11.1.11

Our Nate turned 5 on November 1st. It's hard to believe this little dynamo already has 5 years under his belt.

Nate always crawls into our bed at night, so when it was time for breakfast in bed I snuck out of bed and went downstairs to make his requested meal: cheese toast and bacon. When we came back upstairs Nate had woken up, run back to his own bed and was pretending to sleep. He opened presents, sort of ate his breakfast, and played with his new stuff until it was time for preschool.

He got to bring treats to preschool, where they sang happy birthday to him and gave him this very special hat.

Check out those chapped lips and his purple tooth. It's a good look!

We made homemade pizza for dinner which Nate ate about one bite of.

And then we had dog birthday cake. Nate picked yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

Here are five things I love about Nate:

1. He is very affectionate. I love getting hugs and kisses and being told "I love you" multiple times a day.

2. He is very stubborn and does not like to be told what to do. I can always tell when he has gotten in trouble at school or church because he gets upset and insists he doesn't want to go back or that his teachers aren't nice. When I prod further I discover that by "not nice" he means that they will not let him get away with some nonsense or other.

3. He loves to play with his big sister, Ava. Every day he looks forward to her coming home from school. As soon as she arrives they start building forts or playing boardgames, or whatever is on the agenda for the day. It's very sweet.

4. He still bounces and jumps and rolls off everything. My couches are a disaster for a reason.

5. He's very excited to learn his letters. At preschool they work on one letter a week and he really enjoys practicing. On his own terms, of course. He does not like the writing worksheets he comes home from school with, in fact, he refuses to do them at all. But he loves writing letters over and over and pretending that he's making sentences. Then he asks me what the sentences say and I have to read his mind and figure out what he wants me to see in the conglomeration of letters on paper.

Happy birthday, Natey!

Happy Halloween!

From 2 ninjas, a witch, and a little lamb!

We went to our church's trunk or treat on Friday night, went to the pumpkin patch and carved pumpkins Saturday, and then trick or treated in the neighborhood on Monday. Nate and Ava were really into the trick or treating. Brenna, however, was super worn out from a field trip she had taken that day. Her gifted and talented class met at the school at 4 a.m. to drive down to the Ocean Institute at Dana Point to spend a day dissecting fish, boating, and performing science experiments right on the boat. But after getting up that early she was d.o.n.e. and only went up one street with us before heading home. Gwen was a funny little trick or treater because she was so gung ho to get to the door, then did everything right up until it came time to turn around and leave. Instead, she would pop her thumb in her mouth and stare down the person who had just given her candy. I'm not sure what was going on in her head but it looked as though she were deciding if the candy distributors could be trusted.

Ava at the pumpkin patch. This girl loves to pose for the camera!

Lucy tolerated her costume well.

Gwen barreled through her candy the fastest. By Wednesday it was gone and she told me "I need to go trick or treat again!"