Thursday, June 22, 2017

Nate at 5


- Such a sweet, wonderful boy.  He loves to give hugs and cuddles.
- Loves playing with friends. He's asked for his buddy Zeno from preschool a few times over the summer.


- His favorite place is the playground.  This kid loves to be outside.
- Still in love with Thomas the Train.  He's branched out a little to Chuggington as well.



- He loves his daddy!  He's so happy when he gets to spend time with dad at the end of the day. He especially loves sitting with his dad at the computer and playing what Nate calls, "Cars and Trains."
- He loves letters and numbers.  He's got such a great memory for those things.  He's even learning some sight words for kindergarten.


- Such a great helper.  We made chore charts and Nate loves to get his finished.  He likes to help empty the dishwasher, sweep the floor, and vacuum.
- He's not so much a picky eater as much as he just doesn't eat hardly a thing.  There are a few things you can get him to request seconds of though.  Spaghetti, pizza, and popcorn are his favorite foods.


- He's always been funny and he still makes us laugh so much!
- He got a scooter from Grandma for his birthday and he loves it.  He goes so fast!  I'm glad I bought him a helmet!


- He's doing so great with all of his therapy.  He's worked really hard this summer to get ready for kindergarten!  He's been doing 1 hr of OT, 1 hr of speech, and 6 hrs of ABA. And then he's been going to preschool on top of that!
- I finally finished making his weighted blanket and Nate loves it.  The first time I tried it Nate was having a meltdown.  Once I laid the blanket on his lap Nate immediately stopped screaming and laid down.  He laid there a good 10 minutes because he loved it so much. Now he sleeps with it ever night.


- Lately for bedtime he likes to have "quiet music" to fall asleep to.  Usually classical or instrumental music. He's his father's son.
- Still pretty small for his age.  He may be 5, but he just moved into 4T pants.


- Nate had a sleep study this spring.  He did not like being hooked up to everything while he slept.  I slept with him in his hospital bed and stopped him from pulling off wires.  Worst night of sleep of my life.  But we did get useful information from it.  And Nate's now started some sleep medication which means we're all sleeping better now.
- Nate and Evy love to stand on the coffee table, I mean, "stage" and sing and dance for us.  He's even got a few new moves that have us laughing!


- He likes to play pretend with Evy.  It's so fun that things they come up with to play.
- Nate also likes space, just like his daddy.  They like to watch rocket launches and play with Nate's rockets.


Man, I love this kid.

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Happy 5th Birthday Nate!

Nate has been counting down the days to his birthday this year.  He's been so excited for the big day to come.  And luckily we were at our family reunion in Utah so Nate got to celebrate his birthday with his cousins!  It was pretty much the best birthday a 5 year old could imagine. Presents, cupcakes, snow cones, and even a train ride.  That night as I was putting him to bed he told me it was the best birthday ever.








Nate got a second party with Grandma and Papa Bennett after our family reunion.  Grandma put together a Thomas the Train party for Nate.  He couldn't believe it.  He kept smiling and covering his mouth in disbelief.  The best part was the Thomas piƱata.  Nate and Evy had so much fun!






Monday, June 19, 2017

Packer Family Reunion

We drove out to Utah this summer for a reunion of epic proportions.  All the Packers in Aspen Grove.    I mean, there was matching cousin pajamas, nerf wars, helicopters, BYU creamery ice cream, and mint brownies. What else could we want?







We were champions of Aspen Follies.  You've never seen such teamwork and skill combined into one family.








And we participated in our share of arts, crafts, and sporting events.  Brad even won the Robin Hood award for the highest score at archery.








Top that all off with a ski lift ride to the top of Sundance and it was a pretty great family reunion.  We had such a great time with our family.  We can't wait for the next reunion!