Birthday Boy

On Sunday February 5th, Nathan turned 5!

I can hardly believe that 5 years have passed since he came into our lives.  I have been there every step of the way watching him grow, but there are moments when I am stunned at how grown up he is.

Stats:

weight 47 lbs

height 45 1/2"

Nathan loves life.  He is all about fun, activities and action.  Just about every day, the very first thing he asks me is "So Mom, what are we doing today?" He wants the daily run down of everything cool and wonderful for him to look forward to.  The down side to this ritual is we don't have cool and wonderful things happening every day, at least not things that he thinks are cool, like laundry.  On those days my answer is "Who knows Nate, the day is only beginning,  You have your amazing imagination to take you where ever you want to go!"  His response is usually a sigh or groan. 

Sometimes Nathan has a difficult time enjoying the moment. He gets in the rut of thinking "the grass is greener on the other side."  The next activity will be better so we should do it right now!  I am trying to help him realize that mentality never satisfies.  He resists it but after a while he relaxes and finds himself having a blast and not thinking that something else would be more fun.

Nathan loves to help with projects and household chores, especially if it means helping get the job done faster so we can plan on a fun activity.  On days when Curtis is home, Nathan follows him everywhere.  He wants to be in the thick of it, painting, drilling, hammering, weeding, you name it.  If Pappi is doing it so is Nathan.  He also likes to help me out with the household jobs.  He dusts, vacuums, shines windows/mirrors and does a good enough job that I don't bother redoing it after him, which is saying a lot about his cleaning skills.  He really likes to help me cook and bake.  He is in heaven if I let him use a "real" knife to chop veggies.

Nathan still has some issues with throwing fits, but he has assured us that since he is 5 now, he won't throw fits anymore.  I have already had to remind him of that promise several times.

Nathan is still 100% percent boy.  He loves sports of all kinds and he is good at them.  He is very coordinated and capable for a little dude.  He has been able to dribble a ball since he was 4, and can even make a basket on Pappi's hoop when it's on the lowest level.  He has discovered a love of climbing trees as long as they have low branches.  Nathan adores monster trucks, car races, and shooting guns.  He is still out to get the "malo corre camino" that frequents our neighborhood.  And his bike, scooter and skate board get used very frequently.  

Coloring, drawing and writing are becoming more and more interesting to him as he grows older.  His coloring pages from church used to consist of a few spare squiggles from one color of crayon.  Now he attempts to color most of the picture and even attempts to stay in the lines.  He really enjoys his preschool and is absorbing everything he learns there.  He is still very inquisistive and asks a million questions a day.   

Funny Nathan Tidbits:

Nathan thinks he is an expert on China.  If you ask him where he wants to serve his mission he responds "China, and I'm going to meet the Karate Kid and be his friend!"  At least once a day Nathan mentions China in some random manner, why people in China do certain things, like certain things, say certain things etc.  For example, while eating food that includes ketchup, he always brings up the fact that: "In China, people eat ketchup on everything!  In their water, on their toast, they even dip their banans in it."  And he is completely serious and animated as he is explaining this to us.

Nathan LONGS to have a Wii of his very own.  He has friends and cousins who have Wii's and he will play them as long as he possibly can when ever he can.  But when he is inbetween Wii experiences, he plays his imaginary Wii at home.  He stands in front of our blank TV with the DVD player remote in hand, and imagines himself playing his favorite games complete with sound effects and actions. You can't imagine the looks he gets from his Wii owning buddies, when they come play at our house and he asks "Hey, do you want to play imaginary Wii!?!?!"  No they don't.

Nathan has out grown lots of cute little sayings and word pronounciations.  But as he grows older and learns new bigger words, he still has a few funny sayings that are unique to him.

thirst = first

displode = explode

laxtricity = electricity

Hamily Fome Evening = Family Home Evening

We love our Nene, and look forward to another year of experiencing life as he continues on his childhood journey!