Andrew is 5 years 10 months old!

Andrew seems to be getting taller and skinnier.  I couldn’t believe how skinny his arms were when I saw him the other day.  He weighed himself today and he weighed about 41 lbs.  We definitely should switch him into a booster seat; I think he has outgrown his 5 pt harness.  He is definitely starting to look more like an elementary schooler now, so much older.

Andrew loves kindergarten.  He seems to really enjoy everything.  I was able to volunteer in his class this month and stayed for recess and lunch, which Andrew was excited about.  In his Writer’s Workshop, he has started to really crank out books.  Instead of being very detailed and perfectionistic, he is starting to “write to get out his ideas” as his teacher put it.  He is doing a series of “How to” books – How to make paper airplanes, how to make paper snowflakes, How to play soccer, etc.  They are pretty cute.  His last book that I was looking at ended like this “Can you do it?  Will you do it?”  I thought it was hilarious.  They are starting to learn about punctuation right now.

Andrew seems to be his own man at recess.  He followed the teacher around telling her where to get all the balls that went behind fences, played with the girls for awhile, and then played soccer for awhile.  I think putting him in soccer in the fall would good, if only to make him more confident in playing with the other boys.  Soccer is huge – I swear, every single birthday party is at Vetta Sports, playing soccer and in bounce house things.  I was happy to see that he played a little soccer at a birthday party yesterday.  He doesn’t previously.

Lunch was pretty short – they have 20 minutes total, but Andrew has really “focused on eating” as he told me, so he is actually starting to finish most of his food now.  Andrew’s favorite food for lunches are:  Gyoza (pot stickers), fried rice, chicken noodle soup, ramen, anything Asian.  He usually won’t eat sandwiches if I send them.  As he told me, he doesn’t like anything dough.  He is pretty good about eating fruit and vegetables and loves to eat pudding.

Andrew is learning about animals in Science class.  They go to Science Lab to learn lots of the lessons.  It’s called animals 2x2 and they study two animals at a time that are similar.  They have learned about worms, pill bugs, guppies, goldfish, etc. 

They have been studying games in Math class.  He is always bringing home different game boards that he has been working on.  They practice counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s.

Andrew’s favorite thing is centers.  Sometimes, he is so excited about his writing that he works on it extra then (according to his teacher), or he does crafts.  He often brings home snowflakes or paper airplanes.  He also loves computer time – he figured out how to get PBS kids and watch his favorite shows (Kraut brothers or something like that … it’s about animals).  Great – I am sending him to school to watch TV!

Andrew’s class read Mr. Popper’s Penguins out loud this month.  Andrew loved it.  He would come home and ask me questions like, “I know you read this a long time ago, but you can tell me what happens at the end of Chapter 18?”.  They celebrated the end by eating ice cream sandwiches.

Andrew worked so hard at his swim class and passed Level 1!  I can see so much improvement over this session.  We were so excited we took him out for donuts.  He really persevered to make it through that class.  It doesn’t come super naturally to him.

At home, Andrew and Seth spend a lot of time playing army and doing crafts.  They also enjoy looking at books and reading.  Andrew always wants me to read him chapter books off my Kindle.  He was trying to read to himself on the Kindle, but then he accidentally bought a book – they make that way too easy.  Andrew also likes to make guns out of the Lincoln Logs or build things with Trio.  He still refuses to play with his Legos.  Oh, well.

Andrew’s personality seems to be getting more difficult again.  Trying to get him to go to sleep tonight with the time change was a nightmare.  He screamed and threw fits and woke Logan up twice!  And he has been waking up at night again sometimes.  Seriously – the fun never ends.

He is really sweet, though.  He loves Logan and Seth and shares and tries to do good things for each of them.  He is a really good brother and a sensitive soul.  Boy, is that kid stubborn, though?

Fun Things This Month

• Valentine’s Day – Andrew had a really fun day while he was sick writing all the names and picking out the valentines.  He really had a lot of fun getting the valentines at school and bringing them home (not as much fun as Seth, though, I think) and sharing the candy he got – not as much as when he was in preschool thankfully.  He made a bird feeder at the valentine’s party (cheerios on pipe cleaners made into hearts) and that has been a pretty big deal around our house.
• Magic House – with just me and the boys.  Andrew really knows his way around the place and loves it.  He especially wanted to check out the new Magic School Bus exhibit that kids at school had been talking about.
• Zoo – we went on one of Andrew’s days’ off of school.  Andrew’s favorite part was riding the carousel, the Children’s Zoo and the gift shop.  He spent like 40 minutes looking at every toy and figuring which ones he could afford with his allowance (not many).  He finally picked out a little bird whistle for a dollar.  You fill it with water and when you blow, it kind of warbles.  I thought it would be a play and then throw away kind of toy, but the boys LOVE it.
• Chinese New Year Party – we went to our friends party again and it was fun.  Andrew LOVED the food, of course.  He ate an unbelievable amount.  I think that kid could live on rice and shrimp.  He enjoyed the fireworks, but got a little scared I think.  He also loved running around with the other kids, but they always seem to gravitate to video games and movies.
• Snow – Andrew has loved it.  He loves making snow balls and snow forts and snow men and sledding.  He was very sad we didn’t make a snowman the last snowfall, but it was just too icy.  2 snow days from school and missing a school field trip!  
• Passport – Andrew renewed his passport.
• Reading night at Seth’s school.
• Movie at the History Museum.
• Black History Month at Andrew’s school – Andrew loved it. There was some performances by the 5th grade and then a play based off The Three Little Pigs. They even brought home little pumpkin pies.  Andrew was very upset about this because he was sure they would have cake and he does not like pie.  Oh, the agony!
• Chinese buffet – to celebrate for Katsu.  Andrew loved it, of course.
• Birthday party.