This year for Reece's birthday, we did a party at the church with his good friend from school and church who also has a birthday on August 31. The theme was sports! Reece had soccer decorations and Matthew had football decorations. There was a bounce house, pinata, and the kids played soccer or football outside in the parking lot. It was a little crazy with all the attendees but both boys had a great time!
REECE TURNS 7!!
Reece just keeps growing up, getting bigger, and learning new things. We just can't get him to stop ;) We love watching who Reece is becoming and can't imagine our family without him in it.
At the age of 7, Reece is a little over 46 inches tall and weighs a little over 45 pounds. Reece still shares a room with Kade and still sleeps on the top bunk bed. On a normal night, he is in bed by 7:45 pm and he is still our most early riser waking up around 5:30 on most days. Reece still sleeps with a sleep mask every night and sleeps in just underwear most nights.
I am often surprised at how much energy Reece has. He is able to constantly run, jump, climb, and bounce all over wherever he is. He seems to have an endless amount of energy and it is no wonder he is fast asleep soon after his head hits the pillow at night. Some mornings, we hear him running around in circle upstairs while he is waiting till it is time to come downstairs to eat breakfast. He sometimes has 5000 steps on his Fitbit before Ember and Kade have 100. Reece still likes to follow others leads when it comes to choosing what to do. We will ask him what he wants to eat for lunch and he will ask "What is Ember having?" He likes to play games that his friends at school are playing and his favorite color sometimes also changes depending on what his current friend says their favorite color is. We are still encouraging him to grow in being who God created him to be and not trying to be someone else. Where Reece is, is still often a little too much noise. Whether he is pushing a friction powered truck around the living room or playing a game that involves loud laughing and screaming - it is loud when Reece is around... unless he is doing one of his activities that focuses him such as Legos, sticker books, or coloring. Reece still has his sweet side where we will randomly run up and give me a hug out of the blue. But he also still has his instigator side where he will cause issues with whichever sibling he is around.
Reece has many favorite things. He loves being outdoors. He loves riding his bike and scooter and playing at parks. He loves riding the dirt trails and doing the dirt jumps around our neighborhood. He loves to throw and catch a baseball or play a small sided soccer game. He loves digging for worms, shooting bugs with a spray bottle, and catching lizards, rolly polly bugs, and ants. He has grown to love fishing like his Daddy. He loves chasing other kids around at a park or grass field. He loves climbing trees. He loves jumping in the new bounce house. When it is warm out he loves doing the slip n' slide, swimming in the swimming pool (which he can do by himself now) and jumping off diving boards. Since he loves the outdoors so much, he adores camping. He is really curious and eager to try his friend's kids bows to practice shooting at a target. He loves vacations going to Disneyland and riding any ride and roller-coaster that he is tall enough to do. He still loves Mexico - fishing with dad in the kayak, building sandcastles, finding and catching crabs, and running wild with few boundaries. This is Reece's first year doing all day school and thankfully he is loving his year at Flagstaff Christian School in 1st grade so far. He still really loves being tickled - tickled to the point where he can no longer breath. He is a pretty good eater and a pretty routine eater. Most mornings he prefers to have cereal and his favorite lunch is almond butter, honey, and banana in a tortilla. A few of his other favorites are: waffles, bacon, baked oatmeal, grapes, grilled cheese, trail mix, pizza, french fries, and jalapeno-garlic olives.
Reece loves to play games when we are at home. His favorite, right now, is War. He also loves to play Go Fish, Sorry, Uno and Old Maid. He still enjoys building Lego sets but is most excited about them when they are new and being built for the first time. His favorite toys in his room are his Hot Wheels cars and Monster trucks. He also really enjoys his remote control cars when they are charged. He loves playing Ember's made up games until he gets hurt. Kade and him like fighting each other with swords in their room. Baseball and soccer are his favorite sports. He also really enjoys building with his magnetic tiles. He enjoys doing word searches and is really starting to get the hang of reading but still prefers to do it when someone is there to help him versus him doing it on his own.
There are also some of the things that Reece is not so fond of. He, as almost every kid, does not like when we tell him "no" to something and often chooses to cross his arms and make a grumpy face at us when we tell him "no." He likes when Ember creates a made up game for them but usually gets frustrated rather quickly if she changes the rules too often or it is too hard from him to succeed at. After trying the kids high ropes course at Flag Extreme for the first time, we learned that Reece has more of a fear of heights in those types of situations. He gets really upset when he is excited to do something and is not quite tall enough. This happened twice this past year - once at Indiana Jones at Disneyland and also for the waterslide at the Aquaplex in town. He also gets frustrated when he is trying to tell us something and we don't understand it. He is also pretty lazy when it comes to doing chores and grumbles and complains more often than not.
This year, Reece has grown in many ways and learned many new things. He has grown as a soccer player in his ball control and the power of his kicks. Reece played baseball this past year for the first time and got a hit every time. Since then, he has gotten better at throwing and catching the ball as well. Reece can now wash himself in the shower/bath. He is able to read more and more words and has been getting better at memorizing Bible verses. This is his first year with spelling tests and he is getting 100% on almost every one. He still loves numbers and math and is learning many new concepts in there as well. During our family Bible time, Reece is able to answer most of the questions we ask him about what we read. He still has not lost any teeth but they should be getting wiggly soon. And Reece and Ember got to fly in a small propeller plane all around town during a community event at the local airport.
Reece keeps us on our toes and active to make sure he is getting enough energy out to be able to show self control. It is amazing to see how his brain is growing and maturing daily. He is constantly described as such a sweet, kind and shy boy by those around him. But, at home we get to see his real self - silly, wild, and, often times, a little too good at creating problems. But, we love him so much and are so thankful to have the honor of being his parents.
Birthday Fun:
Reece wanted pancakes for breakfast
Then, we had ice cream cones and sang to the big 7 year old!
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To celebrate our big 4 year old, we did a birthday carnival on a Wednesday morning with just little siblings while the big kids were in school. The kids got to bounce in the bounce house, play a few carnival games to earn tickets, eat carnival food, and then trade in their tickets for some prizes. Monsoons rolled in about halfway through but a great time was still had by everyone!
Food: Mini corndogs, soft pretzels, popcorn, fruit, and veggies
Clown bean bag toss
Kade turns 4!!
Oh goodness! Hard to believe that this little ball of cuteness is 4 years old already. He is full of silliness and loves to get a reaction from others. He is also very sweet at thoughtful. He is a great mix and of course has his spicy moments as well, We love you, Kippy!
Kade is 35 inches tall and weighs about 28 pounds. He continues to be the shortest of our kids at each age. But he is definitely not short on personality. Kade still shares a room with Reece and sleeps on the bottom bunk of their bunkbed. He takes a nap still when we are home and nothing is going on. If he doesn't nap, then he will play and do a quiet time for a while each day. Kade still sucks his thumb and holds the folds of his blanket/comforter when he falls asleep. His favorite of choice at bedtime right now is "Silent Night."
Kade is a fun-loving, goofy boy when he is around people that he is comfortable with. He loves making silly faces, goofy noises and making up nonsensical words. He has such an expressive mouth and eyebrows and is really good at making funny faces. He plays nicely with his friends and loves doing what Ember and Reece are doing when they are around. Kade is quite shy around strangers and people he doesn't know that well. He always wants to hold my hand when walking around in a more unstructured situation or if there is the possibility of someone talking to him that he isn't as familiar with. Kade is still our little encourager and will give kind words to all of us randomly or simply say "Mom, I love you" out of the blue. He has a magnetic personality and cuteness that people are drawn to consistently. People are complimenting his smile and his cuteness almost everywhere we go.
Kade has many things that he likes but at the top of the list is food - hands down! He is always asking when it will be snack time, lunch time, dinner time, etc and says "I'm hungry" many times each day. He also really loves being outside! He enjoys riding his Strider bike and playing at parks. He loves to dig for worms in the backyard with Reece or kick his soccer ball down the greenbelt trail and chase after it. Kade has grown to love the bike park and also loves doing the little bike jumps scattered around our neighborhood. Kade isn't swimming on his own yet but he really enjoys playing on the steps of a pool. He loves going to the library and playing on the computers. He also really likes the open gym at Summit Gymnastics and the indoor play place at the mall. He loves having people over whether that is Lifegroup, Grandma and Grandpa, or other friends. Kade loves his special mornings at home with Dad where they play games and go for a walk together when the weather is nice. Kade loved when we went to Disneyland this past January and asks often if we can go back. He also really likes the beach and adores camping in "Little Ducky." Kade loves to be comfortable and changes into pajamas often as soon as we get home. He also is found wearing slippers around the house often. Lastly, but not leastly, some of his favorite foods are: cereal, waffles, hash browns, corndogs, cheese crisps, pizza, sausage, grapes, yogurt, and treats.
Kade really also likes games. He is always asking us if we can play a game with him. He often chooses a game that is not age appropriate and just makes up what to do with it. Among his favorite board/card games are: Go Fish, Uno, Zingo, Candyland, and Raccoon Rompus. Kade really enjoys playing with Playdough and Kinetic Sand as well. He enjoys reading books. Some of his current favorite books are "No, David!," "Chicka Chicka, Boom Boom," "There is a Whale in My Swimming Pool," and "Brown Bear, Brown Bear." His newest favorite thing to do is the bounce house we got on his birthday. He asks almost daily if we can get that out to play with it. Kade still enjoys dressing up and will randomly appear in his Minion costume or as a superhero.
Kade is usually a pretty happy guy, but there are definitely some things that he doesn't like. He does not like to be told "no" when he wants something (like food) or when he wants to do something. He doesn't like when he isn't quite old enough to do something that Ember and Reece are doing. He doesn't like when kids or adults give him too much attention. He still gets very frustrated when he falls or gets hurt. He also gets embarrassed when he doesn't know something or says something wrong. He likes most foods but he isn't the biggest fan of most meats. He also doesn't like some vegetables and things with spice or too much flavor.
Kade has, of course, learned some new things throughout this year. Kade is officially potty trained now and can even wipe himself. He has gotten really good at his Strider bike and has also gotten his scooter down. He has figured out how to do the peddles on a little tricycle that we have. He is pretty good at dribbling and kicking a soccer ball. Kade can now buckle his car seat all by himself. He knows all his colors and most of his shapes. He can almost count to 20 by himself now. Kade went to the dentist for the first time and had a great report. And finally, Kade started preschool on his 4th birthday at Mount Calvary. He is there two mornings a week for 4 hours. So far he is enjoying it.
We love our little Kipper Do and he brings us so many smiles and laughs. We are so excited to spend another year of life with him and see how he grows and matures. Happy 4th birthday, Kade. We love you!
BIRTHDAY ACTIVITIES:
Kade wanted Chia pudding for his birthday breakfast like his siblings usually choose
Then we had a fun surprise in store for the birthday boy!
