Dylan is 5!!!

On July 6th, Dylan turned 5! Seems like yesterday (well maybe not quite yesterday but certainly not 5 years ago) that we brought this little smooch home from the hospital. I can't even believe my baby boy is 5 years old. Yes, I know it's totally cliche to say but cliche's are around for a reason.

Leading up to Dylan's birthday, there was lots of excitement surrounding turning 5 and his big birthday bash. He understood it like never before and the anticipation definitely got to him. One morning he asked me, "Mom, why is it taking so long for my birthday to get here?!?" We really played up doing things the last time as a 4 year old, talking about all the things he's learned as a 4 year old and discussing things he'll learn\do as a 5 year old. He was pretty into the whole thing.

Dylan's Last Picture as a 4 Year Old

He is such an awesome kid and I am one lucky mom. At 5 years old, Dylan is so many wonderful things. To Cade, he is a caring big brother who enjoys teaching and helping. Sure there are the occasional toy spats, but for the most part, they are amazing good friends and Dylan loves him so. To me, he is a sweet, sweet boy. He enjoys snuggling with me in bed in the morning and sitting in my lap watching tv at night. Those are 2 of my favorite times of the day. He's certainly becoming more independent and having trouble listening\obeying more frequently, but all in all he's a pretty obedient kid. He likes knowing the rules and letting the rest of us know them as well. 

Big Brother and Little Brother Helping Dad Take the Wagon to the Town Beach

One of the reasons he's had a harder time listening in recent months is due to him finally dropping his afternoon nap. I know, kind of insane that he's kept it around this long but he's just functioned better with it. The rare times he misbehaves, fatigue is usually to blame. We had mostly dropped his nap in January, but a nasty cold upon our return from our California vacation brought it back. They've been less frequent since then but not dropped altogether until really a couple of months ago. There were days he was such a wreck that we had him take one, only to watch him toss and turn in his monitor for up to 2 hours at night. He just can't do it anymore. Hence, late afternoon and evenings can often be tough for him (and us!). 

Dylan has quite the imagination. He loves to play on and around our fireplace hearth (walking through our living room can often be quite dangerous). He'll set up figures, duplo\lego blocks and other toys and play elaborate "games" or "levels" to defeat which will entertain him for hours. As a mostly introverted guy, it's surprising that his favorite things (still) are usually of the spooky variety. He loves pretending to be a mummy in a coffin or a zombie. I know, totally sound morbid, but it's actually pretty cute through the play of an innocent 5 year old. Not surprisingly, Scooby Doo is one of his favorite shows. He also recently got into Transformers (which became his birthday party theme...post to come). Like his Dad, he's a movie nut and often asks to watch one of the many from our large collection of DVD's.  Also on the electronic front, he's become a video game lover. He very much enjoys playing Skylanders, Disney Infinity on the PS3 and has several favorites on the iPad - Monster 500, Plants Vs Zombies as well as several interactive books and learning games. For his birthday, he got an I Spy video game that he also really enjoys. 

Wearing His "Silly" Glasses for His Vision Test

One of the things we played up that he learned as a 4 year old was singing. He was never a big singer but preschool helped make him in to more of one (preschool performances excluded). He very often makes up his own songs and now has a lot more confidence to join in and sing along with me at night during his bed time routine or when familiar songs are on tv or the radio. His growing independence has also given him the desire and skills to dress himself. It just wasn't something he was interested in. Now, we're pushing him to dress himself in the morning and get his pajamas on by himself at night. He's really funny in the morning sometimes when he hides behind the bed to dress without our peering eyes and then claims that Cici (our cat) dressed him. Silly boy!

About a week after his birthday, I took him in for his 5 year check up. He really is a growing boy! At 44.75 pounds (85%), giving him piggy back rides is becoming a hard workout and 45.5 inches tall makes him eligible for almost every Disneyworld ride he'll want to go on in September. Maybe we'll get him some thick soled shoes to bump him up to 46" for that one ride.

We just love our big boy to pieces!