Owen at 5

I am long over due on a birthday post for Owen, but I wanted to get a snapshot down for our family record. Queue gratuitous bragging post:

 

At 5, Owen is an energetic and passionate kid. He loves to learn and asks tons of questions to understand nature and the world around him. His monthly national geographic magazine is always a hit and we're starting to pay more attention to the non-fiction shelves at the library. This month, we have books about inventors and he's soaking up the information in his "body book".

Owen loves to read and prefers chapter books to picture books. Jack and Annie (Magic Treehouse), Young Cam Jansen, and Nate the Great are frequent visitors in our house. Owen also continues to work on reading on his own and has moved from the Bob Books to beginning readers (4-6 words on a page with lots of repetition). He's already figuring out some of the reading tricks... like studying the picture to guess the words instead of actually sounding them out. Stinker!

Somewhere in the last year, Owen started writing his name right to left (previously he wrote it "N E W O" because he's left handed with both the W and N upside down). He still writes the N upside down, but I love watching his brain gain these new skills.

I am finding that 5 is a fun and trying age. Owen is simply fun to spend time with and able to tag along on "grown up" errands and activities most of the time. But, he can also be so stubborn and inconsiderate - not out of malice, but simply unawareness of how his actions or requests (demands!) impact the other person. I remind myself that he's only 5, but it's an interesting balancing act to figure out what's a reasonable expectation at this age - an age when he's testing limits and asking for reasons behind everything instead of just taking our word as law. Ha!  

Owen is a great older brother and puts up with his "Josh shadow" more than he probably should have to.  It's been fun for Owen to have a legitimate playmate this summer and when they aren't tearing each other limb from limb, they work together on projects that Owen creates - "let's make mud in the garden," "let's set-up a battle," "let's create a race track," etc. In fact, Owen just loves projects and in his play time before school, he's usually pulled out the art supplies. We have loved watching his drawing evolve over the last few months and the elaborate stories he creates with each picture.

In the midst of all this brain work, Owen is still high energy, a dirt magnet, and a total monkey. He loves climbing the tree in our front yard (despite the major pruning that removed all limbs below 5 feet). This summer, he learned to shimmy UP the fireman's pole and other vertical supports around the playground and worked hard to figure out the monkey bars. In June, he could do 4 bars and by August, he conquered the 11 bar twisting route at the local school. I really need to get some pictures of him on the equipment - Scott says it looks like he's doing a "Survivor" challenge - holding himself halfway up the fireman's pole with just his feet and such.

Owen has two mispronounced words that crack us up:
Brefkist - which I find myself now saying half the time
Weabons (weapons) - which is hilarious when he yells, "Grab your weabons!" in his most serious pirate voice.

And finally, after all the time spent worrying about picky eating, Owen now regularly finishes all the food on his plate. He still will not touch an egg with a 10 foot pole, but most meals are acceptable and he happily eats fruits, fresh veggies (especially tomatoes, carrots, and peppers), any standard kid food (nuggets, fish stick, hot dogs) as well as our regular family dinners (pastas, stir fry, soups, and grill fare). Granted, he still takes PB&J everyday for lunch, but I know someone who at a cheese sandwich for about 6 years straight during elementary school, so at least I know where my kids come by their food quirks! And, in an unexpected miracle, Owen came in at the 15th percentile for height and weight at his 5 year visit.
 

He'll probably still be a head shorter than every kid in his kindergarten (being the youngest doesn't help), but at least we know he'll out climb 'em. We love this monkey!