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!
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| 1st warm day of spring... happy to be outside with no coat! |
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| 1st time bowling - he loved it! |
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| Sprinklers Memorial Day weekend - before the tree came down in a storm! |
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| Drawing with his shin guards on because who knows when you might need to play a little soccer! |
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| Napping with Daddy at the beach |
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| Early NCSU football game...when we were actually winning games this year! |
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| Child labor at its best! He asked to help...why not let him try! |
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| 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.
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| "at" words - He does this all on his own, every. single. day! |
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| Airplane in hanger with tree and squirrels |
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| Fire truck |
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| 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!
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| Baseball at Nana and BBs house |
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| First t-ball game/practice ever! |
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| On 2nd base |
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| A normal around our house...football jersey and helmet are daily attire around here these days |
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| Brayden and his best buddy Zach playing soccer |
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| Award winner for t-ball! |
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| Practicing his punts back this spring |
