Andrew is 5 years 7 months old!

 

Andrew is growing and eating a TON.  All he wants to do is eat.  Several breakfasts, snacks after coming home and before dinner and after dinner.  They don’t have much time to eat at school, I know, so he rarely gets to eat everything (though he is getting faster), but they have 1 or 2 snacks, too.  He loves to eat my food and was so happy this week because everything we had to eat, he liked.  Everyday he would say how lucky he was because we were eating good food.  His favorites – homemade fried rice, homemade mac and cheese, homemade pizza, spaghetti and meatballs, etc.

Andrew finished up a session of swim lessons.  He is making slow improvements.  One session he had a substitute teacher who was great and got him to swim across the pool several times, but it hasn’t happened since.  He is taking a holiday session at the pool because I don’t want him to regress.  It is Mon and Wed. after school which is stressful for me with the little boys, but hopefully he gets to finally pass Level 1.

Andrew does not like to practice reading, but I feel like he should at least a couple times a week so he doesn’t forget it.  I will be happy when they start more formal reading at school because I know it will make him excited about it.

I finally found something that encourages Andrew to read – computer games.  If he wants computer time, he has to read before he can do the next level.  I check out easy readers from the library for him to read.  He likes this computer website – abcya – and plays this logic/physics game for 4th graders where you have to cut these ropes to let balls go into boxes (a lot like cut the rope).  He and Seth love it!  He gets really intent when he is doing it and I bet he would play forever if I let him.  I have never seen him so eager to read.

School is going well and he is eager to go.  He has a dentist appt on Wed. and I was telling him we could just skip the whole day if he wants and go to the zoo or something, but he kept telling me about all the different parts of the day he couldn’t miss.  I went and volunteered last week and saw the new book he is working on in Writing Workshop – it is about going ice skating over Thanksgiving.  He spends a lot of time on each story – much more than anyone else in the class – and is very methodical. 

I also learned that he is learning poems.  I heard him reciting today – I thought he was just talking to himself, but then I started recognizing Emily Dickinson!  I love how broad his exposure is at school.  I guess during their rest time (“Cozy In Time”) his teacher reads poetry to them.  I love it!

Andrew has loved Christmas this year, but is still not sure how much he believes in Santa.  I think he thinks some part of the storyline is just too hard to believe.  Too logical, that boy.  But we don’t talk about Santa a whole bunch anyways, so I am sure that is it.  He helped Katsu put up the Christmas tree and was actually a big help.  We have somewhat been doing a Jesse tree and having the boys color up ornaments to put on the tree.  Andrew loves it and is always talking about how his ornaments are better and look more real than Seth’s do.

Andrew doesn’t seem to enjoy playing as much and prefers to spend time doing crafts, reading books, playing on the computer or cleaning.  Yes, cleaning.  He loves it and asks me for extra chores.  He really wants to help out and do everything – especially washing windows and cleaning up around the kitchen.  Of course, anything with a spray bottle is preferred.

What a great boy!

Fun Things This Month:

• Grandparent’s Day – Andrew brought our neighbor Martha, which was a real treat since she used to teach at Meramec.  We followed along because Martha can’t drive, but tried to keep out of everyone’s hair.  He got to do crafts with her and show her his special Museum box which showed various artifacts/momentos from Andrew’s life.  Martha got him a candy bar as a token of appreciation.  What a fun day!
• 3/5/7 Shichigosan Holiday – This is a very big Japanese holiday you celebrate when boys are 3 and 5 and when girls are 5 and 7 (it is on Nov. 15). So, both Andrew and Seth got to celebrate this year. We had a busy morning – Andrew had swim lessons and then Katsu, Andrew, and Seth went to a local church to help make sandwiches for the homeless as part of an elementary school project. Then, we went to the temple and took pictures of the boys in yokata (we only had one, so they took pictures separately). The boys were not too thrilled, but after about 5 minutes, we left and went to the favorite and fancier Chinese buffet a couple cities away. They were having live entertainment for some reason, so it seemed especially celebratory. They had a dancer in a big costume that changed masks mid-dance, then a women playing a Chinese harp, and then a guy doing a dance with this watering can that almost looked like a sword. It was pretty crazy. The boys had a lot of fun and we got to reflect on how happy we are that they have gotten this far happy, healthy, and alive.
• Play Dates – Andrew had several play dates with friends from school and also has gone to one birthday party for a kindergarten friend at a bowling alley.  He had tons of fun and ate like 10 pieces of pizza, which I think was his favorite part.  I enjoyed walking there and back with him.
• Thanksgiving – we went to the parade in the morning. Andrew, as usual, wanted to see the whole thing, but was bummed that it wasn’t a huge candy throwing parade. But we stayed for the whole thing and even got some candy in the end. Then, we finished our baking and went over to our friend’s, the Shumways, for dinner. It was a really yummy dinner with tons of food and the sister missionaries were there as well. The boys ate lots and enjoyed the little cornucopias full of candy. They enjoyed playing downstairs with Elias and also watching the Snowman movie.
• Ice skating – we went to a party the day after Thanksgiving and Andrew got to try ice skating for the first time. Andrew tried it with the red pushing thing and at first, was just kind of hanging on while Katsu did all the work, but soon enough he could do it on his own.  He loved it.  That plus tons of Krispy Kreme donuts (they said they order 1400 but maybe that was a joke) made it a great morning! I think Andrew ate at least half a dozen, probably more.  We put up the Christmas tree in the boys room after that, which Andrew is loving!
• Empty Bowls Night – Andrew made clay bowls at school and then we went to the school and made a donation to a local group for the hungry and picked out bowls to take home and had a simple dinner of soup and bread.  It was really delicious and Andrew was SO excited to see everyone from school while we were around.  He kept saying “Look, there is ____”.  The funniest part of the night – they had a table with sample dishes of food eaten around the world – mostly rice and beans, but one plate was American and had fried chicken, etc.  One boy ran by and just took a piece of fried chicken and ran off.  It was so funny!
• Hiking at Rockwoods Reservation / Lights in Eureka – we went hiking on Dec. 1 with fabulous weather to Rockwoods Reservation.  Unfortunately, the visitor center was closed, but the hike was great!  There was a fabulous trail guide to explain the sites, and it was nicely wooded and a nice climb up.  Plus, there was a cave that you could look into.  Andrew had a great time and it was hard to keep him from running too far ahead.  We had Pizza Hut for dinner which the boys thought was a real treat and then we went and saw Christmas lights at the Jellystone Campground in Eureka.  Andrew didn’t seem too impressed, but I could tell he enjoyed it.
• Fireworks – Andrew finally got to see fireworks for the Clayton Winter Festival.  Katsu and Andrew went out into the front yard to watch the display, which was pretty good.