Five Years Old

My oh my, how is it that he's five!?

I love this kid to pieces.  From his awesome hugs and kisses in the morning to his constant requests to "throw a ball", "watch american football" or "play baseball at the park."

K has a ton of energy and prefers to be on the go unless he's in front of an iPad which he would be every.hour.of.the.day if we let him.  When we're out and about, he wants to play I Spy or asks, "can we do plusses?" which means give him math problems to solve. He's quick with numbers and delights in finding repeating patterns.

At soccer each Sunday, he is joyful, enthusiastic and runs full out for 2 hours never seeming to tire.  He plays hard and goes to sleep without any fuss, his nighttime routing including a book, blow kisses and getting tucked under his cozy blue baby blanket.  Sometimes he even asks if he can go to bed.

A few of his favorites:

This year he seems to really have matured, going to school full time and growing more and more confident with his language skills.  While there are still a few mush-mouth syllables, we can understand nearly everything he's saying and when he gets on a roll he doesn't stop.  He's a sweet kid who can be overly sensitive at times.  He gets frustrated when he can't get a word in (big sis is quite the talker) or when he tries something new and isn't good at it right away.  Music definitely speaks to him and he starts grooving whenever he hears a song.  He likes to sing; sometimes I hear him singing alone in his room and this past month he and c have been belting out christmas carols on our walks ("once in royal david's city" being the favorite) but he will not sing for me on camera no matter how hard I try.

He has perfected the pouty, "I'm mad at you" look and isn't afraid to use it. I really have to try hard not to laugh.

While it makes me sad to see his toddler years behind him, K is really fun to hang out with these days and you never know what's going to come out of his mouth.  Yesterday he told me I was "double-fired" (come to find out that he doesn't know what being fired means).  Luckily I didn't take it personally and to C's relief showed up for mommy duty the next day.

Since K's birthday is so close to Christmas we always struggle with his party.  J & I can never seem to get our act together to have it early, everyone is away on his birthday, and by the time January comes along we're all partied out.  I know one day we will hear all about how he's been gypped.  But for now, he seemed perfectly content to have a family bowling outing to celebrate.  On his birthday, we took a trip out to Brooklyn Bowl, a snazzy bar/restaurant/bowling alley in east London. After bowling we ate ribs and listened to American tunes like "sweet home alabama". A good time was had by all.

K was very specific with his birthday cake ask this year.  He wanted a cake with sprinkles, a number 5 candle and a strawberry smile.  He was not disappointed.

Happy 5th Birthday, K!!  We love you lots and hope you have a fantastic year ahead.