Ethan is SIX!

Another year has passed, and the first little man to steal my heart is a big six-year-old now. Seriously, SIX years old! Where does the time go?!? We celebrated his birthday over a long span of time this year due to our big move happening in the midst of all of it. He wanted to have a party with his friends from school in Tennessee, so we had a party there about a month before his actual birthday, but before we would be moving. He decided he wanted to have it at a local gym where he had taken a gymnastics class over the summer. So, most of his classmates from school made it to celebrate with a fun Lego Movie-themed party. More about the parties in the next post!

The weekend before his birthday, the Seeley grandparents made their way to our new house in NC (more about that soon, too!) to celebrate with a small party. The weekend after his birthday, the Frank grandparents, Aunt Katie, Uncle Mike, and cousins Jacob, Hannah, Rachel & Lucas came to celebrate his big day. On his birthday, we had a small party for him with our little family and he opened his presents from us. He requested blueberry pancakes for his birthday dinner, so that's what we had! :) It's amusing that blueberry pancakes are what I made him for his 1st birthday dinner because he loved them so much at the time! I guess some things never change! ;)

I took Ethan to his new pediatrician last week for his 6-year well-check. Everything went great and he appears to be right on track with his peers. He gained just over 2.5 pounds over the past year to weigh in at 44.1 pounds (fully clothed), and grew almost 2 inches to measure up at 45.25 inches (without shoes). This puts him down to the 45th percentile for height and 40th percentile for weight. Looking at both figures, he's down to about the 40th percentile for height-to-weight ratio, with a BMI of 15.1. No shots this year, which made him a happy boy! He passed his hearing screen with no problem, but seemed to struggle a bit with his right eye on the vision exam. I'm still hoping he'll maintain Daddy's perfect vision, but I'm not very optimistic at this point. :/

Ethan has grown so much in the past year. Sometimes it's hard to remember that he is still just a kid! He seems so old one minute, then reminds me the next minute that he hasn't completely grown up on me. He is a fantastic helper around the house and continues to be a great big brother to Noah and Amos. He is a whiz on the iPad and enjoys playing games like Angry Birds Transformers and Sudoku. He is a big kindergartener this year and it's been awesome to see him excel at school as well. He loves math and science and has been doing a great job reading beginner books! He can spell fairly well, too, so I guess it's time for Daddy and I to stop spelling words we don't want the kids to hear! ;) Haha! With the move to our new state, he started a new school, which is set up differently than school was in TN. He seems to be adjusting well, but I think we're all still getting used to nightly homework!! He does an awesome job completing it with very little assistance and his new teacher said he is right up to par with his classmates, despite coming in to a new system and the common core philosophies. He has mostly adjusted to going to school all day this year (which meant no more naps!), though sometimes he would still doze off on our 30-minute car ride home in TN. He rides the bus home here in NC though, and is loving it. :) He's starting to make new friends and it appears that the move hasn't been too hard on him. He even commented the other day that he loves his new school even more than his old school! That was good to hear!

He has his Daddy's quick wit and direct nature. When asked by the speech therapist at his new school what he had been working on at his old school, Ethan informed her matter-of-factly that, "I'm tired of speech. I was working on 'r,' but I can say it just fine...carrrrrr!" LOL! That boy gets a twinkle in his eye, and you just know that something crazy is about to come next! :) He's ornery, yet sensitive, and looks out for others, especially his little brothers. He is also fiercely independent, prefers to have things his way, and is "always right," which can lead to conflict and butting of heads. I wonder where he gets that? ;) Overall, he's a pretty amazing little guy. Both Josh and I see a lot of ourselves in him and it's fun to discover new traits he possesses as he grows and matures.

I started asking this list of questions to Ethan a couple years ago, to see how they change over the years. Here are this year's questions and answers (if you can't read them in the pic):

1. What is your favorite color? pink
2. What is your favorite toy? little Legos
3. What is your favorite fruit? clementines
4. What is your favorite TV show/movie? Star Wars and Odd Squad
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? peanut butter and honey
6. What is your favorite outfit? my Ninja turtle shirt with comfy pants
7. What is your favorite game? Doggyland
8. What is your favorite snack? blueberry yogurt-covered pretzels
9. What is your favorite animal? Daisy and Lego
10. What is your favorite song? Dynamite by Taio Cruz
11. What is your favorite book? Knock, Knock! Who's There?
12. Who is your best friend? Carter and Jonah (in Tennessee) and Easton (in North Carolina)
13. What is your favorite cereal? Fruit Loops
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? climb on the firepole
15. What is your favorite drink? vanilla milk and sweet tea
16. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? fake doggy
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? blueberry pancakes
19. What is your favorite dinner? tomato soup
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? an "army," cowboy, or singer

As our firstborn, Ethan still continues to keep us on our toes, teach us about kids and how to be parents. He amazes us daily with the things that he says and does and we look forward to what this year will bring with it. Happy 6th birthday, Ethan. We love you!