I'm Gonna Eat You

Here's Drew working on his crawling skills.  It doesn't seem to bother him that his belly is too big to get off the ground.  He's almost got it figured out though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkFPLwq9ZqU

What every five year old needs...

a birthday party at the bowling alley,

an excessive cake by Mommy,

a wonderful O'Dad

a fabulous Mimi

two amazing Great Grandmothers, aka Granny and Nanny

pizza, friends, cousins, aunts, and uncles, a sweet Nana who stayed at home to take care of sick baby brother, arcade games and his favorite part.....

presents.

Five

Grant is five years old today.

It seems like it was just yesterday when we were bringing him home from the hospital.

and trying not to let him choke on Cheerios

and trying to interpret his jibberish.

or trying to get him go potty.

Now, he's a bona fide five year old.

Things that make him bona fide:

He has developed a silly self. He is entertaining us now instead of us entertaining him. Half of the time he speaks in a wacky or robotic voice. And the word "poop" makes him crack up in the most genuine laugh I've ever heard.

He no longer naps. And, most importantly, he can function without a nap. We've moved bedtime up to 8:00pm, and he's totally fine with it.

He asks analytical questions such as, what do our bones look like? Why do we sneeze? Why does the pond turn to ice? And, why do we have trees?

Things that make him unique:

He still refuses to pick his nose. He must be the ONLY five year old boy, no make that the ONLY five year old PERIOD who will not pick their nose. One might think that this is a positive trait. Most kids around this age can't keep their fingers out. I, on the other hand, just wish sometimes he would go to town so I wouldn't have to look at his crusty nose.

He has reverted back to preschool television including Backyardigans and Blue's Clues. Well, there wasn't much reverting. He never really made it past Dora and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Go figure. Drew loves this one, however, and I do too.

He stil says "scrow" instead of "throw". It probably doesn't help that Danny and I used to think it was cute so we would mimic him reinforcing the issue.  Now we've got some phonics to work on. No big deal. Oh, and, by the way, it's still cute.

He's an amazing big brother. There's hardly a day that goes by that he doesn't tell Drew that he loves him. Just the other day I heard him talking to Drew. "I just love you Drew. I want you to stay here forever."

I know.  My heart melted too.

One of his favorite things to do is to make Drew laugh. And he can often tell when mommy is trying to finish the task at hand like fix a bottle or scrow the clothes in the dryer. If he hears Drew start to fuss or cry he will sprint into the room and let the entertaining begin.

Most importantly he's an amazing little boy.  I'm sure all most parents feel this way about their children.  I simply love the chance to experience this feeling. 

Here's a video that recaps many of the above observations.   Disclaimer:  I did not in anyway encourage Grant in his decision for what he wants to be when he grows up.  I think he got the idea from the paleontologist kit I got him for his birthday.  We were digging out bones just before this video was made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emXPlQPkF0c

Four Christmases No More

I've had trouble trying to come with a theme or inspiration for my Christmas post. In looking back, I've thought there was nothing really special or significant that happened over our holiday-- except that EVERYTHING was special and significant.

1. It was Drew's last first Christmas. That's definitely a once in a lifetime experience.

2. Grant was at the perfect age to experience the magic of the holiday. His only request for Santa this year was some measly dinosaurs. But Santa delivered that and more. And seeing Grant's expression when he realized he got a air hockey table was priceless.

3. We stayed home on Christmas day for the first time EVER. Up until recently, Danny and I were like Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon making our Four Christmases rounds. And one year we even added a sub-freezing Titan's game in there. This year we stayed in our pajamas all morning, enjoyed opening presents at our leisure, made ham and cheese omelets with toast, and hosted no less than 38 family members at our house for lunch. Yes, THIRTY-EIGHT. It was totally worth it.

4. I got a Flip Video camera. Danny surprised me with this incredible piece of technology that may change this ordinary scrapblog into a state of the art videoblog. Well, I wish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7afTiZJWwA

The weekend before Christmas we were all laid up in bed with a stomach bug and Drew with serum sickness to boot. It was not a pretty sight. It's hard enough to be sick, but to be sick and to take care of two sick children at the same time is just downright awful.

Just a few days after we recovered, I learned that my dear friend's 2 & 1/2 year old niece was diagnosed with cancer. Hearing the news made our sick weekend look like a tiny blip on the radar as compared to their journey. They were and are constantly on my mind.

And that brings me to #5.

5. I am utterly thankful this Christmas for many, many things. We have our health. We have a warm house, jobs, and food in the pantry. We have our parents and siblings. We have many grandparents and as #3 can attest, we have many (MANY) aunts, uncles and cousins.

All making this a very special and significant Christmas.