Little Man turns 5

"Being 5 doesn't feel any different than being 4.  Why don't I feel different?"  These are the words that Little Man confessed to me this afternoon.  He might not feel any different being 5 but I am having a hard time believing that my first born is already 5 years old.  I see the differences every day.  I can distinctly remember his first 12 hours.  I remember unwrapping his swaddling blanket and pouring over every inch of him.  I studied his perfect little fingers and toes.  When he was sleeping with me every night and I was exhausted I used to say "When he is 5, he won't be sleeping in my bed anymore so I should just enjoy this time" and when he I was potty training him I just told myself, he won't be in diapers when he is 5.  Now my baby boy is 5 and he is reading and going to kindergarten orientations and becoming an independent sweet soul.  I am not sure I am ready for all of this but he is ready.  He is very ready to be 5!

Peanut Turns 3

And he is really happy about it.....

Sweet Sentiments

After a family fun day of errands, parks, water play, barbeques and cake we finished up with movie night.  We watch The Curious George Movie (again).  It has actually been quite a while since we watched it and since Peanut is a bit older now I asked him what his favorite part was.  He told me it was the rocket ship.  Little Man was upset that I hadn't asked him about his favorite part.  So of course, I obliged and asked him to tell me about his favorite part.  Here is how the conversation went:

Little Man, tell me about your favorite part!
My favorite part is this.
Silence.  I thought he was being silly since the credits were rolling and I didn't want to engage in a conversation about how the credits were his favorite part.
You are supposed to say, "the movie?"
Ok, your favorite part was the movie?
No, not the movie, spending time with you.

It was so sweet, not just the sentiment but that he had clearly planned out how the conversation would go so that his he could express his sweet sentiments.  Someone knows exactly how to play up to Mama Bear. 

Shoe Shopping

I took my baby girl shoe shopping today!  It was so much fun and exactly as I had always imagined it would be.  She has easy feet to find shoes for but she is very clear on what she likes and doesn't like.  After dropping the boys off at school, we went to Marshalls.  I needed some sandals that would stay on her feet, be easy to get on and off and would go well with all of her spring and summer dresses.  Summer is coming early this year and all she had was sneakers.  We picked out 4 pairs of shoes and then went and sat on a bench. She was so chuffed with herself for getting to sit there like a big girl.  The first pair I put on her, she shook her head no said "all done" and tried to shake them off of her feet.  She did the same with the second pair.  The third got a big smile and she refused to take them off, even to pay for them.  So I put her up on the counter and for $12.99 she was rung up and purchased.  A bargain in my book and such a fun outing.  I am really looking forward to the mother/daughter times that we will get to have as she gets older. 

Update on yesterday:  Papa Bear has installed a keypad entry to the garage in case Peanut decides to lock us out again.

One of THOSE Days

This morning Peanut escaped into the garage and when he was coming back into the house he slipped on something and fell and hit his head on the concrete floor with a resounding thud.  It was a sickening sound according to Papa Bear.  We hugged him and got him an icepack while giving thanks for hard, thick skulls.  Peanut kept telling us that his "welt" hurt. 

When we were loading up the car to take Little Man to school, Sweet Pea wondered into the driveway.  I went to get her and saw a neighbor.  I stopped to say hi and my very social Little Man joined me.  Peanut took advantage of this time to climb into the front of the car and use the garage remote to close the door.  We were all stuck outside of the house while Peanut was happily playing in the car.  My neighbor kindly tried to break into my house while I tied to coax Peanut to push the button again.  The good news is that my house would be very hard to break into, the bad news was that my house was impossible to break in to.  After 15 minutes of pleading, Peanut finally re-opened the garage door.  He thought it was "so funny" and kept telling people at the school that he "locked mama out of garage".  Yes, yes he did. Twice.  I didn't learn my lesson and he did it again after dinner while we were all playing in the driveway and having smoothie popsicles. 

Little Man had an entire conversation with his imaginary friend at dinner complete with a secret handshake.  He told me that his favorite part of school was playing with Gaduleanet.  I really wish that I weren't paying for him to socialize with imaginary friends.  Peanut was so confused as he watched Little Man talking to an empty space and kept asking him "where Gaduleanet?".  It was an exercise Samuel Beckett style.

Sweet Pea started the day in a cute dress and ended up in sneakers and babylegs.  It was quite a sight but due to it being both spaghetti night and smoothie popsicle night - there was nothing I could do.  She skins both knees every night now that we play outside after dinner and she thinks she can run really fast and make it to the street before I catch her.  The good news is that she is tough and doesn't cry, the bad new is that Little Man gets so upset at the sight of her blood that he cries. 

Oh it was just one of THOSE days.

Real Life Superheroes

Yesterday, our rental car got stuck in mud chips in a very tight parking lot.  (Yeah, we aren't having the best car luck these days.)  We were trying to get out of our impossibly tiny parking spot and the car just started spinning wheels in the mud.  Papa Bear and I were trying everything we could and a wonderful man came over and asked if he could help.  He was a big bear of a man and stood at the front of the car and rocked it back and forth until it got traction.  Little Man was convinced that Superman came and pushed our car out of the mud because only Superman can lift cars.  So then today at the park there was a dad wearing a superman shirt and Little Man went over to him and asked him if he was the Superman that picked up our car and moved it.  He might not get the exact name of the superhero right, but he sure does know how to recognize a hero when he sees one.  It isn't often that we get rescued by actual heroes, but when we do, it is fine with me if Little Man adds a bit of super to the story.

Imaginary Superhero Friends

Little Man has an imaginary friend.  Her name is Gaduleanet and she is a superhero who lives at our house or at the school and goes just about everywhere with him.  He shares this wonderful imaginary superhero friend with his best friend at school, Sebastian. They made her up together and even came up with the name together.  According to Sebastian, she is actually a he and went to Philadelphia with him.  According to Little Man, he is a she and lives in his room.  Little Man talks about her so much that Papa Bear actually thought she was a student in Little Man's preschool class.

 "Gauduleanet helps people and takes care of them.  She helps whales by getting them back in the water if they are stuck and she helps us because if a bad guy tries to get her she changes herself into a statue to fool the bad guys.  She lives on the playground at the school most of the time but makes frequent visits to our house.  She also helps them if they get lost in the forest, she always helps them find the way back."

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