On your actual birthday you chose ramen noodles as your dinner of choice so we went to the local restaurant Red Galanga for some yummy food. Of course followed by opening presents, your favorite part:) You got a voice changing Darth Vader mask that you didn't take off for practically 24 hours. You even wore it to Auden's bus stop the next day, so I'm assuming it was a great gift from Daddy and Mommy.
What a week! You wanted your party at our house so we rented a bounce house and even set a rain date for the following day just in case. However, the weather reports were changing every 30 minutes a few days prior and it was so hard trying to decide what to do. Ultimately, we ended up sticking to the original time on Saturday but we had to switch to an indoor basement party last minute with the cold rain coming down. It will definitely be an unforgettable birthday for Mommy and Daddy. With the help of Grammy and Grandpa we quickly moved all the furniture out of one side of the basement, thought up some indoor party games and decorated! I guess we were expecting too much out of 4/5 year olds because we desperately tried to organize you guys to do fun activities like freeze dance, pin the tail, limbo, potato sack races, simon says, etc. but most of your friends just wanted to run around like crazy kiddos. The biggest hit, as always, was our "secret hide-out" closet that Daddy made you boys in the basement. I'm pretty sure at one point all 16 kids were in there. You and all your friends had a great time which is all that counts. You even had a few brave friends that did the bounce house in the rain on the way out. That was super fun and very cool of their parents. The slide was more like a water slide!
So, what has Grant been up to lately? After a fun soccer season in the fall, we decided to try Tae Kwon Do in January. We didn't know how our silly little boy was going to like all the structure and focus but WOW, you were absolutely ready and are doing so wonderfully! It makes Mommy and Daddy so proud to see you work so hard. You pay attention, focus and try your hardest. You took your second belt test and have a yellow stripe currently. I hope you continue to enjoy TKD as much as you do now. It seems a perfect fit for your personality- gets a little aggressiveness out while using your flexibility and athleticism. The fact that you have awesome Korean instructors, are learning some Korean language, and learning a sport important to your birth country is just icing on the cake.
In the spring, it was time to really start preparing you for summer swim. Now that you are 5, I think it's super important to be completely water safe this summer at the pool and you are eligible to do the Mini Starts swim team. You are almost finished with 10 weeks of the program your brother has done in the past and is doing now with you. You guys are in different lanes and go at the same time at the JCC pool which works well. You have made so much progress these past two months. You can swim a "beginner" freestyle and you are even doing great learning the fundamentals of backstroke. Swimming is definitely not your favorite sport, and you do ask "how much longer?" during class several times but you are working very hard which makes us proud.
In other news, you and Auden are not sleeping in the same bed after almost 2 years! It's a little bittersweet because it was so adorable seeing you boys all snuggled up next to each other when we would come to check on you. But, you're getting older and both growing bigger and this "low bunk" from IKEA for small kids seemed like a great solution. You were a little apprehensive the first night because you couldn't see big brother but you started to really enjoy how cozy the lower bunk is and we are happy to report it has been a super smooth transition and you both love your bunk bed! I imagine at some point you'll be ready to sleep in your own room again, but probably no time soon since we got this, haha.
Big changes are coming as you went to Kindergarten orientation last month and in a few short months you will be getting on that school bus. Just thinking about it makes me tear up! I can't believe you will be going to Elementary school at the end of August. Change is always a little scary for you so I suspect there may be some bumps, but we will do our best to prepare you this summer and you will have Auden on the bus with you with all of our awesome neighbors. You already know so many friends that will be in Kindergarten with you, that should help a ton. Academically, you are more than ready. You are doing great writing in lower case and you have been learning to read with steady progress. You see Auden reading so much, I'm sure it has driven you to want to learn as well:)
I'm a little nervous with all the questions you and Auden will be getting from other kids who don't know you and that you are brothers. That will be new where we aren't there on the bus or in the hallway at school to help guide your answers. We will go through scenarios and practice before school starts of the best way to respond to kids questioning how you can be brothers. I have a fabulous book called WISE UP that helps arm adopted kids with the right language when friends and classmates ask personal questions about adoption. Most of what we will teach you is what you don't have to say. We will definitely be navigating new waters but I hope with the right language and open dialogue you will be able to have confidence.
Oh Grant, you are the biggest ball of personality! You won't stop singing Justin Timberlake's song "Can't Stop the Feeling" every day for the past two months and you almost have a choreographed dance to go along with it at this point. You have quips and one-liners that are quite sassy and we don't know if we should laugh or you should get a time-out. You are so good at making friends wherever we go and you have such a knack for remembering everyone and their names (you help Mommy and Daddy out with this). When you are in the mood, you love posing for the camera and you are my little fashionista that "needed" to pick out a whole new outfit for your Appletree show. Arguing about clothes with you every morning isn't the best way to start my day but I'm starting to let you win more which is just easier. You are full of love! Snuggles have to usually be on your terms but luckily you still request them often. You fell asleep on top of me last night at 6:30pm on the couch after an exhausting birthday weekend and I would have to say it was definitely my favorite part of the weekend.
You are SO loved, happy birthday big boy!
5TH BIRTHDAY INTERVIEW
- What is your favorite toy? Paw patrol anything
- What is your favorite food? Noodles- red sauce (like Spaghetti) or brown sauce (like Ramen)
- What is your favorite thing to do/play outside? Playing on the swingset with Auden
- What is your favorite show? Paw Patrol
- What is your favorite color? Red and blue
- Who is your best friend? Christopher
- What do you want to be when you grow up? Construction worker that builds houses, specifically lake houses. haha
- What is your favorite sport? Soccer
