Will @ 5 Years

I can't believe I have a 5 year old.  That seems so much older than 4.  A 4 year old is a preschooler - a 5 year old is a "grade schooler".  Wow.  I'm so not ready. 

We've made many transitions with Will this year.  He's no longer wearing clothes in "toddler" sizes.  He's no longer wearing shoes with velcro.  He got glasses.  He's becoming more independent.  Sigghhhhh.... my first baby is growing up.

Will is really growing by leaps and bounds.  I'm not sure how tall he is or how much he weighs.  I don't own a scale and I avoid the doctor's office like the plague.  He wears size 5 pants and size 5/6 shirts.  He wears a size 13 shoe.

This time last year, I had to distract him to eat.  Now I can't get him full.  He wants to eat all.day.long.  He barely gets breakfast down before asking for a snack.  He still loves his usual kid-foods and rarely tries anything new.  His favorite foods include cooked (he won't eat raw) veggies (all except green beans which I can still make him eat with the proper bribe) and all fruits.  The only meats he will eat are chicken, bacon, and hot dog (does that count as a meat if its all beef?).  He loves breakfast foods like homemade waffles, biscuits, hashbrowns, muffins, pancakes, toast, scrambled eggs (sometimes with cheese), and coconut or soy yogurt.  He loves grilled cheeses, PB&Js (with homemade strawberry rhubarb jam), and cinnamon toast.  Of course he loves fries (regular or sweet potato), chips, cookies, crackers and other kid junk.  He begs for sweets - candy, cupcakes, cookies, you name it.  He doesn't eat anything except what's on this list - so I have to really get creative.  He drinks almond milk (we reallllllly limit his dairy intake because of tummy issues), water, juice or gatorade (as a special treat when he's playing baseball).  Still never had soda or tea.

His best buddies on his 5th birthday are Brooks, Baron (my nephew), and Skyla (our neighbor).  He is crazy about animals (especially horses), his Gram, "farming", and Tom & Jerry cartoons.  His favorite toys are legos, tractors, toy horses, playdoh, and playing on my laptop. 

He has an imaginary farm in our backyard - complete with horses, cows, goats, pigs, a garden and a barn.  You can NOT convince him that those things are not real and he's not a real farmer.  His imagination is through the roof right now and that's one of my favorite things about him.

He still says his "r"s and "l"s like "w" and according to most that I ask, that's still normal for his age.  He is beginning to learn to read - successfully sounding out most two and three letter words that I quiz him with. He is getting better with his handwriting - this is something we're working on daily as it was brought to my attention that he needed a little help in that area.  Now you can pretty well make out what he's writing.  He hates to draw though.  He's definitely not got the creative gene.

He is the best big brother you can imagine.  He often talks about how "perfect" and "beautiful" his baby sister is.  We'll see if he still feels that way when she's 14 ;)  He is also very protective of Brooks.  It's the age old saying - he can pick on Brooks, but no one else can.  Just this last weekend, the kids and I were riding bikes through the neighborhood and Brooks was dragging along, wanting to walk and me push his bike home.  I began walking ahead and told Will "come on let's go - Brooks will just have to stand there.  Maybe someone else will come and help him push his bike home." (Obviously just kidding but trying to motivate Brooks to keep up).  Will jumped in front of me and made a road block with his arms, yelling "NO!  That's my little BROTHERRRRR!"  He is such a little caregiver.

He has such an innocence about him that I just love so much.  If he's watching his favorite cartoon, Tom & Jerry, and it goes off and another cartoon comes on after, he will turn to me and ask "am I allowed to watch this Momma?  Does this have bad people or bad words in it?"

He is a wonderful story teller - often pausing in the right spots, and adding just the right amount of facial and hand expressions in there too.  He's such an "old soul."  He also loves to listen to stories - and listens so earnestly while you're telling them.  We're reading "The Little House in the Big Woods" right now and he has never once been hindered by the fact that it's a chapter book with no pictures.  He listens along, asking questions and imagining the storyline. 

He probably asks 150,000 questions a day.  Seriously.  And you can't give him half an answer.  He knows when you're not being 100% truthful about something.  And he's so perceptive.  He notices things along our drives and in our world that I've never noticed.  His memory is SO good.  His teacher once told me that his reading comprehension was excellent, and I believe it.  He is like an elephant - he never forgets!  Yesterday we were in Home Depot and the kids and I walked away from Brandon all the way across the store.  When it was time to go back, I asked Will to lead the way, in a way to test him.  He did.  Without hesitating, he walked on his own all the way back to the aisle where his daddy was and Brooks, Tessa and I followed him. 

He is my cautious child.  He thinks and worries over everything. (The complete opposite of "Bulldozer Brooks").  I've recently had to start reminding him when something is a "little thing" and not something worth worrying about.  I'll say, "Will, this is one of those little things that I told you is not worth worrying about.  If you waste your time worrying about the little things, you can't enjoy the big things."  I wouldn't say it's working yet, but I'm trying at least to get him over his worrisome nature.

Of course like every mother, I think Will is a smart boy :)  He isn't the child that will sit down and write his ABCs perfectly, but he is "smart" in a very different way for a 5 year old - he uses *mostly* perfect grammar - he says things like "perfectly" and "precisely".  He uses words that most other 5 year old probably don't use on a regular basis.  He is a good problem solver, he's good at grouping things, story telling, pretend play, directional games, reading & math.  He does NOT like sensory or messy play.  He doesn't like markers because it gets on his hands.  He doesn't like glue bottles because of the mess - he prefers crayons and glue sticks.  He HATES for his hands to be "sticky".  He also doesn't like doing something he feels he isn't good at - but he responds really well to patient encouragement and praise. 

At 5 years old, Will knows his address, his birthday (not the year), my phone number & how to spell/write his first and last name (but often forgets the "u" in Rutledge), and can also write the names "Brooks" and "Tessa".  He knows what a compass is, and often asks me to give him specific directions like "we're going north".  At the eye doctor's office, he explained to me what an anemone was (the coral reef in the aquarium).  Where in the world did he learn that?! He said he learned it from a cartoon.  Go figure - you pay for private preschool - he blows you out of the water from something he learned on tv.

Will is very stubborn at 5 years old.  Once he sets his mind on something, he will NOT give it up.  You simply cannot change his mind about it.  He will ask the same question 150 times if he thinks you're not answering him fast enough - "Mom can I have a cookie?  Can I have a cookie? Mom I need a cookie.  Mom I would like a cookie.  Can I have a cooookkkkkkkiiiiieeeeee?!" CRAP! YES YOU CAN HAVE A STINKIN' COOKIE.  I WOULD RATHER PAY THOUSANDS IN DENTAL BILLS THAN LISTEN TO THIS ANY LONGER!!!  He can still be very whiney and he's recently started talking to me like I talk to him "Do you understand me?  You WILL do this because I said so."  Ugh.  A smart pants 5 year old makes for a mother who wants to be drunk before noon time. I handle it best I can.

Despite his whininess, Will is still one of my most favorite people in the whole wide world - not just because I gave birth to him, but because of his way of seeing things.  He is inquisitive, curious, perceptive and sooooo imaginative.  I love to see him smile and get giddy with excitement because he is so serious most of the time.  He is an old soul and his own little person.  He couldn't care less about what his peers are doing.  He follows his own path.  He loves his family - he told his class yesterday to save a birthday cupcake for his brother.  He asks for his sister immediately in the mornings.  He walks away from his class and asks me for a hug in front of them all.  I know these days are numbered.

Last night, when he fell asleep in the car and I carried him to bed, his toes kicked me in the shins as I walked.  He's so big.  He's so heavy.  I just look at him sometimes and remember the little baby he once was - my first born who taught me what it meant to be a mother.  He changed our lives so much and paved the way for our home to be filled with lots of little giggling children.  We have learned so much from Will - way more than we have taught him in 5 years.  I love him sooooo so much.  And although I can't wait to see what kind of man he becomes, I am saddened to think that he won't always want mommy to lay beside him at night and snuggle.  Along with his brother and sister, Will has made me the person I am today.  Love you Will.