Andrew is 6 years old!

It’s birthday day!  We are keeping it a little low key.  We bought Andrew a small present, but of course, it hasn’t arrived yet.  Seth and Logan bought Andrew a Justice League DVD, which is the new favorite around here.  But the main present was getting to watch Star Wars, which Andrew has wanted to watch for a long time, but we always thought it was too scary for him.  He watched episodes 4 & 5 today and thought it was the best present ever.  We also did a cupcake this morning and went out to Chinese buffet for lunch and Katsu took the afternoon off.  I think Andrew had a lot of fun.  He is having a little party tomorrow at the park with an army pinata.  I was a little hesitant about the army thing, but what can you do?

Andrew was reading to me this morning and it’s amazing how much difference a year can make at his reading.  He can read level 1 readers pretty well.  Level 2 readers, too, though it depends a lot on the level.  Some of them are really hard and some are really easy.  He wants to read Junie B. Jones, which I usually read as a chapter book at night.  He gave it a little shot – I think it’s a little hard for him (more in length than in difficulty), but if he really wants to, I’m game.  He also is starting to read everything that is around him, which I think is a bigger bridge to cross.  To realize how much text is around you all the time and to actually read it.

He has been a little devil at home lately, but is an angel and very well-behaved at school.  I guess the two goes together.  We just need to work at home a lot on self control and calming oneself down without being aggressive or destructive.  Sigh.  But on the other hand, he gets really irritated with everyone at school because they are always so naughty.

Andrew has really been into Justice League lately.  They are obsessed with super heroes and want to watch it and play it all the time.  It’s cute.  So … boy.  He also is really into playing Wild Kratz on the computer and trying to win all the power suits.  He wants to invite over his friends so they can help him beat it.

Andrew is getting more into playing soccer and sports with friends.  But he still prefers chase and tag and other games that mostly involve chasing.  He does seem to prefer more boy things this year – army, super heroes, etc.

He finished up swim lessons.  It definitely has upped his confidence and he is swimming better.  I am proud of him.

He is really into playing Uno.  He learned like in the last week and now he wants to play all the time.  Before school, after school, before bed.  We feel like we have finally turned a parenting corner where maybe we can enjoy the children more on their own level.

He wants to have special time with us each night, but he needs to get sleep, too.  It is so hard to figure out how to spend enough time with him when he is in school all day, especially one on one time.  I feel like that has been the big challenge of this year.

Andrew gave his first talk by himself during Primary.  We prepped it in the morning on prophets (I loved that he thought one of the more important things prophets tell us to do is not to pray to statues).  He read the whole thing himself without any help, though I had written President Monson and he kept saying some weird combination of President, prophet and Thomas.  So, cute.  It was really great.

We love our little Mother’s Day boy.

Fun Things This Month:

• Opening Day for the Cardinals.  Andrew was a little nervous about getting out of school early, but it went off without a hitch (in fact, there were a few other kids leaving early for the ball game).  Andrew, Seth, and Katsu went.  He kept looking for his preschool classmates’ dads.  Mostly the boys enjoy the snacks, of course, and ice cream in a helmet.  They also enjoyed playing in the play area.
• Planetarium show – it was the Sky Tonight.  Andrew was a little disappointed that it wasn’t a movie one like Seth saw, but we enjoyed learning about the constellations.  We also got to check out telescopes outside the Planetarium.  It was a lot of fun.
• Dinner at Maggiano’s to celebrate the new job.
• Birthday party at Matthew’s house.  Andrew was feeling a little under the weather and I ended up having to pick him up early because he was throwing up.  It was a one time thing – I think too much jostling and running around + allergies.
• He had a play date, but wasn’t actually too much fun, I think.
• Andrew had a field trip at the Botanical Gardens.  He enjoyed seeing the flowers and most especially enjoyed that I bought him a lunchable for his lunch.  One boy in his class brings one every day, so Andrew was excited to be like him.
• Eye dr. appt – he was borderline last year, so I finally brought him to a pediatric opthomologist.  Andrew is 20/20 and had his eyes dilated and they look great.  No glasses yet!
• Transportation day at the Heights.  We got to see all kinds of trucks.  Andrew was pretty pouty, for some reason, but had fun.  They mostly wanted to collect hats and hang out at the Game truck that had video games.
• A Luau party.  He seemed to have fun with all his friends.
• Cupcakes at school.  He seemed to enjoy it and came home with a crown.