Life in Texas: Caden is 5!!

Dear Caden,

You are now 5 years old! You have wanted to be 5 since around Christimastime last year. These past 5 years have gone by faster than I ever would have imagined. Some advice I have for you, please don't be in such a rush to grow up. Days get shorter and shorter the older you get. Enjoy the present. Enjoy the time you have at home. We love you so much and are enjoying watching you grow up but don't want it to happen too soon.

In some ways year 4 for you was easier than others, in other ways it was more challenging. I started homeschooling you last Fall and we have had a lot of fun. Spending that extra one-on-one time helped you in so many ways. Not to mention, I loved the extra time I had with just you before Gracie arrived. You went from breaking crayons to really enjoying drawing! You're not a big fan of coloring books but you love free drawing and have created some wonderful masterpieces. Your reading has really taken off. I gave you a reading test about a month ago and you are reading on a 2nd grade level! We're still taking it pretty slow and making it fun. I hope you continue your love of reading. I love watching you read your Bob books to Gracie. You are such a great big brother.

Speaking of having a sister, the biggest change for you during this past year is you finally became a BIG BROTHER! We were hoping this would have happened when you were 2 or 3. But God had other plans for those babies. You went from an only child to having a baby sister. You wanted a sister and now you have one. Watching you take care of Gracie and play with you is such a joy. She looks up to you and I pray that you two grow to become very close.

This past spring, an opening happened at one of the preschools nearby. You went from February to May. You enjoyed your time there.

Cool characterizes about you!
- You are very social! You've never met a stranger and LOVE playing with other kids.
- You are very strong. You can climb just about anything and make it look so easy.
- You have endless energy. I think you have more energy than anyone I know.

- You love playing sports. When I've asked you what your favorite sport is you say all of them, tennis, basketball, soccer, and gymnastics.

- You're very smart! Although we probably won't tell you this too often as we want you to always try your hardest and not take your giftedness for granted. When you're older I want you to look back on this and read that your mom and dad knew you were and are smart and gifted. Your preschool teacher even mentioned to us how bright you were and how she was impressed with your reading skills and how quickly you got things as well as your memory.

- You love building things and are crazy creative! One day you took a box and made a vending machine. You even cut out money to put in the hole. You've made homes for bugs outside and have built fun forts and carwashes among other things. Also you're great at building train tracks and marble runs.

- You seem to have a knack for math and numbers. You can count to 1000 and enjoy counting to 100 and beyond quite frequently,, can add numbers pretty quickly from 0-20. You are also now adding 3 numbers together such as 3+1+7=11. You can do some subtraction in your head as well.

- You love doing science experiments. I try and think of some neat things for us to do on a regular basis. You love seeing the cause and effect of things.

- You fall asleep with lots of books around you, your lamp on, and music or a book on CD playing.

- You love to pray! Before dinner you always insist on saying the prayer before we eat.
- Your friends and family mean a lot to you.
- You are very inquisitive and always ask a lot of questions!

Favorites:
Food: Cheeseburgers with just meat, cheese, and bun.

New foods you like that you didn't last year: Salad, watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew. You still don't like potatoes or French fries.

Drink: Water, although you now like cow milk again and have been requesting milk more regularly.
TV Show: Curious George, you also like Calliou and Go Diego.
Book: Currently your favorite is Richard Scarry's, What Do People Do All Day?

Song: This is tough. There are so many you like, usually church songs and sometimes you make up your own!

Movie: You don't really have a favorite movie but you enjoy family movie night. Although it's still hard for you to sit still through a whole movie. You really enjoyed Polar Express when we watched it last Christmas as well as the book.
Toy: Probably balloons! You still love balloons and can even tie them yourself now!

Clothes: You're starting to have favorite shirts. One shirt was a yellow and navy stripped shirt. You wanted to wear this shirt every day! The other one is a new Ralph Lauren tan long sleeved shirt. You put it on at least once a week even though it's almost 100 degrees outside. I have to ask you to take it off and put on something else. If I help you get dressed, half of the time, you'll go to your room and change clothes into something you want to wear. You're funny like that. :)

Friends: You have a lot of friends but some of your favorites that you talk about a lot are: Olivia, Neil, Jacob, Toby, Joy, and Samantha.

Your 5-year check-up went great. Your doctor said you are very healthy and she could tell you're very intelligent. You have 20/30 eye sight. This could get better or worse or possibly stay the same. You passed your hearing test very well. Your BMI is perfect and you have a normal blood pressure and heart rate. You are tall and thin and have grown 8 inches this past year!

Height: 46 1/4 inches tall - 95%
Weight: 46 lbs - 75%

Caden, we love you so much and are so incredibly blessed to be your Mom and Dad. You'll be starting Kindergarten soon and we're looking forward to watching you continue to grow and mature.

Love,
Mom