Theo at Five

So I'm wondering when I'll stop doing these updates.  My oldest is five!  Which means that after I update it soon, there will be very little blank space left in his baby book (first school days, I'm saving for kindergarten, though I could fill the page using pre-school information).  It actually makes me sad to think I'll close his book soon and won't open it up anymore except maybe to compare his crazy weight and height statistics to other kids.  Speaking of which, he's definitely the tallest and most solid kid in his class (despite being a good half year younger than some), and is up to about 44 inches tall and wears size 1 shoes.

At five, Theo is definitely a routine based kid.  Every morning he gets up on his own (though he seems to be sleeping in more and more lately), asks what kind of day it is (school, day off, church, or delay or snow day)  gets dressed on his own (I hope he's not in all orange each time I hear him come down the steps), watches Wild Kratts, and then makes toast for breakfast. Most days he'll feed the dog too, and then we're off to school.  After school, we normally have lunch and story time (nap time for Eli), and then Theo is free to draw, play duplos, build elaborate train tracks, spend a little time on pbskids.org, or do other art activities without his little brother.  He has always been so good at independent play, that I've never really had to direct him to much in what he does.  But by four or five o'clock he's normally had enough play and starts "exercising", by running in circles.  He definitely does better in the warm weather when he can go to the playground, swim lessons, or soccer and get some energy out.  We're planning to start him in t-ball this spring.  After dinner, he picks out his own pajamas, brushes his teeth (most the time), and then proceeds to figure out how many more stories he can get his dad to read him at bedtime.  He says several prayers at bedtime depending on what's on his mind, and even learned the Lord's Prayer fairly quickly after reciting each night for a couple weeks.

He's really into good guys and bad guys right now.  These are his "falcon claws" he uses to defend himself and Eli.

Theo is a good big brother for the most part, and the boys are finally playing together a lot more than just playing separately.  Eli loves pretty much everything Theo does, and spends a lot of time learning from watching him.  They love bonding over early morning tv shows, movies, and reading train books at bed time.  Theo prayed for a baby sister (or just a baby) for a few months, and was very excited at the doctor's office when he found out there was indeed a baby coming to join our family.  I'm hoping Theodore's personality is not finished evolving yet, because there's still a lot of crying and disobedience there (way more than his "terrible two" brother).  I think it's his way of struggling with independence from me.  And as bad as it is now, I can only imagine how it will be as a teenager.  But there are also a lot of traits we hope he keeps:  he is still very friendly, talkative, and curious.  He is a fierce defender of those he loves.  He shows determination in his focus finishing art projects, lego instructions, or massive duplo creations.  He is proud of his accomplishments.  He is a born leader (or he is just bossy).  And he understands love.

A picture each month he was four.

As he turns five, we look forward to a year learning to read, going off to school on his own, and helping out with a second little sibling.  And hopefully less power struggles with mama.