Friday, December 15, 2023

Reece - 8 years old


Reece turns 8!! 

It is crazy that Reece is EIGHT years old already. My how the time flies! This boy continues to make us laugh and surprise us. 



At age 8, Reece is a little over 48 inches tall and weighs around 51 pounds. Kade and him still share a room upstairs and Reece continues to sleep on the top bunk of their bunk beds. He still is by far our earliest riser each morning. He usually wakes up between 5:30 - 6:00. He is usually in bed by 7:45 each night and falls asleep quickly. He still wears a sleep mask each night to bed and likes sleeping in underwear, not pajamas.

Reece loves to be silly and still has seemingly endless energy. He is almost always running, jumping, spinning or some other form of movement. Thankfully, he seems to be able to keep himself under control when he needs to at school and church. He is pretty quiet and reserved at school but the opposite at home. He is constantly making loud noises, randomly clapping his hands together or being loud to be loud. It is a constant challenge for him to show a little more self control in this area at home. Reece can be such a kind and sweet helper or he can swing to the opposite side of the spectrum and purposely try and cause trouble with his siblings. He is very bright but often lack confidence. He is stronger in math than in literacy and reading. He struggles when things are challenging and his first reaction is to give up. But then, he is very proud of himself when he does keep working at something and gets it. Reece still would rather follow than take the lead in most situations. But he is making progress in choosing for himself instead of just copying what his friends or siblings are choosing. 

Reece has many things that he loves! He loves things that involve running and being active. He plays outside alot and loves recess and PE at school. He played basketball for the first time this last year and enjoyed that and continues to enjoy soccer as well. Kade and him have spent many many hours chasing and catching bugs in the backyard and greenbelt. He loves riding his bike and scooter around the house or on walks. He loves to climb trees, make forts and move rocks around. Reece enjoys going to friend's houses and any other activity such as: pool, gymnastics place, laser tag, library, etc. He still is really enjoying school and likes going. His favorite subjects are math and PE. Reece loves camping and fishing and going on any other vacation such as Mexico, Great Wolf Lodge or any amusement/theme park. Reece is an overall good eater who often has an endless stomach. Some of his favorite foods are: cereal, scrambled eggs, banana, yogurt, almond butter and honey in a tortilla, pizza, hotdogs, hamburgers, grapes, fig bars, cashews and salami. 

Reece has many games and activities that he enjoys to play. He has been less into board/card games but still enjoys some. He most often plays a card game called James Bond with Ember. He still will play War as well. He enjoyed playing Uno with his friends in Mexico with a giant set of Uno cards. Reece's favorite indoor toy are his Picasso Tile magnets. He loves building different things with them and then destroying it. He has also been playing with his indoor basketball hoop and trying to do trick shots. This has been inspired by them watching quite a bit of Dude Perfect shows for their TV time recently. Reece still really enjoys doing new to him Lego sets and is getting better at free building with his bin of Legos. He still enjoys paint by sticker books but has slowed down on those. He will get really into Perler beads when we occasionally pull those out as a project. Kade and him really enjoy playing Gaga ball in their room - they roll a ball at each other trying to hit each other's feet. They also still enjoy wrestling and fighting with foam swords. One of Reece's favorite things is still being tickled. He laughs so hard but doesn't want it to stop. Reece continues to love pushing the toy dump truck around the backyard. He enjoys puzzles and just got a 100 piece puzzle for his birthday that he has already completed multiple times. Reece got a cool rocket for his 7th birthday that we were finally able to do that he loved. It shot up SOOO high and then he got to run like crazy to go get it. 

As many favorites as Reece has, he also has plenty of dislikes. He doesn't enjoy when things are hard for him. He gets frustrated and says that it's impossible. He doesn't like when we cannot understand him when he is talking too quietly or mumbling which he sometimes tends to do. He doesn't like it when Ember creates a game to play that is confusing or he always looses at. Reece dislikes the attention being on him and will avoid wearing costumes or pajamas on pajama day. He still isn't the biggest fan of heights in some situations. He still usually complains about doing his chores and has not gotten paid a few times because of it. 

Reece has tried/learned quite a few things this past year. He played basketball for the first time this year and enjoyed that. He got some rollerblades and learned how to do those. He is growing in his reading and spelling more and more each week and is starting to enjoy reading books. Reece. Reece continues to do well in math and was moved up a grade level this school year. He tried another high ropes course at the Great Wolf Lodge and did the lower level just fine but then got scared on the higher level. Reece was brave enough to do the big swing at the Lost Canyon camp in Williams. But only a few weeks later, he did the high ropes course at Flag X in Flagstaff and did the whole thing 3 times through, He tried a bungee trampoline at Snowbowl and did a backflip after being too nervous at first. Reece skied for another season and has gotten so much better and faster on his skis. Reece continues to grow in his Bible verse memorization and ability to answer the questions each night from the Bible reading we do as a family. 

Reece is very different than Ember and has been his entire life in personality and learning style. But it is amazing to me how God can bless different people with different minds and talents. It is so fun to watch Reece continue to grow and learn in so many aspects of life. We love him so much and are very grateful to be an eye witness to the special young man that Reece is becoming. 

Birthday Fun:

Chia pudding to start off the day

Grandparents Day at school

Cane's for lunch!

Flagstaff Extreme high ropes course


Dinner request - Catfish

Gifts: Nerf target, 100 piece puzzle, remote control boats, cash

Banana split for birthday treat! 



Reece's 8 Year Interview:

Favorite color? Red

Favorite toy? Picasso Tile magnets

Favorite food? Pizza

A food you don't really like? Pickles

Favorite thing to watch? Dude Perfect

Favorite place to go? Bowling

Favorite book? Grumpy Monkey Freshly Squeezed

Favorite song? Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Favorite restaurant? Chick-Fil-A

Favorite thing to do each day? Go to school

Favorite thing to do with Mommy? Play board games

Favorite thing to do with Daddy? Tickle

What makes you happy? Playing with my friends

What is something scary? Dark

What are you really good at? Running

Who are your best friends? Sam, Shep, Owen K., Noah

What do you want to be when you grow up? Professional basketball player

What do you think about before you fall asleep?  The Bible


Here are a few more pictures from the past year:

























Kade - 5 Years Old

 Kade turns 5! 

This little guy is the BIG 5 years old - halfway to 10. Our years with him have flown by and he just continues to win over everyone he meets with his big personality stuffed in a cute little body. He loves to be silly when he is comfortable, he is kind hearted and we are so thankful for him in our lives.

Kade is almost 38 inches tall and weighs about 31 pounds. He still shares a room with Reece and is on the bottom bunk bed. He no longer needs a nap but will still take one a few times a week when we are home and he is able to. He falls asleep quickly around 7:45-8:00 and usually wakes up around 6:00 to 6:30 or however long Reece can handle being quiet after he wakes up. Kade still sucks his thumb while falling asleep and likes to hold the corner of his pillow or comforter. He usually sleeps on top of his bed instead of in the sheets. He still loves "Silent Night" as the song that we sing to him before bed. 

Kade continues to have a personality that people are attracted to and want to be around. He is silly and goofy with his friends but seems to know when to be quiet and self controlled. He loves to play with Ember and/or Reece when they are home. He is always going outside to check if the neighbor kids are outside to play with as well. He is still a little shy and reserved when he is unsure of the situation. He has been getting braver at trying things but is also fine with sitting back and watching the older kids do things most of the time as well. 

Kade has lots of favorite things! Near the top of his list is still food. He still is curious about when the next meal will be and what we will be having. Some of his favorite snacks and foods right now are: waffles, blueberries, cereal, corndogs, grilled cheese, grapes, fruit strips, hotdogs, hamburgers and cashews. Kade also is currently obsessed with gum. He makes sure to have his one piece a day that he is allowed. Another big favorite of Kade's is anything outside. He loves riding his bike or scooter outside, he loves searching for bugs outside and he loves playing at parks as well. He still loves his Daddy/Kippy mornings where he gets dads undivided attention for the morning. He absolutely loves being tickled by his Dad. He loves going places like Summit gymnastics for open gym and the library to play on the computers. He likes going on walks to watch the airplanes take off and land and he still enjoys the bike park. He loves trips and vacations to theme parks, the beach or to camp somewhere with friends. He loved going to a local pool with friends multiple times a week and splashing around in the small pool and playing miniature golf. He still loves when people come over to our house or we go over to someone else's house. He likes to relax and watch a show when it is time and will sometimes be up for playing the Kinect with Reece. One of his favorite things to wear is a jersey shirt and he can't wait for laundry to be done to he can wear one again. 

Kade has many indoor and outdoor games that he enjoys playing. As far as outdoors, he still loves his bounce house and enjoys that every time we get it out. He loves water balloons and bug hunting with nets. He loves to play police and robber type games with his siblings and the neighbor kids in the greenbelt. And he simply loves just exploring the great outdoors. Indoors, he enjoys playing with Playdough and slime on the mornings that he is by himself at home. He likes to try and do simple Lego sets by himself and play with them after they are built. He enjoys building with our Picasso tiles and sometimes enjoys painting, coloring or gluing random craft supplies to paper. His favorite show is Booba on Amazon and his favorite movie is still the Minions. His current favorite books are: "The Pout Pout Fish," "Rhyming Dust Bunnies," "Raindrop Plop!" and "Dragons Love Tacos." He still likes to play games such as Uno, Raccoon Rampus and Let's Go Fishing.

Kade still is a pretty happy guy overall but there are, of course, some things that he doesn't enjoy. He doesn't like being told "no" - especially to food. He doesn't like it when Reece wakes him up in the morning. He still gets embarrassed and angry when he falls and gets hurt most times. He also gets embarrassed when he says the wrong word accidently and someone laughs at it. He doesn't like getting water in his nose when swimming and he doesn't like having to wear jeans. Some foods that he doesn't like are potato salad, quinoa salad, fish, tomatoes and onions. 

Kade has learned a lot during this past year. He played T-ball for the first time and learned how to hit the ball and throw the ball well for his age. He finally learned how to put his shoes on the right feet. He can fill his own water bottle and clean up his dishes after he is done eating. Kade did Snowburners this year and learned how to ski. He went ice skating for the first time and had fun with that. He learned how to ride a pedal bike this year and is now brave enough to put his face under the water when in a pool. He is getting better and better at counting objects and can say the letters in his name in order and write them with assistance. He is doing preschool again this year for two mornings a week at Mount Calvary and seems to really enjoy going to school. 

Kade truly is a joy of a little boy to have around the majority of the time. He brings many smiles and laughs to our family and we are so thankful for the 5 years that we have had with him. We can't wait to see what the next year holds for him. We love you, Kade! 


BIRTHDAY ACTIVITIES:

Kade asked for donuts for breakfast this year.

He got a special lunch at Chick Fil-A with Mom and Dad

He got to open his presents and he received a bug vacuum with nets, a robotic snake and dinosaur slime. 

Then we had pizza for dinner and rainbow sherbet ice cream for dessert. 


And here is Kade's 5 year interview! 

What do you and Mommy do together? Walk and play games

What do you and Daddy do together? Walk and play games and tickle

What makes you happy? Daddy tickling me

What is something scary? Falling off a cliff

What are you really good at? Drawing squares

Who is your best friend? Jaxon, Declan, Otto

What do you want to be when you grow up? Teacher

What do you think about before you fall asleep? Nothing


Here are a few more pictures from the past year: