Profile of My Six Year-Old

Last year I started a tradition of "interviewing" my five year-old and writing down all of his milestones.  Now another year has come and gone and I find myself writing about my (gulp) six year- old.  Oh, watching my son grow up is bitter-sweet for me.  I'm so proud of my little guy--his sweetness, his enthusiasm, his joy, and his empathy.  He's my best buddy, and we have lots of special and even "deep" conversations when we're together.  Still, I miss the baby days of grabbing his hands to help keep his balance and having him cuddle with me until he falls asleep in my lap...  I try to savor the moments, but they still seem to go by much too fast!

Drying off at Veteran's Memorial Park.


Characteristics:
Lewie, you are a people person to the max.  You enjoy talking, and you want company wherever you go.  If you're watching a cartoon or even one of your train "YouTube" videos, you ask Mommy, Daddy, Grammy, or all of us to join you.  If you're playing with your Legos, you'll often exclaim that you're "missing" a piece--your secret ploy to get someone to sit by your side and be with you.

You are thoughtful and kind.  This year we started taking you shopping to pick out presents for your friends and family, and it turns out that you're really good at choosing the perfect gift.  You told Daddy to buy me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers for Mother's Day (how did you know?), and when we shopped together for Father's Day, you saw the fireworks display at the supermarket, and said, "Mommy, I want to get him this!"  (You know Daddy way too well!)

You are passionate.  Your love for trains only seems to grow stronger each year, and we're now realizing that your hobby is not a fad.  While you're slowly starting to grow out of Chuggington and even Thomas (though you still like movies like "The Blue Mountain Mystery"), you have not stopped playing with trains.  Now your interests have switched to Lego trains and Lionel trains (which are harder on our wallets) as you see them on YouTube and exclaim that you'd love to get TRAIN X for (insert holiday).  Your love of trains have even prompted us to make special trips near railroad stations--two of which are happening this fall--the Stasburg Railroad in Pennsylvania and the Green Mountain Railroad in Vermont.  It seems that your excitement has now gotten the entire family involved :)

You are inquisitive.  When Uncle Terry passed away, you had so many questions to ask about God, Jesus, and heaven.  Your innocent questions forced me to ponder deeper answers to "the meaning of life" and "why are we here?"  The birth of your youngest cousin Lily also prompted questions like "where do babies come from?" and "why can't daddies have boy babies and mommies have girl babies?"  You've admitted you would like to have a baby yourself, but I reminded you that 1) you're too young, and 2) boys don't have babies.

I suppose I can go on and on...but now, it's time for your list of favorites:



Eating strawberries at March Farm.

Favorite Book:
The Little Engine that Could

Favorite Cartoons:
Thomas the Train--sometimes
Sponge Bob
Paw Patrol
Peppa Pig

Favorite Colors:
Pink and orange

Favorite Dessert:
Chocolate ice cream with hot fudge, whipped cream, and Oreo cookie crumbles on top

Favorite Food:
"Well, it's dairy, but my favorite food is macaroni and cheese."

Favorite Friend:
"I like everybody, Mommy"

Favorite Game:
Tag

Favorite Movie:
The Lego Movie
The Polar Express
Frozen

Favorite Number:
100

Favorite Pastime:
Legos
The Lionel Polar Express Train
Trampoline
Swings

Favorite Place:
The Shoreline Trolley Museum
The Danbury Railway Museum
The Naugatuck Valley Railroad
Home
Mommy's and Daddy's workplace
Any parks (where there's kids to play with)
Any hotel (especially ones with elevators)
Any pool or beach

Favorite Sayings:
"Daddy, are you going to lawn the mow?"  (We're to blame for this one.  We never corrected you.)
"Mommy, you're never gonna a believe this."
"Mommy, you made my day by saying that."
"Stop interrupting my good time."
"Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy."
"On aboard." (Instead of "All aboard.")
"Mommy, can I watch train movies?"  (YouTube train movies...)
"Let me show you the details on this train.  Also, you can hear the crew talk sounds..."  (This is you creating your own train YouTube video just like you watch from Eric Siegel from http://ericstrains.com/.)

Favorite Songs:
"Best Day of My Life" - American Authors
"Happy" - Pharrell Williams
"Let it Go" - Idina Menzel - Frozen

Milestones (from Age 5):
First time "jumping" off the swings
First time parasailing
First time swimming underwater with a mask
First time getting dressed by yourself
First time putting a 100 piece puzzle together
First time making a  Lego car, camper, train, boat, etc. by following directions (all by yourself)
First time writing your full name
First time playing soccer (although you've decided this is not your thing!)

 

Lewie, every year it's a joy to watch you grow.  For the first time this year, you've already surpassed Mommy.  When we bought you your Lego train set for your birthday, in no time at all, you had the train wired and moving around on its train tracks.  I don't even think you looked at the instructions. (Not having a mechanical mind at all, I was amazed by your genius;  even daddy was impressed!)

I don't know where next year will take us little guy, but your first day of kindergarten is coming up next week.  As always, I look forward to many more new and exciting adventures with you.  Just do me one favor--don't grow up too fast!

Forever yours,

Mommy

The Fine Art of "One-Upmanship"

My girl friends and I like to support each other; we faithfully give each other compliments like "You look beautiful in that dress," or "I love your blog," etc. etc.

Men, however, are different with each other.  How so?  Well, my husband explains that he and his friends engage in the fine art of one-upmanship.  You know, the practice of outdoing one another or trying to get an advantage "by doing, saying, or having better things than someone else."

At first, I didn't understand how that could work.  "Wouldn't that person be your enemy?" I asked naively.  After all, not many women like to feel in competition with their friends.  Even more, not many women like women that "tell them" that their (fill in the blank) is better (i.e. Your blog is okay, but you should really check out mine because I have beautiful pictures and the most adorable kids; plus, did I tell you how many followers I have?)  You get the idea.

I took my husband's wisdom and tucked it in my brain along with all the other items I've marked as "useless, trivial knowledge."  Still, I didn't forget...

Last week, my good friend Sue and I decided to make our annual beach trip with the boys--same beach, same routine.  (There's something to be said for traditions...)  For the past few years, we're used to our boys playing nonstop until the back seat looks something like this on the ride home:

 

 

This year, however, the back seat wasn't quiet anymore.  It seemed that no matter how much swimming and playing they did, they just kept on getting reenergized...perhaps by their imaginations or perhaps because they were too busy entertaining each other.  I listened in and heard this:

 

 

 

                                           (Unfortunately, my video taping was discovered...)

Yes, there you have it folks--the fine art of one-upmanship between friends.  I never heard it before, but it seems that my five year-old and his six year-old friend are learning how to "talk the talk," so to speak.  There was no anger or hostility.  In fact, their back and forth bantering seemed natural...even fun.  They're still too young to know what the word one-upmanship means, but evidently, they're not too young to master this very delicate art form of guy bonding.

I still don't think I'll be practicing one-upmanship with my girlfriends any time soon...but at least I now understand how it works and can even get a chuckle out of it :)

Have you heard any interesting one-upmanship conversations lately?

Missing Our Beloved Uncle Terry in Delaware

Last weekend, we made our annual trip to Delaware to visit with friends and family.  My aunt and uncle moved to Delaware close to 20 years ago, so we make this trip every year or twice a year if possible...  My best friend Mary Ann also moved from Connecticut to Southern New Jersey about twelve years ago, and so if time permits, we usually try to see each other during the trip too.

This year, however, our little "family reunion" visit was missing a beloved family member--Uncle Terry.  He passed away the day after Easter this year, and so it was hard not to feel genuine sadness for his absence.  When we arrived, Little Lewie immediately started looking at pictures of Uncle Terry in the house and asking about him and God. 

"Can Uncle Terry hear us in Heaven?" my son Lewie asked.
"Sure he can," I answered.  "We can say a little prayer to him right now."
"Can we hear Uncle Terry?"
"Well, it's a little harder to hear our loved ones in heaven," I answered, "but sometimes they show us signs that they are with us."
"Where is heaven?" my son continued to ask.
"It's up there," I said, pointing to the sky.
"So you mean Uncle Terry can fly?"

As you can imagine, our trip was filled with these types of questions, and Lewie asked them every day during our short stay.  My Aunt let Lewie pick out a race car from my Uncle Terry's NASCAR collection, and Lewie picked out my Uncle Terry's favorite car--lucky number 10!  Still at the end of our trip, Lewie insisted that the car be left at my aunt's house.  "That's my Uncle Terry's car," he proclaimed, "I can't take it." 

This year, we took lots of pictures of our trip, including my aunt's house and her motor home.  The motor home, sadly, is for sale since she can't envision herself camping with it anymore, and although the house is not on the market, my mom seems to think that it's only a matter of time before my aunt decides to move to a smaller house.  Only time will tell.  In the meantime, Little Lewie insists that we buy the motor home.  I sure wish we had the money to keep the family tradition!

My mom (on the left), my Aunty Irene (my aunt from Delaware), my Aunty Kiki (back) and Aunt Karen

My handsome husband...feeling a little outnumbered by all the women in my family.

Lewie sleeping in the campervan.

Another rare sight.  (Usually he's the first one up.)

Swimming in the pool...

Mason--a friend of the family.  (Lewie loves spending time with her each year.)

Cousin Frankie  (He just turned 13!)

The three kiddos at play...

My Aunt's camper van

My uncle's last name was "Gillette."  (There's an actual Gillette's Castle in Connecticut.)

My Aunty Irene in the campervan.  She made this trip wonderful for us.

Lewie and Frankie chillin out on the side porch.

A much better picture of the two cousins!

Lewie lost his second tooth on this trip.  We think it may be in the pool somewhere...

A view of the field across the street

A last photo of Lewie and me before we leave to go home...

My aunt, in her usual style, made the trip to Delaware wonderful for us.  There was always plenty of yummy food to eat and fun things to do... Her home will always be a "home away from home."  I sure hope she decides to stay here, but if not, we'll always have many wonderful memories of our special visits.  My Uncle Terry, along with this home, will be missed but never forgotten.

Celebrating Lewie's 6th Birthday a Bit Early...

My son's birthday is on August 11th, but this year we celebrated it a bit early...  

A few months ago, we decided to celebrate Lewie's birthday at this gem of a park close to our house.  The park, Veteran's Memorial Park and Lakeview Lodge, has a new pavilion with clean, air conditioned bathrooms, a large playground, and a little beach along a spring-fed lake.  Quite honestly, it's the best place we know for children of all ages, so we knew Lewie's 6 year-old friends (along with their toddler siblings) would all have a good time. 

When I made the reservations back in May, I was surprised to learn that there were no more weekend days left in August.  My choices were July 12 or September 6th, so after a little consideration, we finally decided that it would be better to celebrate Lewie's birthday earlier instead of later...

So, this weekend, we packed up to celebrate Lewie's birthday at the park, and we couldn't have been happier.  We had a beautiful 80 degree day with low humidity, and most of our friends were available to come celebrate in the festivities.  (Even two of Lewie's teachers from preschool joined us!)  We ordered pizza and a cake, and last minute, I was able to find someone to drive an ice cream truck to our event.  (He only charged $20 plus the cost of Good Humor ice cream.) 

My favorite part of the day, of course, was watching Little Lewie enjoy himself with all of his friends.  However, a close tie was being able to treat all of my friends and family members to ice cream.  The minute they saw the truck, I heard a lot of people mumble, "Oh, I don't have any money," or "We can't buy anything today."  When I told everyone that the ice cream was on us, however, their facial expressions changed.  Even parents were excited to pick something out!  All of our friends and family were so appreciative, and it made me thrilled to know that such a "small" gesture (in my mind) could bring so much happiness.

Yes, Little Lewie's Flip, Flop, Splash Birthday Bash was a success.  He may not be six just yet, but we agreed to celebrate his birthday one more time (on a much smaller scale) in August too when it gets closer.  In the meantime, we had a chance to spend time with many people that we haven't seen since last year.  There's nothing better than rekindling those special friendships that make life so sweet.

Little Lewie enjoying some sun before his party...

Little Lewie and Miss Kristen, one of his teachers from preschool. 
(Miss Kristen even allowed Lewie to pick out his present on her smart phone during recess one day.)

Our special friend Debbie with her two cute kiddos.

My cousin with his daughter, Crystal.

My mother-in-law with cousin Lily, our newest family addition.

Lewie and his preschool teacher, Miss Vicki.  (She bought him a special train book.)

Lewie and his two cousins, Sarah and Brooklynn

The ice cream truck has arrived!

Sponge Bob is the best!

Chillin' out in the truck.  (No pun intended.)

Testing some cake first...

Proof that my husband and I were really at this event.

LEGO candles for Lewie!

"That's a funny joke, Sarah."

"Make a wish!"

Very good cake!  Could my husband have cut the piece any larger?

I love this pic.  The true essence of being a six year old boy.

More presents...

A bow for Lewie...

Playing with LEGOS after the party because we're just too excited.

Playing with LEGOS again first thing in the morning.  (It took a day and a half to build his entire LEGO train station.)

LEGOLAND

While planning our trip to Florida, we decided early on that LEGOLAND would be our main attraction.  (We were hoping to visit the Tampa Zoo, too, but we soon learned that five days wasn't long enough to do both without feeling totally rushed and overwhelmed.)  We bought tickets to visit LEGOLAND and enjoy their water park for two days, and that's just what we did.  Lewie was in heaven!

Day 3
On the third day of our trip, we did some relaxing by the pool and then headed out to LEGOLAND around noon.  Usually I have a very specific itinerary planned for our trips, but this year I decided to "go with the flow," which proved to be both a blessing and a curse.  When we programmed our GPS to take us to LEGOLAND, we soon learned that it was an hour and a half drive--one minor detail I may have overlooked.

"Annette, I thought LEGOLAND was just around the corner," said my husband.

"Me too.  I thought it was only a half an hour away," I responded, worried that we now wouldn't be arriving to LEGOLAND until well after 2 p.m.

The day called for afternoon thunderstorms and showers and just as we arrived to the park, the skies turned gray.  The lady at the ticket stand reminded us that the park provides no refunds for inclement weather, but we decided, against our better judgment, to go in anyways... 

After taking a cute little train ride in DUPLO VALLEY, an awesome section of the park meant for toddlers and young children, we then proceeded to MINILAND USA, where cities like Miami, New York, Washington D.C. and Las Vegas have been recreated into mini LEGO versions of themselves.  Lewie loved to see these awesome miniature cities, and my husband and I enjoyed looking at them too and comparing them to real life.  (We had been to all these cities during our traveling years well before Lewie was born.)

Our next stop was to try out a rollercoaster only to learn that these rides as well as the water park had been shut down due to the threat of thunderstorms.  We made it on a quick Safari ride before the skies opened up and the rain poured!  Showers?  This wasn't showers...This was a monsoon.  We went to the LEGOLAND 4-D theater, where we were snowed on inside and had a fun LEGO adventure, but as we came out, we realized that the rain was not letting up anytime soon and the park in general was shutting down.  Everyone, sporting ponchos and umbrellas, were packing up and leaving the park.  Feeling somewhat guilty, I bought Lewie a little SUV with Watercraft LEGO set to put together later.  As it turned out, it was the best little toy we could have bought him.  Since the rain never stopped that day, Lewie had a blast putting it together in our hotel room, and thankfully, we all knew that the visit wasn't ruined; we still had tickets to go back to LEGOLAND another day...

Daddy and Lewie on the Duplo train ride.

The cute little train station..

The Duplo farm across the street.  (What a fun place for toddlers!)



Mommy and Lewie posing in front of Miniland Miami, Florida.



Here's Miami up close...just like the real thing!



A LEGO ship.



The Golden Gate Bridge--made out of LEGOs, of course.

Daddy enjoying the LEGO Safari ride...



Lewie posing in front of the 4-D LEGO Theater.

Day 5
Since Day 4's weather forecast was calling for some more afternoon showers, we decided to visit LEGOLAND on our fifth and last day in Florida.  This time, knowing the distance from our hotel, we ventured out early, and the day did not disappoint.  In fact, we had no rain the entire day, and we had a chance to enjoy EVERYTHING.   With 90 degree temps, going to the water park first was a given.  This was followed by some rollercoaster rides and then Lewie's favorite ride of all, The Ford Driving School.  Here, Lewie not only had a chance to drive his very own LEGO car, but he took a "driving test" where he earned his very own LEGOLAND Driving License. 

For Lewie, having his own Driving License was it!!  He showed it to everyone inside the park, and he made sure to show it to everyone on the airport going home.  In fact, it's still the item most talked about from our entire trip...



A much sunnier day in LEGOLAND.

My two boys on the Island in the Sky ride.  (It was a relaxing ride 300 feet in the air.)



Miniland Las Vegas...so darn cute



The MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas



The Excalibur Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas--This is where my husband proposed back in 2004.

Cooling Off in the LEGO Duplo pool.

Finally, a water slide that's more my speed :)

More water slides and fun activities, but on this ride, get prepared to be DRENCHED.

Lewie building LEGOs at the wave pool.

Hmm...Let's see if they will float.

There's nothing better than floating down a lazy river and adding LEGOs to your raft at the same time.

The Ford LEGO Driving School

All LEGOs, of course.

 

And we're off...

Nice merging Lewie.

Okay...you should be looking at the road in front of you.  Watch out for the LEGO people.

The test is over; congrats Lewie--you've earned your first driver's license!

LEGOLAND was a wonderful time.  Sure we were rained out the first day, but the second day was amazing.  Lew and I both agreed that we had the most fun in years, and the best part....spending every second with Lewie.  His happiness and passion for life is contagious.  Now if we can just bottle up the fun and spontaneity that we had on this trip and bring it into our everyday lives at home...