Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Paul is 5!

Paul is 5! While there is something to love about every stage, I'm finding that 4+ seems to be the sweet spot for me. But before I dig into Paul at age 5, let's take a trip back in time to his previous birthdays!

Paul on his birthday! He's rocking a jaundice tan and is so puffy in this picture (probably since I was on IV fluids for days before he was born - his delivery was pretty complicated).

Paul at 1! I don't have great photos from his 1st birthday party as I stupidly scheduled his 1-year shots the day before... rookie mistake. He's crying/not happy in most of his birthday photos. But we had a fun brunch with my younger sister on his actual birthday!

Paul at age 2... This was March of 2020 - little did we know how our world would change in a matter of days!

Paul at age 3! Are you noticing the theme of cookie birthday desserts?

Paul at age 4!

Growth: He's still very, very petite - he only weighs 33 pounds. For context, Will weighs 28 pounds! Paul has been around the 5th percentile for weight since he was about 2 months, though, so it's not concerning as he has been staying on his growth curve. He has been asking when he can move into a booster seat, though, and that feels VERY far off since you need to weigh at least 40 pounds to move into a booster..  When will he be 40 pounds? Age 8? He wear size 10 shoes, 3T/4T tops, and mostly 3T pants. 

Words and phrases: He is still very chatty and talkative. His latest clutch phrase is to say "speaking of..." Like last week, we were talking about the US (I can't remember what exactly we were talking about) and Paul said, "Speaking of America, today was Presidents' Day!" He's starting to sound like a mini-adult! 

Likes:

- He loves being outside! When the weather is nice, his favorite thing to do is use his scooter. We bought him a bike last spring but he has only been on it a few times. I figure eventually he'll be interested in his bike. But for now he is very fast on his scooter and can handle 2+ mile routes. He also was more interested in swimming and water sports/boating last summer! Since we are in the midst of a brutal winter I should also mention that he loves sledding, making snow angels and playing in the snow.







- We introduced him to LEGO this Christmas and he is a BIG FAN! I'm a fan, too, so am glad we have a go-to gift idea for years to come. 

This was the start of a Spiderman character - it took us 3 nights to do this set!

- His favorite show is still Wild Kratts. He shares so many facts with us, like did you know the eyes of a giant squid are the size of a basketball? Or last week he told us he could run on the top of the snow like a snowshoe hare. I can guarantee I did know anything about giant squids or snowshoe hares at age 5!

- He still loves to read. We mostly read picture books but I've started to introduce chapter books, too. He is starting to learn to read. My MIL got him the "Bob books" for Christmas and he can read several of them on his own. 



Firsts:

- I've started to do some one-on-one adventures with him! Last fall, we went to a pumpkin exhibit at the zoo, saw The Grinch, and I took him to a winter light exhibit. In April, we'll take our first one-on-one trip to AZ to visit my sister. He's very very very excited. 

- He'll also have his first friend birthday party but we are going to wait until April or May when it's reliably nicer to have his party. We made an arbitrary rule that friend parties don't start until you turn 5. I love the way families celebrate birthdays at school - it's basically a big park play date. Everyone is invited, the invite says "no gifts" (and people comply!), and you bring birthday treats. It's "easy peasy lemon squeezy" as Paul would say!

Dislikes:  There is not much that he doesn't like. He is a really positive, upbeat kid! I will say he is obsessed with being first... Ideally he wants to be the first one to get dressed, first to brush his teeth, first to get in the car, etc etc... We are trying to explain that you can't always be first and that being the first one dressed really does not matter in the grand scheme of things but he hasn't quite accepted that. 

Eating: is still kind of a challenge... his pediatrician has assured us this will get easier. I hope she is right. He really loves carbs and dairy. His favorite foods are cottage cheese, yogurt, banana pancakes and pizza. And he definitely has a sweet tooth - he loves donuts and cookies!


School: He's in the Pre-K room at school. He has really thrived in this room and has come out of his shell quite a bit. He used to be so shy and reserved but seems much more outgoing and social in this room. He'll transition to the public school summer program in June and then starts kindergarten in the fall at our community school so he has a lot of change ahead of him! He is VERY excited about kindergarten!

His school photos from the fall cracked us up!!

Big brother adjustment: He continues to be a very sweet big brother to Will! He's had to be patient with Will quite a bit and he's handled it pretty well all in all. I love watching their relationship grow!




I can't wait to see what the future holds for our sweet, smart little guy! Last year he spent his birthday puking from a stomach bug so hopefully the celebration is MUCH MORE FUN this year!!

16 comments:

coco said...

happy birthday Paul! I think most kids survive in carbs for the first few years of their life and it's totally fine. :)

Nicole said...

Happy birthday! I loved age 5! Things just get better and better!
"Speaking of" is so cute. I love little speech things like that in young children.
Logically I knew that he would have been young when the pandemic hit, but for some reason this just totally hit me hard - he's basically spent his whole life in the pandemic world! Wow, that is really something to think about. I guess he won't remember anything about the pandemic days when he's older, but wow.
We also had "no gift" parties for the kids, and it was great. We did a thing where we asked guests to bring in food donations instead, and then the birthday boy got to take the donations in. It worked really well because honestly, they did not need 10-15 little gifts!

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

Feliz cumpleaƱos Pablo! I can't believe he is five since it seems like just yesterday I was there when he was a baby. I had such a great time spending time with him as a big boy; he really is charming! He did not seem shy around me at all so I think he is going to be an extrovert, believe it or not! I love that he loves to read even though there are screens around; he is a boy of my own heart!

I am not sure why the birthday cookie started to get bigger (all for this) and then shrunk on year four. That really does not seem fair! :)

NGS said...

What a lovely retrospective. I hope you print these off or send them to a special email account or do something so that he can read all these sweet words when he's an adult!

sarah (SHU) said...

Happy bday Paul! I LOVE 5!!! Also I agree with this cookie > cake assessment.

Elisabeth said...

What a wonderful summary of his life; what a cutie and wise beyond his years!

Five really is such a great age and you have so many fun memories ahead in the coming months.

I am Team Cake all the way, but my daughter's bestie is NOT a fan and so I always try to have cookies, too!

I love the no-gift parties; alas, they are not common where we live (and my kids tend to have small parties, so don't get/give a lot of gifts in the run of a year), but there is something so liberating about just meeting to have fun, eat some special treats and then go home with no mess/fuss for anyone! I am very jealous of your setup.

Sarah said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

SPEAKING OF-- that's too cute.

He is so adorable, and I agree-- the kindergarten era is precious. I love toddlers the most, followed by 5-7. After that they're kind of jerky for like 9 years, but then they're all the sudden your best friends LOL.

Minnie definitely weighs more than 33 pounds LOL LOL LOL-- Dorothy is teeny, too, and only recently moved to a booster (she is turning 10).

Love the reading pic. Having kids who can reead is a whole other level of magic.

Life of a Doctor's Wife said...

Oh my goodness, these photos are all so sweet! It's so fun to watch him grow up. The "speaking of" cracks me up. That coupled with his school photo makes me think he is ready to put on a suit and go the office. Happy birthday to him, and to you!

Jeanie said...

Happy Birthday to Paul! It seems like just yesterday that he was making his first appearance here. I love seeing the progression and following him through these times. And the updates are fun -- what he likes and what he's doing and learning. You and Phil are wonderful parents -- that's obvious from what I see in your children! Celebrate!

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday, Pablo!!! I cannot wait to spend time with you in AZ soon! It doesn’t surprise me how advanced his vocabulary and early reading is with how much he has always loved books!! He is following your footsteps! (This is Abby by the way! Y

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday Paul!! So cute!!! I can’t believe he is 5- I guess I’ve been reading for a long time now because he was little little when I started! He seems like such a great kid. I hope I get to meet him one day!! :-) - Kaelyn from Grateful Kae, commenting from my phone…

Jenny said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL! What a sweet little boy! I love the "speaking of..." It's so funny when they start sounding like little adults! And I love his school picture. Yes, this age is really fun. I love how they're excited about everything- every little holiday or event is special. Will is lucky to have such a great big brother.

Stephany said...

Happy birthday to Paul! He really does seem like such a fun kid, and so smart. Not only to use "speaking of," but to use it correctly to connect "speaking of America" with "President's Day." I feel like he's going to give his teachers a run for their money when he's in school because he's so smart. :)

It's been so fun to watch him grow up on this blog and I can't wait for what this next yea holds for him.

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

Age 4 plus is definitely the best haha. Can't wait for his school adventures!

San said...

I love the pictures of Paul and Will best. They're such sweet brothers! Happy birthday, Paul!

Anonymous said...

I’m so far behind and I’m reading through. Five years has flown by!!! I hope this 5th year is going well so far!!!

Lori