NC meets SD: William: Five Years!

Five. Halfway to ten (double digits!). Kindergarten in the fall. Full on kid through and through. When did all of that happen?!? (And yes, I know this is late, and I have other posts waiting to be published, but I'm trying to get them done in chronological order. And the birthday of my sweet five year old comes first).

Summer fun at the lake!

I've decided to start a new birthday tradition--while simultaneously simplifying my birthday posts (in theory at least!). I created a little birthday interview to ask the boys each year (starting at five), so I'm going to share William's answers on here. I've got a few other tidbits to share as well, but there's honestly so much I could say that I couldn't even begin to cover it all, so I'm not even going to try.

Turns out the boys think our sofa in the basement is a trampoline. Turns out we don't really care that much

William's Birthday Interview
Age: 5
Height: 3 feet 5 inches
Weight: 40 pounds 2 ounces

What is your favorite color? Blue (No surprise there)
What is your favorite animal? Giraffe (This one was news to me!)
What is your favorite book? Curious George Rides a Bike (He got that story new for his birthday, so naturally it immediately became his favorite)
What is your favorite song? Polly Wolly Doodle (Super random. It's in a songbook that we sing out of for bedtime songs, but I honestly think I've only sang it twice)
What is your favorite sport? Football and Basketball (I was expecting golf, but it's been months since he's played golf so I'm not surprised that the other two--which he plays indoors with Garrett all the time--are foremost in his mind)

At the driving range last summer

What is your favorite thing to do with Mom? Play chess (Long story short, but Darrell has a chess app on his phone that he lets William goof around on occasionally and now the kid is obsessed with chess)
What is your favorite thing to do with Dad? Play Giant Memory (This was a birthday gift Garrett got--and I'm not actually sure he's ever played it with Darrell. Whatever)
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Go around the block (Again, one of the few things we've been able to do outside lately, so no surprise that it's his current favorite)

Playing outside at Falls Park

Where is your favorite place to go? The Pavilion
What is your favorite fruit? Blueberries
What is your favorite vegetable? Carrots and radishes (Don't judge him on the radishes. We roast them up and they are pretty darn fantastic)
What is your favorite cereal? Marshmallow Treasures and Cookie Crisp
What is your favorite treat? Cake
What is your favorite meal? Enchiladas and Beer Cheese Soup (Are you noticing that he's having a hard time just picking one favorite of things? He's my kid for sure)
What makes you happy? Playing with trains (Yes. Yes. 100% yes)

Happy Boy at a Model Train Show

What makes you sad? Not playing with someone else (A surprising answer from a kid who is very introverted and shy)
Who are your best friends? Kason
What do you want to be when you grow up? A basketball player
What was your favorite part about last year? Doing my sticker book (Apparently that was ten dollars that was really well spent!)

Proof. He loved that sticker book. And he now begs Garrett on a regular basis to let him work on his

What is one thing you want to do this year? Go to the bowling alley (Already in the works for next week!)
(And although this isn't "officially" a question on the interview--because although it's kind of cute to reflect on now but probably not so much when he's thirteen--I want to note for my own sake that at bedtime he still always takes his blue blanket, Sammy his stuffed black lab puppy, and a water to bed. So we'll see when--and how--that changes)

So that's a little bit of a summary of William in his own words--now, a few of mine:

William will not last in the Midwest any longer than he has to. Seriously. On the radio one morning--after a few fresh inches of snow fell--the DJs were talking about how beautiful it was outside. William asked me--very seriously--"Mommy, why are they saying it's beautiful outside? It's only beautiful when there are leaves on the trees, and there aren't any leaves on the trees right now, only snow. That's not beautiful." Wait until he learns there are places he could live where that is a reality. Mind=blown.

If you zoom in on the picture you'll see just how massive his smile is. This kid was in heaven at the beach last summer

However, he does have quite a bit of separation anxiety. I can only hope that maybe that will keep him close to me when he grows up. Because right now, when he has to go somewhere for a day (or even half a day!) that isn't with Mommy--or another family member that he is super comfortable with--he usually cries. So yeah--kindergarten will be fun this fall.

See that face? He knows that once he gets on that bus he will be away from Mommy for four hours. But he can also tell that Mommy is super excited about his going to this camp, so he's trying to be excited. Even though he's not. Thankfully, by the end of the two weeks, he was much more okay with going to camp (and even smiling in a few of the pictures the camp posted to the parent website!)

Additionally, he is not the best at participating in group things (day camp, Sunday school, library story times, etc). Even if it is a song he knows (like "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes"), he usually won't sing along or do the actions in a group setting. However, even if he doesn't participate, you best believe he's still paying attention: at a library story time a few months ago they did an activity with tapping out the syllables of words, and even though he didn't participate at all at the library, at home a few days later he was sitting with a story and clapping out the syllables in the words. So he's still learning, which I guess is the ultimate goal. And slowly but surely repeated exposure is helping as well--he's been in Sunday School since the September after he was three (so a year and a half ago), and finally (finally!) at the Christmas program this past year he actually sang AND did the actions!

Swimming lessons without Mom or Dad was also a big step, but after a few weeks he was doing much better interacting with the other kids and following the directions of the instructor

One of the more frustrating things from the past year is that William started to show some pickiness toward food. We'd been warned this was coming, but we had a kid who willingly eats beets and Brussels sprouts, so we thought maybe we'd miss that phase. The good news is that he still eats pretty much everything he used to (including the "weird" stuff), but he just doesn't like trying new recipes. One of the first things he asks at dinner if it is an unfamiliar recipe is "Have we had this before?" So we're coaching him through that and slowly working on being more open to change. Fun times.

One thing he always wants to eat? Donuts

I know I commented on this last year, but William is a wonderful brother. I honestly don't think he even remembers not having brothers, and I think that is part of the reason he is so great with them. Sometimes he is a little bi-polar in his interactions with Garrett, though; when it comes to matters of opinion/making choices, he always wants Garrett to pick first so that he can pick the same thing as Garrett (he'll even change his request--such as switching to blueberries instead of raspberries--if that's what Garrett chooses). But when things are a little more "black and white", like when playing a game or doing a puzzle, it's William's way or the highway. Admittedly, William likes to the follow the instructions to the letter of the law, which probably isn't a terribly thing, but Garrett doesn't always get that concept--plus sometimes he like to make up his own rules--which we constantly have to remind William is perfectly okay as well.

Thankfully they can usually agree on trains. Although William usually has a much higher stamina for watching trains than Garrett does

His relationship with Connor is primarily based on laughter, which is awesome. Unlike Garrett, who tends to be a little smothering with Connor, William does a good job of respecting boundaries, and Connor loves him all the more for it. Sometimes it seems like all William has to do is look at Connor to get him to laugh, and this especially comes in handy when Connor is being fussy. I'm really excited to watch their relationship continue to develop.

Story time! (A train story, of course)

And now, just because I don't share nearly enough pictures on here throughout the year (maybe that's a good thing? Probably depends who you ask), here's a little bit of a photo dump.