Five Years Old

Our boy has had a great fifth year of life.   So much growing up, getting bigger, expanding his independence - it's been so wonderful (and challenging) to see him grow into his own.  

Newities of this past year:  Reading, writing, and arithmetic! Pre-K,   ;)  

Yes, this year has been another great year of learning for Ace.  He really has come into his own in understanding and writing.   This past Christmas he took the time to copy out words from the Toys R Us catalog to create his first Christmas Wish List and practice his writing skills then.   He's getting very good at writing his full name (quite the feat!) he writes whole stories on his own by sounding out how he things the word should be written - so of course there are words that aren't spelled correctly, but he's doing it 100% on his own and loves to do it.   He recently read an early reader (level 1) book that had 76 pages and he read it start to finish over 45 minutes.    Ace can count to 100 with ease and in fact has written them out as well.     He's so intuitive and his vocabulary quite expansive.

Ace loves his video games - often on MANY mornings it's the first thing he asks to do.   He practices and gets so excited when he accomplishes a new level or beats a boss that was previously an impossible feat.   It's so fun to see his joy and while mommy doesn't share in this enjoyment of video games -he and his dad bond over it quite nicely and love to play together.      He and his dad still love to go on walks and collect a walk rock each time they go. 

Ace found many friends in Pre-K this year and along with his sister made some great friendships and had many playdates to parks and outings with all of them.  It was fun to watch him make friends and desire to spend time with them and seek out opportunities to do so.    He's had the early heartache of saying goodbye to friends that have had to move away and while he's still young already has felt the impact of missing someone.    He lit up when his good friend Lu (who moved away at the end of June) drew him a picture and mailed it to him for his birthday. 

Ace and Mae continue to navigate through life as siblings and most of the time he's a wonderful big brother.  He grows impatient at times with her pestering and he has had a real wild-hair for antagonizing her.    He pushes her buttons - especially in the car - to be 'right' or to get her to see the 'truth' or whatever it may be.  We constantly are trying to tell him that you can't change everyone's mind and that you just have to let things go sometimes when they don't want to see truth, reason, or your opinion.    He doesn't often see it that way. 

Four was challenging in many ways.  He often was mouthy, talking back, and wanting to do his own thing in his own time and not always listen - but he still has that deep seeded desire to please others and wanting to do what is right, so while it was a more challenging year it was still quite rewarding.  

Ace had swim lessons the whole month of July and was a fish!  He loved them!  He learned to actually swim a short distance, regained his knowledge about back floating and overall just had a lot of fun and had no fear of water, putting his face in it or any hesitation to hop right in.   Although he was a good rule follower and always obeyed instructions! 

Sleep for Ace was again great - he occasionally would have a nightmare about "a noise" that would awaken him and scare him.  Sometimes he was simply wanting extra attention and seeking to come into our room on the rare occasion, but overall he was a great kid that slept through the night.   He loves bedtime and very often takes the time to spend a lengthy time talking to his dad and getting quite philosophical with him at those times.  It is definitely a special time for those two. 

Ace loves Jesus and very much wants to know more about him, to understand him and is quick to inform his sister that "Everything belongs to Jesus!" (she doesn't quite agree yet and thus the battle of YESSSS and NOOOO takes place often on this sticking point.)    He still more often than not wants us to pray and he listen but he loves to read the Bible, do devotions and hear more about God.  He loved going to VBS and learning about Jesus.   I took his friend Em with me in the car to and from and after one of the days I asked them what was your favorite part  - Em responded "I liked hearing about Satan"  and Ace quickly said "Em, I think you missed the point."    haha  he's witty, blunt, and often a step ahead in some areas.

Eating for Ace is a standard 4 year old feat - sometimes he eats more than mommy and other days it's a painful drawn out repetitive 'eat your food' type of event.    He doesn't like spicy food and generally will eat anything else. 

Favorites of Ace in year four - still loved the song Stronger by Kelly Clarkson and was always excited for it to come on.   He loves to read stories, watch shows on Netflix, play on the xbox, run around at the park and go to Em's house at every available opportunity he can.   He is always seeking something fun to do and asks to do school.   He's dabbled in some addition and subtraction and has a pretty good grasp on the general idea of adding and subtracting - which for 4 is impressive.  I've introduced him to money and what they are and he loves to learn new things about the planets, geography and about our presidents.   He does have this desire to not fail and as a result sometimes it means he won't try in fear of failure, but as we're aware of it we find ways to work through it. 

Ace is a kind hearted and super thoughtful kid who often says thank you without prompting multiple times after we've done something for him.  He seeks out flowers to pick for me any chance he can and he loves to do things for others than he thinks would make them happy.    He loves to spend time with all his grandparents and see or talk to them whenever he can.    He adores his Uncle Kai and Auntie and generally wants to be with family.      We love him and can't wait to see what five will bring as we embark on this journey into kindergarten and beyond!    We love you, Bear!

Interview at Age 5:

1. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE T. V. SHOW? Wild Kratts

2. WHAT DID YOU HAVE FOR BREAKFAST?  (Skipped this question as we were still in bed and had yet to have breakfast and I wanted him to focus and finish... mentioning breakfast would have not worked in my favor.)

3. WHAT IS YOUR MIDDLE NAME? Yep got it right!  ;)

4. FAVORITE FOOD? Cinnomon Spice [Cereal]  (Mae's favorite food is 'cake' brother asked what her favorite healthy food was and she answered peanut butter and jelly... no REALLY healthy?)

5. WHAT FOOD DO YOU DISLIKE? The food that I dislike is Macaroni and Cheese without hotdogs.. kind of.

6. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?  Every color.

7. FAVORITE LUNCH?  That kind of stuff that has turkey with the cheese and the English muffin.

8. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO? My favorite thing to do is usually... to... um... play outside usually.

9. IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD ON VACATION, WHERE WOULD YOU GO? I would go to California!

10. FAVORITE SPORT? Soccer.

11. WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY? August 24th!!!!!

12. ARE YOU A MORNING PERSON OR A NIGHT PERSON? A night person... what do you mean a night person or a morning person?? 

13. PETS: Yah, Pixel.

14. ANY NEW AND EXCITING NEWS YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH US?   I'm five years old now.

15. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP ? I think a fireman! (Why?) Actually someone who works at ____ (we don't disclose that information on the blog, but he got it right)  like dad.
16. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CANDY? Maybe a lollipop or something... or maybe actually every candy is my favorite candy. 

17. WHERE IS THE FURTHEST YOU'VE EVER BEEN FROM HOME? Mississippi!  That's pretty far, mom... Right? (Yes.)

18. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK? The King and His Six Friends  (Second year running with this answer. He and his dad do read this one together.)

19. WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?  Once that I got one of the boats in one shot (Um what do you mean?)  Like in Battleship - I sunk the boat in one turn.  (Oh exciting!)

20. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE?  Maybe Cars.  I like the music from ... I like some of the songs come on the radio usually.

21. WHICH CAME FIRST, THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG? EGG!  (Why do you think that?)  Because chickens start out... baby chickens start out as eggs first.  What do you mean the chicken or the egg first?