I remember thinking, before I had my own kids, how 5 years old was soooooo old. I'd hear of colleagues who had 5 year olds and I'd immediately get the same feeling I had while in my teen years thinking that 30 years was so old. That I'd never be that old. And that my kids would never be 5 years old. The idea of it was too fuzzy. It seemed way too far off in the distance to even grasp it. It was for someone else's life, but not my own.
And here we are.
Welcoming Max to the age of five. Welcoming our family to "school-age."
It's such an exciting time. Seeing personality traits and interests deepening and becoming an even more important part of who Max is. Making me realize that his traits that have been here since birth are here to stay.
Max has always been, and I'm guessing always will be incredibly expressive. He's emotive and animated and articulate. He's quick to get worked up, but usually pretty quick to calm back down. He's got conviction. Man does he have conviction. At times we need to agree to disagree as he likes to toss around "Actually, I KNOW..." He KNOWS a lot for a five year old:) And then their are those "Because I'm the Mom, that's why" (eeek! yikes!) times.
He's so curious in a listening and learning and wants to find out kind of way. He has an attention span. Although he's "all boy" we've never had a problem or heard from teachers that he can't sit still. As long as he's engaged he'll sit for hours and listen to books or watch something being built.
He likes his alone time. Which is odd to grasp, because when he's with other people he doesn't stop talking and trying to get their attention...yet as quick as he's trying to get everyone to pay attention to him, he's telling us he wants to be by himself. That there are too many people around (specifically in his school classroom).
On this note, he tried soccer a couple times, and quickly gave up on it both times. He hated the masses of kids on the team and spectators in the gym. For a year he's been asking to take violin lessons because "There are just a couple kids in the violin lessons and I like that better." Finally I got my act together - violin lessons start Saturday. We'll see if the solo/small group setting is any better for Max's extracurriculars.
At five years Max seems to be getting ready for Kindergarten. He's asking for more "curriculum" at school. Free Play time is when he gets into trouble...trolling for trouble I always think when it's free time without having a project/challenge/goal. He's working on building up his self control/self policing of his behavior in these environments. He loves his enrichment classes. He loves Hebrew, and that teacher tells us he is so well behaved, engaged, learning and smiling. He loves his "Master Chef" class where he cooks. He wishes his teachers would bring his class outside more in the winter (I agree).
He's enjoying practicing writing words and learning to read. I'm pretty sure his favorite thing all day is reading out of chapter books (listening to Mom and Dad read to him out of chapter books). It's also become my favorite part of the day. We have been devouring books - every night my throat is dry from reading aloud for an hour. We have a list a mile long of classic kid's books I read when younger and it's a blast re-reading them and experiencing them through Max's imagination. The other day we read Roald Dahl's "Fantastic Mr Fox" which is both of our current favorite. When we need to separate him and Otto if they're getting on each other's nerves, Max can't wait to put on headphones and listen to books on the iphone.
The older Max gets, the more I can't wait to see what the next day brings. What the next years will bring. At this age, when I watch him sleep, he is definitely a 5 year old. I can still see his baby face, while catching a glimpse of what he'll look like as a teenager. I like it.
Happy Five Years, Max!!!
Max with his friends Owen and Max H at his party. The two Maxes are BFFs at school, so it was only fitting Max H showed up to Max S's party wearing the same shirt. His party was at an indoor playground and I must say it was the easiest party we've ever hosted. Everyone played and then came together for dirt cake and some presents!
Max with a couple birthday balloons. This is the best picture I have of him from his 5th Birthday. If he sees the camera he runs away or makes goofy, forced smiles:)
Grandma Diane and Papa John came over for pizza delivery dinner and cupcakes
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