Reece - 5 Years Old

 

REECE TURNS 5!! 

We've got a *F*I*V*E* year old on our hands! And we couldn't be more thankful for the 5 years we have been blessed with Reece in them. He is unique and special in his own ways and it is so fun to see him grow and learn daily. 

At 5 years old, Reece is 41.5 inches tall and weighs about 35 lbs. He shares a room with Kade and sleeps in a toddler bed. He goes to bed right around 7:30 and wakes up around 6:00-6:30 most days. He still has a quiet time every day and will occasionally take a nap. He is doing two half days of preschool at Mount Calvary. 

As far as personality is concerned, Reece is more of a reserved and dependent kid. He is more comfortable following what others are doing than figuring out what to do or leading what to do. He often would rather stay home than go places and enjoys when days are slow. He is usually kind and willing to share although he does, of course, have his selfish moments as well. He loves to laugh and has the best giggle! He is extremely active and always running and jumping and climbing wherever he goes. Because of this, he also seems to fall and get hurt often. He is hesitant to try new things but loves things that he already knows he can do.

One of Reece's most favorite things is to be tickled! He loves being tickled to the point where he cannot talk and can barely breathe. He asks for it multiple times a day. He loves being outside where he can run and jump and be loud. He enjoys riding his bike and scooter and he loves parks! Reece is always looking forward to the next time that he can eat. Some of his favorite foods are: cereal (he eats it pretty much every morning), almond butter, honey, and banana in a tortilla, banana by itself, whole apples (which he eats everything besides the stem and the seeds), granola bars, pizza, hot dogs, chia pudding, and any kind of treat. Reece loves getting to play with friends. His current best friends are Micah and Sam. He enjoys having books read to him and sits very quietly for that usually with his hand on the readers leg or arm and leaning in close. When Dad or Mom get home in the car, he runs out to the garage and wants to give the horn a quick honk. Reece loves when he is able to help Dad or Mom with something. He loves cutting something for dinner, turning the blender or food processor on and off, helping dad with the lawn or with watering, or any other project we are doing that he can find a role in. He also enjoys getting moths or other bugs out of the house for us. He is braver than Mommy. Right now Reece insists on wearing a sleep mask to bed each night. And he still self soothes by putting his bicep up to his lips and making a sort of sucking motion. He also does this to fall asleep and needs a long sleeve shirt on to correctly do it - even in the middle of summer. And he has grown attached to a little bear beanie baby type toy that he calls Bear which also "needs" to fall asleep.

His favorite toys still are all things cars, trucks, and things that go. He loves monster trucks and Hot Wheels cars. He loves anything from the Disney movies Cars and he also really likes Paw Patrol. He loves playing with anyone in the family. He enjoys becoming a part of Ember's imaginative games and taking on the role she has for him. He loves chasing Kade back and forth around the yard or the house. He is really good at Perler beads. He likes coloring and practicing writing with colored pencils and than sharpening them. Reece likes to play Uno, Candy land, and Blokus. He really enjoys hide and seek. He loves going up and down Kade's new slide in the backyard and also running around and playing in the greenbelt. He enjoys playing a soccer game with Ember and just runs around the field giggling. He is also getting really good at hitting a baseball with a bat. One of Reece's favorite at home past times is riding different bikes and scooters from the front yard, to the back yard and then back to the front yard. 

There are definitely some things that Reece does not enjoy. He can be very sensitive to Ember joking around with him if he is not in the correct mood. He doesn't like if anything is out of order from what the usual routine is. Reece doesn't like when Kade is trying to touch something that he is doing and he feels helpless about how to stop Kade. 

Reece has grown and learned many new things this past year. He learned how to ride his two wheel bike without training wheels. He also learned how to ride his scooter that he got for Christmas this past year. Reece can now write his name and many other letters and numbers. He can identify pretty much all the upper case letters and is starting to work on knowing all the sounds that they make. Reece has always taken to numbers and patterns and can do some simple addition problems. He can get himself ready for the day completely by getting dressed and brushing his teeth and he does a good job and putting his toys and laundry away. He just recently learned how to pump on a swing and enjoys doing that whenever we are at a park. Reece is also able to make his favorite lunch - almond butter, honey, banana tortilla wrap. 

We love our sweet Reece and appreciate his personality - both his strengths and weaknesses. He is a good friend, usually a good brother, one who is always looking for a fun time and wants to be hugged, cuddled, and tickled hourly. We love you Reece! 

Birthday Fun:

Reece wanted chia pudding for breakfast

He got to open one present in the morning. 

We did a small park party with some of his closet friends and Grandma and Grandpa around lunch. We picked up one of his favorites (Chick Fil- A) for everyone. 

He got to open more presents after we got back home from his party

Later, we surprised Reece with a "new" bigger bike.

We had pizza for dinner and then went to Dairy Queen for a birthday treat! 

Reece's 5 Year Interview:

Favorite color? Blue and green

Favorite toy? Legos

Favorite food? Cereal

A food you don't really like? Pickles and jalapenos

Favorite thing to watch? Umi Zoomi

Favorite place to go? Cancun Resort in Las Vegas

Favorite book? "Things that Go" fold out book

Favorite song? "Twinkle Twinkle"

Favorite restaurant? Chick Fil-A

Favorite thing to do each day? Go to parks

Favorite thing to do with Mommy? Play games

Favorite thing to do with Daddy? Get tickled

What makes you happy? Daddy tickling me and taking naps

What is something scary? Ghosts

What are you really good at? Swinging and going down the slide with no sides on it

Who is your best friend? Micah Mews, Graeme Crozier, Sam Magness, Eisley Drayton, Owen Probert and Owen Kayser

What do you want to be when you grow up? Police Man

What do you think about before you fall asleep? Looking at Kade in his crib

Here are some more pictures of Reece from the past year:

Kade - 2 Years Old

KADE TURNS TWO!!

Wow! What a fast two years it is been. Kade is small for his age but he is FULL of personality And he isn't one to let people take advantage of him because he is little. He has a very loud voice and scream. He is silly and loves to laugh and make others laugh. He is really picking up on new words and combining words to ask for things or explain things. He is a mommy's boy through and through but loves wrestling and being tickled by dad. We love him so much and I can't count how many times Ember and Reece have said "Isn't he the cutest?" 

At age two, Kade weighs about 21 lbs. and is 32.5 inches tall. He is the shortest of our kids at this age. Kade is now sleeping upstairs in the room with Reece at night time. They are usually in bed by 7:30 and both fall asleep really fast. Then they are awake and playing together in the morning between 6:00-6:30. Kade takes an afternoon nap still every day in the pack n play in mommy and daddy's room from around 1:00-4:00. He is a very good sleeper.

"Little but loud" is the perfect way to describe Kade. He doesn't let his size keep him from anything. He is a climber. He runs fast and plays hard. He is always trying to keep up with his older siblings and do what they are doing. He loves to repeat words that we say and is constantly trying to vocalize and explain things to us. When he doesn't get his way or his personal space is invaded when he doesn't want it to be he will scream or yell "no."  He is thankfully starting to learn to say "no thank you" and "stop please." 

Kade has many favorite things. At the top of the list is for sure playing with Ember and Reece. He loves it when Ember does Superman with him and fly's him around. He loves when Reece and him run around the dining room table or from the kitchen to mommy and daddy's room. He also loves to copy what they are doing and saying to the best of his ability. Kade loves being outside whether to play in the back yard, play at a park, or go for a walk. He loves playing in dirt and getting it all over himself. He loves to swing. We constantly find him in the office or upstairs with books spread across the floor and him looking at one. He truly loves books with his favorites being "Where is Baby's Belly Button?",  "Growl Growl on the Prowl" and "Slide N' See." Kade loves to watch airplanes take off and land when we walk close to the airport. He runs to the office when he hears the garbage truck so he can stand by the window and watch it empty our trash can. He loves to be tickled and constantly says "more." He enjoys wearing other family members clothes and will consistently come parading around in my shirt, dad's shorts, or anyone's shoes. This little guy LOVES to eat and wakes up asking for breakfast. His favorite foods are cashews, macaroni, "bar", waffle, banana, fruit strip, cereal, crackers, hot dog, and blueberries. He is also obsessed with having ice in his water and eating ice on it's own as well. He still loves baths and also still enjoys pulling items out of the recycle bin. He likes to dance and enjoys when we sing to him. His favorite songs are "Twinkle Twinkle" and "Sunshine." 

Kade has many favorite toys and games that he enjoys playing. He loves to play with his new slide outside and the water table during the warm months. He likes playing with our big outdoor dump truck and bulldozer. He loves playing with a calculator as a phone. He is constantly running around the house pushing the toy shopping cart with or without things in it. He loves balloons and water balloons. He plays with the train table but also enjoys taking the tracks apart. He is obsessed with coloring when the kids are and calls all art supplies "color-ee". He likes drawing with chalk and playing with stickers. He enjoys Play-dough even though he still sometimes eats it. Kade enjoys throwing or rolling any sort of ball back and forth as well. 

Kade really doesn't like being told "no" if he is doing something he shouldn't. He also doesn't like if someone has something that he would like and doesn't give it to him. He will loudly say "mine." He is getting better at saying "turn" or "share" instead. Kade isn't a big fan of his car seat. He wants to be out and moving. He gets sad when Ember and Reece are doing something that he can't do or that he will mess up. Kade isn't a huge fan of eating meat. And he is beginning to dislike the stroller since he enjoys walking and running so much.  There are a few things that Kade is scared of and he lets us know by saying "scary." He is afraid of big dogs, thunder, ride on lawn mowers, the fertilizer spreader, and the potty. 

Since 18 months, Kade has learned to say many more words and phrases. Some of his most common are "Hi baby." " Bless you." "Did it!" "Snack?" "Grandma. Grandpa. Dinner. Car." "Scary" "Water... ice." Kade has also learned how to sing some. He loves to mix songs and will sing things like "Twinkle twinkle birthday." He also does the "ah, ahhh, ah, ahh" from Frozen 2. Kade has learned to go up and down stairs safely by himself. He knows how to clean up some. He can drink out of his water bottle and somewhat use a spoon and fork. He also is able to take his shoes off. 

Kade often walks around with his hands behind his back and will shrug his shoulders with a cute little face. He has added the sound "ee" to the end of many words when he says them such as ball-ee, cold-ee (ice) and color-ee. He will run around shaking his arms and head around in a crazy fashion just to be silly. He is a demanding parrot when he wants something and will incessantly say the word for what he wants over and over until someone helps him. 

If I had to sum Kade's personality up in a few words I would say he is silly, sweet, and passionate. He is different than his siblings and adds so much to our family. He is challenging to live with at times but makes up for it with his smiley, fun-loving attitude. We are so thankful to have Kade as part of our family and couldn't imagine life without him. We love you, Kade!  

Birthday Activities! 

We started the day off with some donuts!

Then Kade got to open his presents and play on his new slide

The big two year old! 

Lifegroup came over and we did a little birthday celebration for Kade and another little girl in our group who was turning 7. I made sprinkle popcorn, sprinkle rice krispies, and sprinkle ice cream sandwiches. 

Here are some more pictures Kade from 18 months till now! 

Kade - 18 Months

Our baby is not quite so much like a baby anymore! He is 18 months old and really starting to look and act more and more like a toddler. 

Kade is ___ lbs and ___ inches tall. He is such a little guy who still wears some 6-12 month clothes. Kade takes only one nap on most days which starts around 1:00 and he sleeps for 1.5 - 3 hours. He goes to bed between 7:00-7:30 and wakes up anywhere between 6:30-7:30 most days. He still sleeps in a pack n play in the office at night and a pack n play in our bedroom for naps. Kade is in size 3 diapers and already has 15-16 teeth in his little mouth. He has a few nicknames - we fondly call him the Kade-inator and Kipples. 

Kade truly is such a sweet little boy and I can't go anywhere without someone commenting on how cute he is. He loves smiling at people and saying "Hi." He wears a little green puffer jacket that people absolutely love on him. And he just looks too little to be running around like he does.

Kade is starting to say some words. He consistently says hi, mama, dada, sissy, Reece, nigh nigh, wa wa, eat, baby and ball. He is getting really good at imitating and can copy us saying many other phrases like "please" and "thank you." He will also imitate Ember saying "Maci, you have to go potty" when she is letting Maci out. Kade also really loves to sing. He will copy parts of certain songs such as sing his version of "you are" at the end of the line in Way Maker that says "that is who you are." He also really likes to try and imitate the "ahhh ah ahhh" sound in the Frozen 2 song Into the Unknown. 

It is amazing how much kids learn at this age. Kade is getting really good at following simple directions. Kade will usually help clean up when asked, he for sure knows what "do you want to eat means" and will run to his booster. He can sign more and all done. He can shake his head yes and no and usually does it correctly. Kade can touch his nose and head when asked where each is. And he puts his hands above his head when we ask him "How big is Kade?" 

Kade loves physical touch. He is always right in the middle of tickles to make sure that he gets his turn. He will run over and just lay on the ground to make it easy for us to tickle him. He is most ticklish under his chin on his neck. One of our favorite things that he will do is if Dustin and I are both in the kitchen he will run back and forth between the two of us hugging our legs over and over again. He also will make a "muahh" sound and come toward your face for a kiss when asked for a kiss or he sees someone else giving a kiss.

You wouldn't know by looking at Kade that he absolutely loves to eat. I cannot count how many times a day he says "eat." He is a little picky with what he eats so the quantity of food is more impressive than the different types of food. Some of his favorite foods right now are: waffle, blender pancakes, muffins, macaroni and cheese, cheese crisp, pizza, shepherd pie, chicken pot pie soup, banana, Cutie, applesauce, blueberries, cooked peas, french fries, fig bar, crackers, and cookies. 

Kade loves to play and is always busy running around the house trying to keep up with Ember and Reece. They are his favorite "toy" and he is always wanting to go upstairs if they are up there playing. They are so sweet with him and enjoy playing with him too. Ember will put him on her legs and go "1, 2, 3, GO!" and then do superman with him. He also says his version of this when going to bed, in the car, or before running from one room to the other. Reece likes to hide from Kade and then give him clues and hints so Kade can find him. They both also like to build things out of blocks or other stacking toys and let Kade run over and knock them down. 

Kade enjoys playing by himself too and does well entertaining himself when everyone else is busy. He has gotten the nickname "Recycle Monster" because he loves pulling all the empty boxes and papers out of the little recycle bin in our office and spreading them all over the house. Kade also loves pulling his little snail pull toy around the house, throwing or kicking any ball that he can find, and climbing into any cardboard box laying around. He also enjoys playing with cars and will drive them around the floor while making a "vroom" noise. He LOVES hitting balloons around the house. He enjoys his cute little hedgehog toy and also hitting the balls in his xylophone toy with a hammer. He is getting better and better at his shape sorter toy as well and also really likes books. I will often find him just sitting somewhere on the ground looking through a book. 

Kade is to the age where he really really wants to be running around outside, taking walks, and playing on the playgrounds at parks but he isn't safe doing any of those things on his own. But when given the chance, he will gladly take it. He truly enjoys the outdoors. Kade will climb up the stairs at parks and go down slides all by himself. And he loves just running around in circles when outside. We have been doing a lot of hikes when the weather is nice enough and he behaves well in the Kelty hiking carrier but our hikes are numbered before he will really only be content walking. 

Kade is such a silly little boy and boy, can he ham it up. He still loves to scrunch up his nose and make other silly faces at all of us. He enjoys walking backwards and spinning in circles. He is always doing silly things like putting things on his head - including his siblings clean underwear when I am trying to do laundry. He also likes to walk with his stomach sticking out in front of him. He is consistently making us laugh with his little sense of humor. 

Kade is for sure starting to find his own voice and opinion. He is really good at squawk-screaming when Ember or Reece are doing something that he does like. He is also starting to through himself on the ground when he doesn't get his way. Kade will occasionally hit people or things when he is upset. He does however do a fairly good job about listening when we tell him "no touch." The things he struggles with the most is climbing things that are not safe for him to climb even when we say no and touching things that are new and exciting to the environment. Thankfully, he gets over his tantrum rather quickly and is ready to play happily once again.

Kade still really loves baths and playing with the toys in the water. He doesn't love long car rides or running errands for too long. He is really starting to enjoy playing in new places like at the Aquaplex or the church nursery during my Bible study. Kade doesn't like things being taken from him by us or his siblings. He loves when it is meal/snack time but doesn't like getting his face wiped in his booster. And he loves jabbering to me first thing when we get him up in the morning or after his nap. It's as if he is catching us up on all we missed since we saw him last. 

Kade truly is a gift to our family. We are so thankful that God added him to our family. Our lives wouldn't be the same without our sweet Kade and we can't wait to see what plans God has for him. 

A few more pictures: