Jonah = Five years old

It happened. I became the mother of a five-year-old. You know you're having trouble coping with that when you nearly cry while looking at your cousin-in-law's blog about her five-year-old.

Jonah is just so big. He has really, truly, become a boy. He IS growing up. Here's the evidence:

-He can get onto a playground swing all by himself.
-He can jump off a playground swing while it's still moving
-He can climb a tree
-He can print letters and numbers, add & subtract and read a little
-He can play all sorts of games like Uno, Crazy 8s, and War and trash talks while winning
-He can get himself up onto the kitchen counter without a stool or chair to boost him
-He can cut his own Rice Krispies Squares with a butter knife
-He can help me prep supper by cutting the ends off the green beans
-He can draw a picture and print "To Mom" on it
-He likes minty toothpaste and minty chewing gum
-He prefers privacy in the bathroom
-He can assist in supervising his little brother
-Caterpillars are his friends and he likes to hold them
-He is learning how to play the piano
-He will run toward a slip 'n' slide and dive onto it face first









Fortunately there is still evidence that he's a little boy, for instance:

-He can get quite upset while losing a game
-He still pees on the bathroom floor around the toilet (when can I expect that to stop?)
-He's still only about 37 pounds and therefore still in a car seat, not a booster
-He still needs training wheels on his two-wheeler
-He still cries about little things ("What? I'm not allowed to play Wii until I'm done tidying?" As if that hasn't been a rule for months?!)
-He feels scared in bed if he knows I have gone outside immediately after putting him in bed, even though Uncle Mark is downstairs (at which point I know he's growing up because he has gotten out of bed, put on his sandals, come out the front door and found me in the backyard to tell me so)
-He is afraid of starting swimming lessons again (even though he enjoyed his last series of lessons)
-He can't tie a bow
-He's afraid of many bugs, especially if they're inside

Though I don't know exactly how to mother a five-year-old, and honestly, would prefer if he had stayed about three, I'm still enjoying many moments!

Photographic montage...

Loving a trampoline/sprinkler combination in Washington

Jonah held this snake!


Jonah loved this bird!
He's definitely an animal lover.

Has has always been and
continues to be obsessed
with water features

Including the natural kind!

Posing on a walk home from
school on his birthday

The boy still doesn't like cake
so he got want he wanted -
another jelly donut tower

Loving the splash pad near the house.
His big trick is putting his face right
where the water is about to shoot out.
He thinks that's hilarious.

Jonah loves our neighbours' dog Chilli
and was thrilled when he joined us
at the splash pad

Posing for a pic at a nearby field
I promise Jonah always wears a
helmet when he rides

Tasting our home grown buttercrunch lettuce.
He was excited about this but didn't like it.

Another love of his. Bubbles!
Now he can make his own!

Exiting school on his last day of JK

Drinking a Kool-Aid Jammer up in a tree.
He thought he was SO COOL doing this.
And he was of course.

One more shot of water fun. He is
more brave than I am when it comes
to slip 'n' slides!

I love you Jonah, and great news - Daddy is excited that you are growing up! And I suppose, if I have to be, I am too. After all, it beats the alternative.