Brayden - 5 years old

Brayden is all about "I am bigger than Lilly" and "I can stay up earlier than Lilly because I am older now".  That is the reasoning we now get with a 5 year old in the house.  I doesn't necessarily get him anywhere but that is how is brain is thinking.

In the 1 short month that we have had Legos in the house, Brayden has become a master Lego builder.  The only problem he has is when he is taking them back apart and can't pull two of the skinny pieces apart (which is quite hard to do if you recall).  Rarely does he come to us for help in putting a set together...he is quite detail oriented and likes to follow the instructions exactly (just like me!)

He continues to love learning and is really trying to learn to read...I think I need to work with him some more on site words and phonics, but if he is in the mood, he can sound out most words.  He can also do some basic math, occasionally in his head without using fingers to count.

At his 5 yr check up last week, we had to fill out the "Ages and Stages" questionnaire form.  A good bit of the form, required Brayden's input vs me just marking yes/no as to whether he could do a task.  There was only 1 thing that I couldn't mark yes by and it was "Can your child repeat both of these sentences back without making any mistakes?"  There were 2 8ish word sentences (both were sort of tongue twisters at that) that I had to read him and then have him repeat them back to me.  He did one with out problem, but the other he left out a word or two.  Not a big deal in my book!

1st warm day of spring... happy to be outside with no coat!

1st time bowling - he loved it!

Sprinklers Memorial Day weekend - before the tree came down in a storm!

Drawing with his shin guards on because who knows when you might need to play a little soccer!

Napping with Daddy at the beach

Early NCSU football game...when we were actually winning games this year!

Child labor at its best! He asked to help...why not let him try!

Building at Wesley's birthday party

His handwriting is amazing and he makes most of the letters correctly (facing the right way, etc) and uses upper and lower case letters appropriately 70ish% of the time.  I have been making him write Thank You notes for his birthday presents (we do a few a night) and he has been doing a great job. Brayden continues to love drawing as well.  Several moms from daycare have commented on his detailed drawings and good handwriting skills.  I guess this just comes naturally, because neither Matt nor I have great drawing or handwriting abilities. 

"at" words - He does this all on his own, every. single. day!

Airplane in hanger with tree and squirrels

Fire truck

Truck with trailer and jeep

As for growth, he has actually jumped up a bit on the growth curve!  For the 1st time ever (I think) Brayden is above 10% for height or weight!  The official stats were:

             height: 42" (29%)
             weight: 37.8lbs (27%)

I have no idea when he got so big and heavy!!   Some nights, he barely eats any dinner and then runs around like crazy all day long.  I guess he really is growing while he is sleeping though!  Speaking of sleeping, Brayden has been taking naps at school again the past month or month and a half.  He was down to 2-3 per week, but recently, he has been napping every day, although sometimes for only 30-40 minutes. 

Brayden continues to love all things sports...baseball and soccer are the only 2 that we have actually tried, but he loves both.  We took a break this winter, but Brayden does still get to do soccer weekly at school which is nice.  We will pick back up with soccer in the spring....he was asked to "move up" a level in the YMCA soccer program.  The coaches from the spring and fall (both daycare dads) picked some of the "more advanced" kids and asked if they would like to move up a level in the spring.  The next level up is for kids that are already in kindergarten, but they got special permission from the YMCA to bring this 1 team up.  I think Brayden will enjoy the challenge and will hopefully have FUN and learn a few more things along the way!

Baseball at Nana and BBs house

First t-ball game/practice ever!

On 2nd base

A normal around our house...football jersey and helmet are daily attire around here these days

Brayden and his best buddy Zach playing soccer

Award winner for t-ball!

Practicing his punts back this spring

Matt's Graduation

So I am going back to May on this (yeah...I am bit behind on a few things).

Matt graduated (for the 3rd time!) back on May 10, 2013.  This time with a Bachelor's degree from ECU in Industrial Technology.  He did all of the classes online (I can't imagine doing that...ugh!) and finally met several of his professors at graduation. 

Marching into graduation

Getting his diploma

Marching out again

This degree was achieved while working full time, playing soccer, being fairly involved a church, and with 2 kids.  His hardest semester (3 crazy hard classes) was the semester that started when Lilly was about 1 week old.  I begged him to drop a class, but he (we all) made it though :) 

The kids had fun with Grammy and Paw while we were at graduation too!

We are supper proud of Daddy/Matt and his big achievement!   We love you!!

The end of T-ball 2013

T-ball ended this past weekend.  Brayden had a blast, learned a lot thanks to his wonderful coaches (Coach Amanda and Coach Eric), and he had determined that he wants to play again!  Matt and I have also enjoyed hanging out with some of the parents from daycare a bit more...between soccer, t-ball, and birthdays, we have all gotten to know each other a bit better this past year, which has been very nice!

By the end of the season, "tackle" t-ball was no longer and they were starting to get the hang of the game.  Brayden and his buddy Zachary especially were hitting the ball HARD (like onto the other field hard).  Hopefully we can keep the same team (or most of the same team) next year so that they can only get better together!

Go Twins!!

A few pictures from the last game (official pictures to come in the mail soon I hope!) 

He looks so grown up in this picture.  I think the eye-black is doing it!

Pre-game pep talk

Team huddle

Happy Halloween!

The weekend before Halloween, we took a Saturday morning trip to the farmers market and got 2 pumpkins and enjoyed the fall weather.   We also got some local honey and the kids snacked on some apples :)

That night, in the comfort of our garage, we carved the pumpkins.  Brayden was in charge of what the pumpkins were going to look like this year.  While we cooked dinner, he very seriously drew out exactly what he wanted his pumpkins to look like and then after some "consulting" with Lilly, he drew what her pumpkin was to look like.   Brayden chose a "mean" face for his pumpkin and a "cat" face for Lilly's pumpkin.  Looking back, I think the carvers (ie Matt and I) could have probably done a bit better job to make the features a bit more exaggerated (especially the "mean" face that I did), but the kids were happy with the outcome of both pumpkins.   Didn't Brayden do a great job designing the pumpkins this year!  I was especially impressed with the cat face he drew!

Lilly's cat pumpkin

Brayden's "mean" pumpkin

We spent Halloween with our friends from church again this year, which is always fun.  We have some quick food (pizza this year) and then head out.  The Westfalls live in a great neighborhood with just the right number of houses for our kids, especially the little girls.

After much debate in the store, Brayden chose to be Captain America!  He had been saying for a while that he wanted to be Batman, then once we were in the store, it was Superman, then Spiderman, the Captain America, then Batman...and on and on it went.  I finally said "You Have to Make a DECISION!!"  and he settled on Captain America. 

Brayden and John.... both as Captain America!  We were definitly safe trick or treating with these 2 boys!

Brayden, Brian, and John

Lilly was a Zebra this year.  Mainly, because my mom bought the outfit for her last year, but it was WAY too big last year (even though it was a 12 month outfit!)  This year, it fit perfectly :)  I doubt I can get away with dressing her as a cute, cuddly animal next year so I figured we had better take advantage of the time and go with the outfit this year!

Brayden, John, and Brian took off running this year.  Thankfully, Aunt Amy, Uncle Joe, and Daddy went with the boys so that the rest of us could take the little girls at a slightly slower pace.  Lilly was much more interested in looking at everything and everyone than at actually trick or treating, although she did start figuring it out by the end.  She was very polite and only took 1 piece of candy and always said "Thank you".

The kids left to right : Maddie (scarecrow), Grace (Minnie Mouse), Lilly, Brian (fireman), Jocelyn (Cinderella), John (Captain America), and Brayden

Brayden's 5th Birthday Party(s)

Yes...I said parties!  Brayden got to celebrate 3 separate times!  That is how we roll around here!

The Friday before his birthday, Matt and I took pudding cups, real whipped cream and sprinkles to school for his class' afternoon snack.  How they manage to get 24 4-5 yr old kids to sit still, be patient, and be quiet is beyond me.  It is amazing to watch the teachers do their magic!  The kids enjoyed their treat and Brayden was happy to have a little extra attention.  As an added bonus, Aunt Dana picked the kids up from school and she and Uncle John babysat that evening so that Matt and I could celebrate our anniversary :)

He has been asking for MONTHS to have his party at the "bounce house place where Kyle, Trey, and Parker had their parties".   Brayden has also been telling me that he wanted a Batman and Superman themed party for several months.   So we booked his party at Young's Gym in Wake Forest and had batman and superman cupcakes :)  He was happy, which is all that mattered!

The kids had a blast running around, bouncing, and playing.  They also seemed to enjoy the snacks afterwards.

The following day, our families came over and we had a cook out to celebrate on Brayden's actual birthday.  Apparently, the kids in Sunday School also sang to him :)   He got lots of cool new toys with his favorites being legos, a real baseball (t-ball) bat, and a couple of games. 

Getting ready to go up in the big swing...he conquered a fear by doing this!  So proud!

Flyin' High!

Batman and Superman cupcakes

Batman and Superman lollipops, grapes, and cupcakes (thanks to Amy for letting us borrow the awesome painted pumpkins!)

Lilly stared at the cupcake and never once touched it...

Legos!

Baseball bat!

Carolina Panthers Helmet :)

Easel and chalkboard from Uncle John and Aunt Dana