Preschool Graduation-2015

Tonight was Preschool Graduation.

Are you ready world? Here comes the graduating class of 2028.

I sucked in my tears throughout the entire ceremony. Whew. 

This guy has spent 5 years at the most fantastic center with people that care about him and care about his future. 

There stood his class of 9 in their blue caps, holding their diplomas, ready for their next adventure. Harrison is going to miss the friends he made especially his besties Logan and Kyle. I am a little sad for him too---I know he will make new friends, but saying goodbyes are always hard.

This evening we were surprised with a memory book from Harrison's time at school. This will be an awesome reminder of the fun times he had during his preschool years!

I can not resist sharing his Preschool Thoughts on Life.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Police Officer.

How much money will you make? A lot.

Are you going to get married? No. 

How many kids are you going to have? No.

Where will you live? At mom's house.

What kind of car will you drive? Dad's car.

Whats the best thing about school? Playing with toys.

Alright buddy... Here you are as a Preschool graduate. Congratulations.

The end of Summer.

The last week of very cool temperatures, wind and rain is a reminder summer is almost over. Tonight we met Harrison's kindergarten teacher Mrs. May while having a popsicle and playing on he school playground with his soon to be new classmates.

Until Tuesday I am going to continue to stare at these photos and try to remember every single fun thing we did with his last summer home. These past 5 years went WAY, WAY too fast.

Tomorrow begins our last week's adventure of summertime. The laundry will not get done, the house will not get cleaned, emails will not be promptly answered, nor will photos be edited. This is my last week home with my buddy.

5 Year Well Check

Well here it is... the last "baby" milestone checkup. So hard to believe this guy is going to kindergarten this fall. I'm not ready and he's told me he isn't ready, so we both need to get on same boat by September. Oh yeah and pick a school.

We had kindergarten required immunizations done. Ugh. I was dreading these, wishing we would have done them last year. I really didn't know how to break the news that he needed to get a shot (well actually 2---OOPS my bad) at the appointment. I fought with even telling him at all...Telling him when we got there or telling him the night before. Seriously all these choices all had their perks, but when it came down to it I told him the night before. I am too honest of a person and if I knew I was going to get poked and it would probably hurt I would want to know a head of time.

After the 20 minutes of crying and pleading with me not to get a shot I found a you tube video of Sid (the science kid) needed to get a shot. After this he seemed pretty cool with "everything" until we got there of coarse. He even did just fine talking to the nurse and getting weighed and height measured (btw he's the highest in the percentiles as he has ever been 36% for height and 39% for weight), but after we actually got in the room cooperation pretty much stopped. He did tell me before we left the house he wanted to get his shot done for so it would be done. I guess he is my kind of guy, just get done with hard stuff first. Though I should have known this because he always does the "hard" part of his school work books before he does the easy side!

Overall the doctor's appointment could have gone better, it could have gone worse. Once his doctor came in, he was a little more Harrison and when I say a little, I mean a teeny weeny little bit.

We found out he still has a tube left in his left ear... which is awesome because usually the most mileage you get out of tubes is maybe 12-18 months and we are going on over 2 years and his left is his bad ear! The right is out and just hanging in the ear canal. They will both eventually work their way out at some point.

We discuss his eyes/glasses a bit and obviously he pediatrician isn't and eye doctor so he didn't have any more information about his exact eye condition that I STILL don't understand. It's call midline crossing. I explained to him I am thinking of seeking a second opinion, not because I don't think his eye doctor is qualified, that's not at all, but to be frank...Her bed side manner sucks. She especially sucks with kids. How she ended up in peds I don't know. Our doctor said he's actually heard a bit of the same from other clients and gave us a recommendation to another eye doctor in peds that is awesome and he has 3 kids of his own, so lots of own personal experience with kids.

His heart, lungs, belly are all normal. We also got good news that he is getting arches in his feet. This is actually not good, but awesome news! He was really flat footed last appointment and his doctor is very please with the progress he has made on his own getting these arches and building muscle tone. When you are born premature, you pretty much spend the first 5-6 years of your life trying to build up muscle tone that is comparable to an non premature child. Way to go buddy, just another thing you are awesome at! I can hardly believe that on Monday marks 5 years since we brought him home from the hospital.

The shots sucked. I think he would have done better if they could have been done a little more on his terms. He was fine with getting the shots done in his legs, but they wanted him to lay down and me hold him down. Obviously Harrison was fine with hugging me, but he didn't want anything to do with lying down. I even said to the nurses, "I think he would do better just sitting upright and I will hold on to him."  Their response was, "he will be more relaxed lying down for the shots." Relaxed? I am freaking holding down this kid and your telling me his muscles are more relaxed because I holding him down on the table? He was more upset about lying down than getting the shots for goodness sake. I honestly don't know if he really even felt the shots because he was too angry he had to lie down. It all worked out... The shots are over and the next time he gets another one won't be any time soon! We do the flu mist here and we are sticking with that.

If you ask Harrison the best part of the appointment it was getting the prizes. He did get a really cool color changing pencil---so the shots just might have been worth it.

After the appointment we headed to Hobby Lobby to pick up white boards for the kids and then stopped at the mall for blizzards are DQ and stopped at the play place. Seriously Miles scores big when Harrison has appointments. Even today he scored a bouncy ball and a sucker without even having to get his hair cut. Being second born obviously has it's advantages.


 

5 Years.

Oh man my baby boy? Where has the time gone? I can't believe it's the eve of your 5th birthday. Little did we know that you would make this grand entrance into the world on November 28, 2009 nearly 3 months early.

You astounded us when you took your first breathe and cried. This was the most encouraging beginning to your almost 8 week stay in the NICU. During this time, it was both the scariest, yet happiest time in our lives. All 3 pound 3 ounce of you taught us just how incredible such a small person can be. Your presence everyday is a reminder that we have proof that miracles do happen.

In the last year you have grown up so much. This summer you shot up at least couple of inches in just those few short months. They always say, don't blink or you'll miss something, I now know that is positively true. I feel so incredibly lucky to have been home with your for the last year. As a parent, we spend so much time working and don't realize what we are missing until have it.

Your imagine makes me want to be 5 years old again. You come up with the most wildly incredible scenarios and at least several times a day your assign me, daddy, Miles and Violet to be a Ninja Turtle, Transformer or Super Hero. I must admit I do favor being the purple flower truck Transformer.

If you aren't busy being Super Hero, fire fighter, cop, or garbage truck driver you are building, anything and everything. If I had to describe your imagination in two words I would 1. inventive 2. builder. I just love watching you build and create incredible things.

You are also very organizational which obviously an asset to all of your creations/ideas. Grocery shopping consists of your organizing items so that they precisely line up in the cart, almost as if you were building with blocks.

When you aren't being a Super Hero, rescuing, or building something you love playing on the i-pad. The i-pad is pretty awesome, ok... REALLY FREAKING AWESOME.

Since you turn 5 tomorrow, you now have 2 years of BIG BROTHER under your belt. I am not going to lie (because this is your birthday post), most days around here are war zone. But when it comes down to it, you do love your brother and your little brother and he pretty much thinks you are the coolest kid EVER and spends his days trying to compete and keep up with his awesome BIG brother.

Speaking of AWESOME, you are AWESOME. Since I could pretty much go on and on about your awesomeness I am going to grace our readers (and you some day) with 100 bullets of your awesomeness.

1. You call me your best friend.
2. You have this weird habit of rubbing your cheek up against people when your your feeling lovey (I'm convinced you learned this from the cats).
3. You can count to 30, even 40 but ALWAYS miss number 13. (I guess I don't blame you, there is a reason why the 13 floor is almost non-existent). 
4. You still take 3, even 4 hour afternoon naps.
5. You really think the Ninja Turtles live in our sewer.
6. You love sweat pants. I have to bargain with you the days I want you to wear jeans.
7. Your current obsession (started two weeks ago) everything Batman. (Now don't change your mind before Christmas- Santa has already started shopping).
8. You call the color brown, black with no fail. In your world, brown doesn't exist.
9. You look incredibly cute in your glasses.
10. You love to be surprised (if fact you said you don't want to tell Santa what you want because you want to be surprised).
11. Your favorite snack is vanilla yogurt with mini M&Ms.
12. You are follower, not so much a leader.
13. Your favorite game is hide and seek,
14. You get into Miles crib almost every morning to jump with him.
15. You love shoes (specifically fast shoes---tennis shoes).
16. You love building forts.
17. You have the most incredible memory.
18. You always want to help, not matter what I am doing as long as you get to help.
19. You think monsters still exist in your closet....sometimes.
20. You ask me to cuddle everyday.
21. You are cautious about your brother's safety.
22. Your imagination, ROCKS.
23. You love singing songs.
24. You don't dance (it's probably genetic, don't worry).
25. You love closing your eyes for surprises..
26. Your favorite TV show is Jake.
27. You aren't into the fad toys.
28. You think Tator Tot hot dish is the best food ever.
29. You love to be read to.
30. Your favorite color (this week anyways) is red, because fire trucks are red.
31. You always up before 7 am.
32. You don't like pop or anything with carbonation.
33. You could eat cereal or pancakes for every meal, everyday and be totally ok with this. 
34. You still need me to remind you which shoes go on what feet.
35. You love pretending to read.
36. The circle store (Target) is the best store ever (and mommy agrees).
37. You love surprises.
38. You still sleep every night with your yellow blanket and puppy.
39. You only asked for one toy for your birthday (Hot Wheels Fire & Rescue---and your getting it) 
40. Your favorite movie is Planes Fire & Rescue
41. You are not much of a morning person and bargain in to staying up later.
42. Your favorite thing to do outside in the winter is shovel.
43. You take AMAZING photos now (well, when you want too). It's 180 from last year and 360 from the year before.
44. You talk about Whitney Dog is heaven and that makes me happy. I want you to remember her.
45. You always ask for Ice Cream before we leave Grandma's house, never fail. Thank goodness she always has some for you.
46. You love taking baths, showers still scare you a bit.
47. You used these 3 phrases the most, "I don't want to frustrate you," and "I'm going to be good, now," and "I didn't do nothing."
48. You love being the leader and showing Miles how to do things,
49. You jump on the living room furniture every chance you can get."
50. You tried riding your bike without training wheels this summer, but then decided you just want to keep your training wheels on forever (and that was a direct quote).
51. You have a hard time saying no, instead you always say, "Maybe next time."
52. You love having one on one with mom or dad.
53. You try so hard to misbehave sometimes, but you are such a good kid---it usually only lasts a few moments and you are immediately SORRY.
54. You think by saying, "I'm not going to be your best friend anymore," will some how chance the the situation into your favor.
55. You have one sure way to get to a time out with this quote, "Momma, you need a time out, you are naughty." This one buddy, oh it's Momma's button that shouldn't be pushed. 
56. You are just figuring out this Santa Claus business. I hope the magic lasts a long time for you.
57. You randomly talk about dying Easter eggs, for like every holiday.
58. You love doing puzzles, cutting paper and writing letters.
59. You play with trucks in oatmeal....This reminds of my own childhood, where stuff kids played with was so simple and not everything needed a battery.
60. You love playing with people, specifically adults. 
61. Your favorite game is Hide & Seek.
62. You don't like lettuce, but you do eat Tomatoes from neighbors garden.
63. You love hugs.
64. You talk about saving money in your piggy bank a lot to go to hotel with a pool and to go to a cabin again.
65. You caught your first fish this summer while at cabin, Then you caught a few more.
66. You love being outside every chance you can get.
67. Your favorite thing to draw is daddy's work building.
68. You love giving people presents.
69. You call blankets a "key, keys."
70. You aren't in a hurry to grow up (and I think that is just awesome).
71. You gave me instance coolness when I bought you your first pair of character light up shoes this year.
72. You make your own bed (and sometimes mom & dad's) and do a pretty decent job of it."
73. You really could care less about the movie, "Frozen." I am pretty convinced we will be the only house without something "Frozen" underneath the tree."
74. You call all of your friends, "My best friends."
75. You love living by the fire station and we have to drive/walk by the station regularly to see if the fire doors are open to the fire trucks.
76. You don't like to let go of old things or things you don't play with. Momma convinced you that all the toys we sold this fall that you didn't play with anymore belonged to Miles. And... this worked.
77. You love money, specifically change (nickels are a favorite).
78. You like seeing picture when you were little and watching the videos we had made for your first and second birthdays (obviously we have slacked for 3, 4 and now 5). The other day you asked, where are my other videos? #parent fail
79. You are Momma's thrift store buddy. 
80. You always eat pizza in this order. Meat, cheese and then crust.
81. You love having responsibility and helping.
82. You like Jake & Neverland Pirates, Paw Patrol, Noodle & Doodle, Fireman Sam, Handy Manny and Bob the builder the best and he just added Team Omi-Zoomie and Super Why oh and don't forget the Magic School bus and Mickey.
83. You like to paint vs color.
84. You get excited anytime you see a digger working or fire truck, ambulance or police officer go by.
85. You like to play with empty laundry baskets and boxes.
86. You asked for Batman cake for your 5th birthday.
87. You like to cook and help in the kitchen whenever you can.
88. Your favorite cereal is Fruity Pebbles.
89. You like to pretend to play games by yourself.
90. You like monster trucks.
91. You always travel in blocks not miles.
92. You just started using the word, "Awesome."
93. You love living by the "ice cream place." (The Zesto)
94. You like classic shows like the "Smurfs, Flintstones & Jetson's
95. You love it that the kitties finally like you, or more like you finally decided to stop chasing them. 
96. You talk about when you were a little baby and pretend you remember things from when you were a little baby. 
97. You actually ask to have your picture taken these days.
98. You have the wildest ideas... This year you were asked how to cook a Thanksgiving dinner at preschool, this was your response, "Dad and I go to the barn, catch a turkey with a net, bake it in the toaster, microwave and oven for 10 minutes and we will have applesauce and corn."
99. Your heart is pretty much stolen by peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. 
100. You have the way of making life so awesome, even on the hardest of days. 

I had this wild a crazy hope of editing your 5 year old pictures in time for your 5th birthday post. We will chalk this up this fail to  #parentfail #familyfallpictures #busyseason #photographerfail

Next up for edit is the Christmas session I did with both boys, summer of 2014, fall 2014 and the trip to the cabin. It's just a few 100, 1,000 photos to sort through.

Here is quick preview at his 5 year old portraits:

Happy 5th birthday buddy!