Sam turned FIVE in October. I still can’t believe we have a 5 year old!! It seems like he was just born! Sam’s birthday is right after the Kindergarten cut-off date in Virginia (September 30) and although I feel fairly confident that he’d be doing just fine in Kindergarten, I am pretty glad that we get to have a preschooler for an extra year.

Here is what our little five year old guy is up to these days.

• Weight: 42 lbs (58th percentile)
• Height: 45.5″ (89th percentile)
• Vision: This year they gave Sam a vision test at his checkup and he has great vision. Must have gotten that from his dad! (L: 20/20 R: 20/16)

• Behavior: So far 5 has been a very good age. Sam’s always a great kid, but he can be a little stubborn and likes to play rough, so earlier years have seen some interesting challenges. (Nothing too unusual but can be hard as a parent.) However, we have noticed that Sam really matured almost exactly on his fifth birthday. He has much more self-control, communicates at a really high level, and he is quick to apologize when he does something wrong. One thing we are still working on is being gentler with Campbell, and we are working on how to deal with frustration and anger in a non-physical way.

• School: Sam really loves school and it has been so fun to see him grow academically and socially. He loves all of his friends at school and is pretty good about telling us all the things they did that day when I go to pick him up. I wasn’t sure whether we should sign him up for 4 or 5 days but I am really glad we went with 5 days. He has such a good time there and I still get to spend plenty of time with him in the afternoons.

• Sleep: Sam has completely stopped napping but he still has “quiet time” every day where he can basically do whatever he wants as long as he does it on his own. That is my time to work and have some peace and quiet. Plus I think it is good for kids to learn how to entertain themselves. He goes to bed every night at around 8 and is usually asleep by 9. He wakes up most days at about 8. (The pic below is from this past summer when he fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep even after we moved him onto the couch. This is probably the only time that has happened since he was an infant.)

• Food: Sam is still a good eater. He certainly has his preferences but will try just about everything. I just asked him what his favorite foods are and he said “apples, pizza, district taco, and ice cream. Oh and macaroni and cheese and smoothies” 🙂

• Sibling relationships: although, as I just mentioned, Sam can be a little too rough with Campbell, overall they have a very sweet relationship! They really like to play together, which is mainly Sam coming up with elaborate plans and giving Campbell orders. It works for them! They are still sharing a room and it is so fun to listen to them after we have put them to bed for the night. Such hilarious conversations. The biggest problem in that arrangement is that Campbell likes to stay up later and wake up earlier (since she still naps). Sam does NOT like being woken up (and I don’t blame him!)

 

• Playing: Sam is a very active. When the weather is nice all he wants to do is play outside and run around. He is very imaginative and most of his inside games involve creating buildings and weapons with magnets or legos, and then acting out stories with them. He is not a big fan of arts activities (and his handwriting/fine motor skills are something we need to work on as a result) but he does like play-doh. He LOVES playing video games, but he can mainly only do that on the weekends. (I do occasionally let him play “learning games” on the tablet on week days).

Sam, you have made the last 5 (plus) years a joy and an adventure. We love you so so much and feel so lucky to be your mommy and daddy! (Thanks to Tom Kise Photography for these great shots with our little guy)