I am late in posting this (though I will backdate it), and I’ll have to do it at first without photos and come back and add them later, but I cannot let another day pass without recognizing that Thomas turned six on April 20!
It is so hard to believe that he has been part of our world for six years. The years truly do pass in the blink of an eye. It has been another big year for Thomas; he went from reading simple three-letter words to reading beginner chapter books; he played more soccer and gave a first try to coach-pitch baseball; he went on his first overnight camping trip with his Daddy; he started kindergarten; and he started crossing the street (in our quiet neighborhood) without me always holding his hand. There is no doubt about it, our little boy is growing up!
I’ll start with school first. He continues to do just fine with school. His greatest challenge is staying focused on his work (no matter how boring or tedious he may find it!). His greatest success has been his reading. I am continually blown away by how well he is doing with this. Recently in church he picked up a simple chapter book (about 50 pages with bigger letters, but not huge) about the history of trains. He started reading it and I looked down and saw the word “difficulties.” I leaned down and reminded him that if he came to a word he didn’t know, I wanted him to ask me about it. He said “okay” and kept reading. I pointed out that word and asked him if he knew what that was (I was certain he did not!), and he said, “Yeah, ‘difficulties.’” Needless to say, he didn’t ask for my help with anything and he was finished with the book by communion.
Verbally, he continues to excel. It’s funny to look back at his previous yearly updates and it seems that ever since he started talking, I’ve been saying this about him. His teacher comments about it (his extensive vocabulary and and his perfect diction) and she is not the only one. I did learn recently that I have to be careful about one thing…. I have always corrected his grammar and speech. I cannot stand to hear bad English – and certainly not from my child! :) It really kind of hurts my ears. Anyway, so he is very used to being corrected. He now constantly corrects Parker when he says something improperly. He’ll say something like, “Parker, ‘catched’ is not a word. It doesn’t make sense. You need to say “I caught the ball.'” Recently, I said to him “how do you like them apples?” and he looked at me like I had two heads and said, “WHAT?!” I explained to him that it was just an expression and I know it’s not proper English. He volunteered that his assistant teacher doesn’t always talk right. I told him that was okay and he should not correct her! He said, “I know! I won’t! She would give me a weed!” (That’s the way they are punished in his class). Ha ha.
I’m not sure if he has a career as an athlete, however. :) After soccer last fall, he told me he didn’t want to play anything anymore for a while. He sort of liked the games, but doesn’t like having to be serious and focus and he wasn’t happy that he didn’t score goals very often. Most of his friends were playing baseball (coach pitch) this spring and Parker was going to play t-ball and I felt like Thomas would regret not playing. So I didn’t push him, but I asked him about it more than once, and finally he agreed that he did want to play (as long as he could be on the team with one particular friend – and that friend’s mom assured me that the coach of their team was the perfect one for a beginner like Thomas). So far, it has worked out okay. He’s not the best hitter on the team (in fact, he is the only one who usually “strikes out” (a term used loosely because you don’t strike out until you have had about 10 strikes) at least once a game (and I think it has only been once (of three at-bats) in each game. BUT, he has a great attitude. He reminds me all the time that baseball is just for fun and he assures me that he is having fun. He throws well, but is still working on mastering the art of catching the ball. I am proud of him for his good attitude about it all. He has never cried about striking out or pitched a fit or anything like that.
Changing gears, I’ll talk about food. He is a much better eater at this age. I am thankful I had a mother who always made me try everything on my plate because this has worked with Thomas. We have a vegetable with every meal and he used to protest mightily to eat just about all of them. Now he tells me, “You know, this asparagus/broccoli/zucchini/insert other vegetable is not so bad!” We also make him drink a glass of milk with his dinner and he does that (even though he is still not a fan).
He remains a friendly, social child. He rarely meets a stranger and likes to talk, tell stories and ask questions. He seems to change who is “best friend” is monthly, but his absolute best friend in the whole world has to be his brother. They adore each other. They fight and bicker, of course, but they also love to be around each other all of the time and I am thankful that they will always have each other! Oh, and he is convinced (and the feeling is mutual) that he and his friend Lily will marry one day. I think he feels this way mainly because she told him so. Good boy. Understand early to go along with what the girl says. ;)
Thomas will go for his official Well Child Visit in a few weeks, but size wise, he seems to be pretty average (or slightly above). He’s not the tallest in the class, but he’s not the shortest either. He weighs about 52 pounds and wears mostly 5Ts, 5s and 6s.
I’ll have to do a questionnaire with him over the next few days and let him answer the questions to the important things in his life these days!
Six years! More fingers than are on one hand! It’s sad and wonderful all at the same time. He drives us crazy sometimes when he’s hyper, loud and crazy, but he more than makes up for it when he is sweet and loving and smart. I am so proud of the little boy he is becoming and I feel completely blessed to be his Mommy. Happy birthday Thomas! Please slow down time so you can stop growing up so fast!
