?

playing in the snow

We have had such a great time playing in the snow this winter. I will not miss it once it finally goes away but we do try to make the most of it with sledding, snowman building, and skiing.

 Most of our snow play time has been spent on the golf course behind Papa and Grammy's house. The hills were perfect for both boys this year. There are also several dirt mounds covered in snow next to my parent's house that we spent lots of time climbing up, digging through, and sliding down.

Grammy and Papa participated in most of our snow play this year of course. They are always up for any type of fun with the boys and the boys benefit from it so much. They have taken Rowen out snowshoeing and sledding a few times without the rest of us. Rowen loves this special time with his Grammy and Papa.

I lost several videos when my phone crashed that I took of my parents and the boys sledding on the golf course hills one very sunny January day. I am very sad about that but the memories will certainly last :).

Skiing 2013

This has been such an exciting year of skiing for Rowen. Last year he enjoyed it but this year he LOVES it! We are so excited that he is loving it because skiing is something we plan to do as a family for years to come! This mama plans to ski with her boys for as long as they will let me :).

 Once again Papa worked with Rowen our first day up at the mountain this year and from that point on Ro has just taken off- literally! Right down the mountain! Papa deserves a HUGE thanks for teaching Ro how to do such a fun, life long sport. Just this past Saturday Papa, Ro, and I got off the bunny hill and went further up the mountain. It was super foggy but Rowen managed it with no problem at all!

Video of Rowen skiing this past Saturday- February 16, 2013 
Video of Ro skiing with Daddy.

 

Daddy decided to try out skiing this year instead of boarding so that he could help out with Rowen more. However, we realized after Rowen had figured out how to get on and off the lift with ease that Eric really doesn't need to ski. Eric and I took Rowen up to the mountain one day a few weekends back and we had such a fun time skiing together all afternoon.

Papa, Mama, and Rowen getting ready to go :)

 Mama and Pax.

Grammy and Pax joined us one afternoon when we thought the weather was going to be beautiful. It turned out super foggy and cold but of course Grammy made the best of it, playing with Pax in the snow, lodge, and car.

 About to take off!

 Up the lift with Papa.

 And of course we have to take a break for some chilli fries (this has become a very unhealthy tradition) in the lodge. Paxton loved running around the lodge :).

My little ski buddy! I am so proud of this boy!

Pax at 16 months

• Weight: 25 lbs 10 oz 60%     Height: 32 in 84%
• Saying "Hi" more and more- pretty cute when daddy gets home and says "hi Pax!" and Pax replies, "HI!"
• Says- up, eyes, light, all done, all gone, hot (points to the coffee maker and fire place when he says this)
• I am pretty sure he said "cookie" and "thank you" one time or it was a complete accident that it sounded like those words :)
• Tries to sing Happy Birthday song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (in fact last night Pax basically sung himself to sleep as I rocked him in his dark room; it was truly precious)
• Running! However, still pretty clumsy!
•  Loves the snow; would prefer to be outside to inside any day, any time :).
• Teething for Pax is HORRIBLE!!! I mean I would have never thought that teething could be this bad for this long. The poor little guy is constantly rubbing his gums and cheeks, runs a low grade fever, gets VERY congested and has a hard time sleeping due to this. I can't wait for all those teeth to come in so we can get our happy, easy going little boy back.
• His one year molars are all working their way in along with the eye teeth on the top and bottom.
• Got very sick at the end of his 16th month (maybe RSV). It was HORRIBLE! High fever for 4 days or so with a lingering fever for a few more, super congested, coughing, and teething on top of it all made for a very miserable baby boy :(.
• Still showing his stubborn side and quick temper.
• Gives us kisses.I especially love the kisses in the middle of the night. It lightens me up when I am grumpy about being awake (Pax's sleep was severely affected when he got sick. I think we are back on track for the most part now).
• Gives Rowen hugs.
• Loves to "wrestle" with Rowen. Rowen is so gentle!

Pax,
Oh how we love you so much! You are such a darling little guy. I can't get enough of your sparkly blue eyes and that toothy grin. Your hair is fabulous right now! Your wispy blonde curls melt my heart. You are the light of our lives my love.
Love, Mama

The magic of Christmas

I wanted to document a few of the things we did during the month of December. As all parents know, children make the holiday season so much more fun and meaningful. I love experiencing the joy and magic of the Christmas season through their eyes. Rowen is a very festive little boy. It is one of the many parts of him that I admire and adore. I hope he always has such a festive heart! It brings others so much happiness- mostly his mommy :).

We made a list of things we wanted to do during the month of December and we did pretty much all of them. However, I have photos of only a few of the things we did...

Played in the snow every chance we got. I am so glad we did as now the temps are so low and cold it is hard to get out there to play for very long. Rowen made at least 3 snowmen and went sledding 4 times on the golf course hills.

Just a few days before Christmas Eric and I took Rowen on the North Pole cruise in CDA. It was so fun to spend some special time with our biggest boy. After the cruise we went out to dinner- pizza and dessert. It was a blast hanging out together and watching Rowen's big brown eyes as we approached the North Pole and Santa called out his name (even if he did pronounce it as Ro-hen :)). Santa wrote Rowen a letter that night that Gingerbread (our Elf on the shelf- more on him later) delivered to our house and we read the next morning. In the letter Santa said that he saw Rowen standing up on the top level of the boat and that he apologized for pronouncing his name incorrectly. Apparently, Santa had recently purchased new reading glasses but he couldn't find them that night so he had to use his old ones and he had a hard time reading some of the names. Rowen understood :).

Rowen was thrilled to meet Rudolph! He was wandering around in front of the pier where you board the boats.

Here we are about to approach the North Pole and Ro is soooo excited!

 

 Here you can see just a few of the lights behind us. It really is beautiful, we just didn't get very many photos.

We had a great time hosting our annual Christmas Brunch with the Donnellys and the Sackmanns. We are so fortunate to have such loving friends who are like family to us. After our delicious brunch (more like breakfast since we started pretty early!) the big kids went outside to play in the snow while the adults stayed inside with the little ones, drank coffee and had a chance to catch up a bit.

These three boys are getting so big!

And these three little ones are so darling! We can't get enough of them!

Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer was a big part of our Christmas fun last year so when I saw this at Costco I couldn't resist getting it for Rowen. When we unpacked the Christmas decorations over the Thanksgiving weekend Rowen found him hiding in a large bag. Oh what joy! Rudolph received lots and lots of love all month long from both boys. He slept on Rowen's bed every night and was a part of many games. He even got into some mischief with Gingerbread!

We went shopping at Santa's Express

located in the Crescent Building downtown. This is our 3rd year to do this with Rowen. I think it is a great way for him to shop for his little brother and this year he shopped for his new cousin Henry. While Rowen shopped Grammy took Pax on a walk and they found this little Santa. Pax was pretty amazed with him.

We visited Santa on December 1st at Staneks Nursery on the South Hill. Not only did we see Santa but we saw 2 of Santa's reindeer! They were resting up for their Christmas Eve flight.

One of the best things we did this Christmas season was welcome an Elf into our family. He arrived from the North Pole on the night before December 1st. When we woke up he was way up high on a shelf in our living room looking at a photograph of Rowen and Paxton. A book was left on one of the side tables. Rowen figured it out within about 2 hours of waking up. It was pretty funny to watch him discover the elf and the book- neither one had he ever seen before. We read the book together and then named our Elf. First Rowen wanted to name him Pepperoni but then quickly changed it it Gingerbread. Gingerbread brought so much fun to our house! Each morning Rowen would get up and go searching for him. Sometimes he was simply sitting on a shelf with one of Rowen's favorite toys but sometimes he was pretty precocious! The following are just a FEW of the things Gingerbread did during the month of December... he wrote a note to Ro and Pax on the bathroom mirror with mommy's lipstick!; he made snow angels in sugar on the kitchen counter; he decorated one of our Christmas trees with Rowen's underwear and left him a new pair of LION underwear!; he read Christmas books with all of our Christmas stuffed animals; he ate popcorn in the kitchen; he played with Rowen's legos; he turned a glass of milk green and ate lots of our yummy Christmas cookies; he left MANY letters to Rowen telling him about how he noticed all of the kind and caring things he was doing for others. On Christmas night Gingerbread went back to the North Pole but he promised to return again in December 2013. It was a bit emotional to say good bye to Gingerbread but we know he is doing important work with Santa at the North Pole and we will see him again before we know it.

Grammy came over a few days before Christmas to do our traditional gingerbread boy and gingerbread house baking and decoration. This year we didn't plan well for the gingerbread house but Grammy is always creative and suggested using peanut butter and graham crackers on a graham cracker box. It worked out perfectly. Rowen had a blast making his little gingerbread house. Next, we read one of our very favorite holiday stories, Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett , then we got to work making our own gingerbread boys- one for Ro and one for Pax. While the cookies baked, Rowen finished his gingerbread house and put it under the tree in hopes that his gingerbread boy would end up in it (part of the Gingerbread Baby story). When the timer went off on the oven we went to get our gingerbread cookies out; however, the gingerbread boys were missing! Rowen started looking for them immediately and noticed a trail of raisins leading up the stairs, into mommy and daddy's room, into our bathroom, and into our closet. When he reached the end of the trail there were no gingerbread boys to be found! So, he followed the trail backwards and ended up at his gingerbread house under the Christmas tree. Guess who was hiding in the house? Yep! Those cute little gingerbread boys were! Rowen was thrilled to find them in his gingerbread house but it didn't stop him from taking a big bite of his gingerbread boy right away :)!

At Rowen's music class the week before Christmas we celebrated the holiday season with his music class friends by eating treats together, singing some Christmas songs, playing a few games, and listening to each child sing a solo with the microphone and spot light. Rowen also got his "birthday bounces" at class that week.

Rowen singing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer- Kindermusik December 2012

The day after Christmas, Ro, Pax and I got a chance to visit with my BFFs and all of their adorable kiddos! Maddy has been in California for the past 7ish months so it was extra special to see her, Clara, and Hudson. The kids played so well together. I had a great time talking with Clara. She reminds me so much of her sweet hearted mama :). A few days later all the mamas went out to breakfast with a few of our other high school girl friends. It was really fun to catch up with everyone.

Here are all 8 kids! I think they are the cutest kids ever :).

 As I was trying to get us ready to leave I found Rowen playing with and giving Quinn of a hug. He just loves her. I am so curious to watch this relationship grow and change over the years :). .

Rowen also:

• made some paper ornaments with mommy using Rowen's feet and hand prints- and lots and lots of glitter :).
• made and decorated cookies with his cousins.
• went Christmas gift shopping with Grammy one afternoon and mommy another afternoon. He picked out such thoughtful gifts for his family members.
• read lots and lots and lots of our large collection of winter and Christmas stories while snuggled up with mommy or Grammy under a blanket on the couch or in bed.
• drank hot cocoa (or as Ro would prefer, luke warm chocolate milk).
• watched several Christmas movies with little brother and mommy and daddy.
• sang lots of Christmas songs in the car.
• listened to Christmas music in the car and in the house EVERY DAY of December leading up to Christmas Day.
• went on 3 Christmas Lights drives around our neighborhood while drinking hot cocoa (or luke warm chocolate milk :)).
• counted down to Christmas using our advent calendar.
• had many questions about the meaning of Christmas. It was nice to have these discussions with him this year, as he is getting older and better able to understand.

I promise you that Paxton was a part of all of this too despite his absence in the photos. But as you know he is still so little making it difficult for him to fully participate. I am already looking forward to this coming December's activities with my two little boys.