What's new with Ian?

Our little kindergartner is growing right up! We still don't hear all that much about his days at school, but we know he loves going. He wakes up eager to go to school, and usually the "good thing" he shares at the dinner table is "going to kindergarten." We hear most about recess time (he likes playing soccer or imaginary play games like Wild Kratts or Angry Birds) and centers time (he usually chooses the Lego center, building (with blocks) center, or the computer center). He looks forward to Wednesdays when boys can play on the ipads during rest time. And we also hear about Ava, a little girl in his class he has a crush on. We're thankful that Ian is overall a very obedient boy at school (he's only been reprimanded a couple of times ... once when he tried to kiss Ava on the playground!) and that he gets along well with his classmates. We're proud of how well he can read and how much neater his handwriting has gotten as the year goes on. At the beginning of the year, Ian would come home from school most days exhausted, slightly grouchy, and on the brink of tears if anything went wrong. Now, we don't usually see this tiredness happen until Thursday or even Friday.

Ian is definitely in a very silly stage. He loves regular jokes, knock-knock jokes, bathroom humor, and making up his own jokes (usually involving some sort of rhyming words). He'll do almost anything to try to get Ryan to laugh.

At home, Ryan and Ian usually play very well together. Ian generally comes up with the ideas, and Ryan readily goes along. Ian has the ability to make almost anything seem fun or interesting to Ryan. Somehow Ian is almost always able to convince Ryan to trade toys with him, even when the object that Ian has is broken or not as interesting as the one Ryan has. They love playing trains and cars together, building things from Duplos or wooden blocks (usually garages or other structures for their vehicles) and playing "monster hide" (where they hide in the dark closet with flashlights, looking for monsters). They also like to play "pet store" where they each play the part of an animal and Momma or Daddy has to buy them and bring them home. Ian usually plays the part of a kitty or dog. They enjoy bath time together and most enjoy playing with vehicles and watering cans. The boys look forward to reading books together each evening before bed and both still ask Momma or Daddy to tell stories about "Sally the Bad Listener."

Ian also loves being a big brother to Nathan. He proudly introduces Nathan to his classmates and cares for Nathan tenderly. He likes to give Nathan his pacifier or talk to Nathan sweetly. He loves making Nathan laugh by tickling him or playing peek-a-boo with him.

It's fun to see Ian's mind at work. He has a great memory and, like his Daddy, an especially good knack for remembering people's names. He is very interested in how things work and loves plugging things into a power strip (his lamp, CD player, chargers) to see them operate. He loves the snap circuits toy we got him at Christmas and is easily able to build (and experiment with) the circuits. He's a willing helper with anything involving tools -- changing batteries, adjusting the height of our kiddie picnic table, etc. He also will help with almost any task in the kitchen, especially if involves getting to sample a baked good at the end.

Ian is definitely a perfectionist. He doesn't like to do things if he's not successful right away. Trying to ride a bike with just two wheels is still very frustrating to him. He loves games but will often try to modify the rules if he's worried that he's not going to win. He doesn't like being wrong and will tell us, "That's what I said!" if we correct a word that he misread in his home reader.

Some of Ian's favorite things include robots, anything involving Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Nerf guns, anything that's operated with a remote control, playing games on the Wii or tablet, building stuff from Legos or K'nex, and eating pizza, popcorn, ice cream sundaes, and hot chocolate as often as we will let him. He loves running races (some of his classmates call him "Flash"), riding his scooter, catching bugs/frogs/lizards, and digging holes in the dirt -- but he'll often choose playing inside over outside at this stage. He likes counting down the days to upcoming events and telling us the things that he wants for upcoming birthdays or Christmas (a stuffed snake is at the top of his birthday wish list currently). He also likes painting, coloring, and cutting. When he gets to choose the game for family game night, he'll often make up a game where we each have to build something and describe the features to each other or one where we're working together to "defeat the bad guys."

Ian is an intelligent, funny, kind, handsome young man who we love so much! It's fun watching you learn and grow, Ian! 

Below are some pictures/videos from a little skit Ian's class did. He played the role of Kangaroo Keeper in "The Glum Princess."