He's Five.

  
They say the days are long, but the years are short and it's so true. How we have a five-year-old already is beyond me. I can still vividly remember the night that Gus was born and all the details that follow. I wish someone would invent something to freeze time already, because Gus turning five about did me in. I can't even think about birthdays beyond this one, as they're going to just get more and more difficult to deal with.

Before I share the amazing things that we did to celebrate this special milestone birthday (no longer a baby, toddler, or preschooler... now officially considered a big kid "GASP"), I want to tell you about my sweet little Gus-Gus.

First, he'd be very upset if he knew I was calling him little. He's very adamant about the fact that he is NOT LITTLE. Preach it, Gus. He is anything but little in size. While we won't have an exact measurement until a month from now (when he and Hugh go for their well visits), at the last appointment, he was just at 50 pounds and was 48 inches tall. He's wearing a size 13 shoe, size 7 pants/jeans and has moved into a 6/7 for shirts. 

Gus is such a helpful boy. He really thrives on helping others and if he's asked to do something that will benefit someone else, he eagerly jumps up to help them. He likes having important duties (he wants to be a line leader when he grows up), and does best when someone makes him feel like he's got a job to do. He's a hard worker and doesn't give up until the job/task is complete.

He loves THRIVES on routines and structure. The more he knows what to expect, the better. However, the first time introducing him to something better be exactly the way you want it to be forever, because it becomes THE way to do something. 

Gus loves Hugh and enjoys being around him. They are the best of friends and laugh together, and just as quickly the tides turn and they are fighting and screaming at each other. It's funny to watch them interact, and as Hugh is getting older, he's starting to do everything that he sees his big brother do. It's super cute.

Gus is doing so well in school. He loves math, counting, patterns, 2D and 3D shapes, but he loves reading the most. He was in the only reading group in his class and they were reading a lot of little sight word books. I bought a program called "The Reading Game" (I'll blog about it later) and he's been reading sight words, story cards, and their special books. I think he knows 26 words already and we just got started!!

Gus loves trains. He also loves bubbles and is starting to get into Legos. The sad words, "That's a toy for Hugh" has been said about some of his old favorites, just one more reminder that he's not a baby anymore. It hurts my heart at times, but I know it's part of life. I'd rather him be growing and developing according to plan, than be delayed and super immature.

Gus has started to take an interest in hearing "The Story of Gus." Every night, after his story (we've discovered Magic Tree House books and Gus loves hearing about Jack and Annie's adventures), he asks me to rock him and tell him "his story." It varies in how much detail goes into the tale each night, but he has his favorite parts:
1) When we got the call from Sharon we were just about to head into the baseball game
2) When I got the text from Peggi saying it wouldn't be long... and then the next text was a picture of him. He likes that I cried and woke Steve up to see the picture
3) He loves hearing that he had red hair as a baby :-)
4) When we parked at the hospital and I thought I was going to throw up because I was so nervous to meet him, Claire, and Peggi
5) When we walked into the room and Grammy (Peggi) handed him to me and said, "Here's your baby."

He loves to hear his story and we talk about his adoption, his birth family, and how much he's loved by everyone. He knows that he grew inside Claire for nine months and she brought him into this world. :-)

Okay... so back to celebrating five years of amazingness. I took some pictures to celebrate his fifth birthday. I think they turned out really great.

The morning of his birthday (Monday), he got to wear his special shirt (it's not the same special one that I plan to order SOON... the lady that sells the number shirts has been on vacation since January) and took some cupcakes to school to have with his friends.

After school was done, he came home and we had a little surprise for him. On a total whim, my best friend Brittany threw together an impromptu pool party for Gus's birthday. 

We got to Britt's pool and were met by my friend Stephanie and her two girls, my friend Heather and her two boys, and then my friend Krystal and her two girls. All of the kiddos are good friends and they were all so excited to celebrate Gus's birthday. Heather brought cupcakes and drinks and we ordered pizza for dinner.

It was such a wonderful way to celebrate his birthday. He was overjoyed with being at the pool with all his friends, and I was overwhelmed by the love and support shown by my friends. 

Steve was able to come by after work and Britt's husband came to the pool after he got home from work. It was so wonderful.

As if the pool party wasn't enough, we actually had a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese's for Gus. He said he wanted to go there, so we made it happen. It's probably the last big birthday he'll have (next year, we'll probably just do something like the pool party), and he specifically asked for the friends that he invited to come.

His party was great. He was surrounded by people that love him and think he's the coolest cat in town. He smiled the whole morning and said it was the best birthday he's ever had. :-)

I have six more months to brace myself for the emotions that will come when Hugh turns three. I really don't know where the time is going, but it needs to STOP!!!
:-)

Six Magic Words

I have discovered that there are six magic words that you can say to your picky eater to help with dinner stress. Seriously.

Gus is a VERY picky eater and usually when it's time for dinner, he picks from a limited selection of: hotdogs, eggs, waffles/pancakes, mac-n-cheese, or a quesadilla. If we're having pizza for dinner, he'll usually eat the bread, but doesn't actually like the pizza. I've recently discovered that he WILL eat pizza if there's no optional bread to dissuade him.

So what are these six magic words? Repeat after me:

YOU
DON'T
HAVE
TO
EAT
IT

Really. It's that simple.

So how does this phrase work? I thought you'd never ask. :-)

I cook whatever I know Steve and I want for dinner. I make one dinner and I put a portion on a plate for Gus. We sit down to eat dinner, and he's got on his plate the same thing that Steve and I have on ours. He typically says, "I don't want that." or "I'm not eating that, it's yucky!" And trust me, he puts his little foot down and throws a tantrum about dinner.

In the past, I'd just make him something that I knew he'd eat, and I'd say I was choosing my battle. That was fine and dandy, but then I realized I don't want a picky eater at five to be a still picky eater at 10 and even pickier eater at 15. The only way to stop the continuation was to just put an end to the options.

When dinner is placed on the table, the fridge lock (for babyproofing) goes on the fridge door. Gus cannot open it. The pantry already has a lock, so he can't get into that either. He's told, "You don't have to eat it..." and he usually continues with his ranting about not eating his dinner.

We don't fight or argue, or raise our voices. We simply repeat, "you don't have to eat it." Then we add the part that makes this so perfect. We say, "You don't have to eat it, but that's what's for dinner, and that's all that you're getting tonight."

He's then told that there will be nothing else to eat and he'll go to bed hungry. He's given until 6:30 (his bedtime) to choose what to do. He usually keeps on with "I'm not eating that" and that's totally cool. We enjoy our dinners and keep saying, "You don't have to eat it."

When we finish eating, we start giving him a count-down to how much time he has left to eat. He's told that once he's finished with his dinner, he can have more, or can have dessert. It's usually not enough of an enticement to make him eat. So he digs in, and keeps fighting and we just keep repeating the six magic words.

Right around 6:30 something fantastic happens though. EVERY time we've had an issue with him eating his dinner, we get to this part of the night and the magic happens. 

HE
EATS
HIS
DINNER

Not kidding. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

I used to think he'd go to bed hungry and would have a battle of wills with me, and then I'd feel guilty and upset that he was hungry. I mean, what kind of mother lets her child starve? But it's all about power and I know he's testing limits and trying to see what he can get away with.

Every time we've had an issue, he's gotten to the 6:30 window and the thought of going to bed without anything to eat has been enough that he's actually consumed everything on his plate. Yes, EVERYTHING.

This is what Gus has had for dinner that he's thrown a tantrum over:
Hashbrown casserole (ham, potatoes, cheese)
Tacos (Beef, cheese, hard shell)
Grilled chicken, steamed potatoes, and green beans

While it may not seem like a big deal that he's eating these things, it's HUGE. Tonight was the battle over tacos. He did NOT want the ground beef on his taco. He only wanted the cheese and shell. No can do. I filled a shell with beef and put cheese on it and it sat at the table ready for him to eat it for 45 minutes. He finally took a bite and said, "I like it!" LOL

I'm not sure if this is something that will work for everyone, and if you've got a picky eater, you're probably saying, "No way would this work with my kiddo." However, I dare you to give it a try. You've got to be 100% committed to following through with your word. No negotiating "If you take a bite... blah blah blah." You need to set the rules from the start and that's what you do.

If it works, you'll be as elated as I am and wonder where would you be without the six magic words.

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge : Rain/Water

 

Rain/Water Challenge 

(Click the image to view it larger)

Bible Study

I think I mentioned this before, but I joined a local MOPS group this year. If you don't know what MOPS is, it's Mothers of Preschoolers. It's totally different from my MOMS Club because it's all faith-based. At first, I wasn't sure if I'd like that aspect of it, but as the year has gone on, I've found myself really looking forward to my MOPS Thursdays.

Every other week, I go to a local church and meet with other moms of preschoolers. Hugh goes to their nursery with other kiddos his age and he plays for two hours while we meet in fellowship. There's always food (there's a sign-up and at least once during the year you're asked to bring something). There's usually a craft, and there's always some theme for the week.

Yesterday I had MOPS and we discussed a book that we were all given at Christmas as a gift. I wish I had started reading the book sooner than Tuesday (lol), but I was able to read about 100 pages of the book and had enough info from it to participate in the conversation during the MOPS meeting.

Something interesting came from yesterday's meeting. While reading the book that we were to discuss, I found myself asking a lot of questions and questioning things. Mainly, "Am I the only person that doesn't hear God when I talk to Him or ask questions?" I know prayers are answered in their own time, and I can usually look back and see reasons for things, but I've never had a flat out discussion with God with back and forth.

I asked the women at my table if any of them had experienced this. In the book, the author discussed her many conversations with God and Him talking to her. Like, for real, legit talking to her. 

To my surprise, the women at my table had all had some kind of conversation with God and had heard answers in some form. One said she has had arguments with God (lol) and clear as day knew she was hearing the voice of God through different means. Another shared that she hasn't had a voice, but has been lead to follow God by different signs that she's learned to pay attention to. Another said she just follows God's lead by reading various passages in the Bible, or will head a voice in her head saying to read different verses and she knows that's God talking to her.

I was dumbfounded. I have never had an experience like this. Then we talked more about the Bible and I admitted that I don't know the Bible, don't read it, and wasn't raised reading it. I was Catholic after all. They all agreed that the beginning should start with the Bible and it's never too late to start.

One of the ladies said she had something for me and would give it to me at the end of the meeting. We made cards as our craft, said our intentions and prayed for all that were shared, and then we were done. She said she'd meet me down at the nursery (where I was heading to get Hugh) and when I came out with Hugh, she gave me a women's devotion book and an audio book thingy that I can listen to in my car.

I was really overwhelmed by her kindness and gave her a big hug. I texted Brittany after and told her about the meeting and the discussion and we got to talking about Bible Study. She suggested we do one together.

I honestly feel like God works in amazing ways. I asked Britt if we should ask some of our other friends and see if they'd be interested in doing a women's Bible Study together and she said absolutely. I emailed a few friends last night, and we now have a group of seven that will be starting our Bible Study on April 13th!

The book that's above is the one that we'll be starting with. It sounded interesting and I like Jen Hatmaker (I follow her blog). I'm eager to deepen my relationship with God, and to experience the fellowship that comes from sharing and opening up with friends. 


I feel so fortunate to have people that I can depend on and that support me. I think we'll all grow and connect even more through our Bible Studies together!!

I'll be sure to post again once we start and share how it's going!!