(Yep, 2 posts from me in 1 day! I'm caught up now!)
5 years ago, our lives were changed forever, with the birth of Kasen Vincent. I never imagined parenting would be this hard, fun, crazy, emotional... or that I could feel SO MUCH love for someone else. We have been very blessed to have God loan us such a special little boy! There are times we're not sure we'll make it through the day with him, but we do & we're all the better for it.
Kasen as a 5 year old is VERY talkative, energetic, emotional, smart, loving, & crazy fun. He's also VERY opinionated, argumentative, stubborn, and he is ALWAYS right, even when he's dead wrong. He has an amazing memory & a huge heart. He is great at math, enjoys science, can read - when he takes the time to, loves books & going to the library, and is finally getting to where he enjoys coloring - sometimes. He's a great big brother, who is always concerned about Graham crying & gives him about 100 kisses & hugs every day. He is still adjusting to his new role, and has some moments of jealously, but he's pretty content with new position in the family. Kasen loves to help with chores & will ask if there's anything we need him to help with. He gets a little too excited with some tasks though, so we have to be careful what we allow him to do. ;) He misses all of his friends in Dallas, but is adjusting well to our new house in a strange new town. He likes living in the city, instead of the suburbs, because everything is so close to the house!
We have decided to hold him back from kindergarten another year, as he is just not ready emotionally. He was recently diagnosed with ADHD & ODD, and we are hoping to get started with some good therapy soon, to help us all learn what we need to do to help him be the best him in spite of any silly diagnosis. Hopefully by this time next year we will all be ready to start getting prepared for him starting school. He's excited that he has another year to spend at home, and I think him having the chance to get so much time with me, finally, will be good for both of us.
Kasen keeps us laughing A LOT & he loves to be the center of attention. He loves watching America's Funniest Home Videos & rewinding the clips he finds the funniest. He also loves Ninjago, Wild Krats, Leap Frog, Super Why, and [unfortunately], Spongebob. Legos are his absolute favorite thing, with his Wii games coming in second. He loves to play in the water & in sand, and he prefers his scooter over his bike. His favorite colors are blue & green (and, he'd add, sometimes pink). His favorite foods are waffles w/peanut butter, Muenster and cheddar cheeses, and almost all fresh fruits/veggies.
I still can't believe he is FIVE. Wow, time flies!
Here's how he spent his birthday:
A rarity - he slept later than us! He walked into the living room to mommy with a camera. ha!
Allowing me to take a picture of him as a 5 year old.
Opening his present from Mim & Papa Wayne
"There's a wrapped box inside the box?!"
Lego Millennium Falcon - 1,254 pieces of Lego craziness.
After breakfast, he went to his playroom to finish building his Ninjago dragon ship.
This is him at his exact birthday (8:50am):
Then, we were off for a 1 mile walk around the neighborhood.
He had to stop & do push-ups. He's crazy like that!
Showing off our new house.
Then, he played his new Phineas & Ferb game for a while.
After lunch I took him to Target, for his annual picking of his own bday toy.
He chose new Bionicles (yes, I still call them that even though they've been Hero Factory for a while now).
After Target, I surprised him with a trip to a splash park.
Then, we came home & he got his bday present from us - a Darth Maul double-sided light saber.
He hung out with Graham while we got ready for dinner.
Dinner was at Clays - a restaurant & petting zoo in one. Yeah, weird, but it works.
Chatting with daddy.
His special bday dessert. He ate a little & then said "I don't think I can eat anymore, you can have the rest". He always knows his limits on desserts, thank goodness!
After dinner (and dessert), he fed the llama & some ponies.
BUT, the sandbox was a bigger hit. I couldn't get him to leave!
At home, he had to shower, again, and then he & daddy finished up the Ninjago dragon ship so that he could start on the Millennium Falcon.
I was too tired to stay up any longer, so this is the last I got of his bday. He stayed up with daddy until about 11. Party animals!
I can't wait to see what the next year will bring for our big boy. I hate that the days go so quickly, but I am anxious to see what he will do with his life. I guess that's the bittersweet-ness of motherhood. You want them to grow up & yet you don't. Even during the hardest of days, when I can't wait for him to be old enough to leave the nest, he's my baby & I don't want to let him go... Good thing we still have 13+ years to go, huh? ;)
