My firstborn is 5! (Well, 5.5 now!)

I usually post on my children's birthday, but I can't believe I missed this one so now my son is 5.5 years old.  Here is his 5 year old letter and pictures.

 

 

 

Dear Shrade,                                                                                          11/27/13

I can’t believe you are 5 years old today!  I remember when I first found out I was pregnant with you that I was already thinking about you when you would be 5 years old since that is the age of students I had.  On the day you were born I was so excited for you to come and I was pretty nervous.  In the last several years I have watched you grow into a creative big boy.

This year you were able to do so many new things.  You started reading in January, but really started with more confidence just this past month.  You went camping with daddy on the 4th of July and went hiking in the mountains.  You went to Day Camp for a week and VBS for a week.  You had a blast with your cousins in Bend for our family reunion.  You also rode on the Amtrak train with Grandma Linda.

One really exciting thing for me was starting Homeschool PreK with you.  You actually didn’t want to.  You wanted to go to “school.”  But I tried to make it fun.  I am amazed at how much you have learned- writing your name, drawing, more cutting and gluing and reading.  I see you learning new things everyday and I’m so proud of you.

You absolutely adore your little sister and want to play with her all the time, chase her and copy her.  You still have strong emotions, cry a lot and sorry to say, you still suck your food, but chew apart water bottle straws.

You love working with daddy, playing in the garden, cutting paper, drawing, spinning in circles, Cubbies and playing at the park.  You always want to go somewhere.

What I love most is that you still want to cuddle with mama!  I love you, buddy!  Love, Mommy

Organizing shoes

Making cookies with mom

Elephant from Cubbies on our cabin trip

Drawing people for the first time

Camping with grandma and grandpa

His babysitter

"Making" breakfast

 

Shrade is 4 years old!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet son, Shrade! I love him with all my heart. I pray everyday for God to capture and soften his heart. Have a super day, Shrade!!

My precious children

Cell phones

Cooking!

Playing with little sister

Organizing- where does he get that from?  :)

Helping daddy paint the chicken coop

Coloring- Preschool work

Picking strawberries

Playing at the Spray Park

My first born is now 3 years old: Shrade!!

I can't believe my little Shrade is 3 years old today!  I remember when I first found out that I was pregnant on Easter weekend of 2008 I was in complete shock.  My first thought was that I was not ready to be a mother even though I loved children and had taught for many years.  My second thought was, how was I going to be a good mother?  Well, ready or not, Shrade Joseph was born on the morning of November 27, 2008 which was Thanksgiving Day.  I didn't know I was having a boy and I was so excited to meet him for the first time.  The first few months I felt like a bumbling mama.  I couldn't figure out nursing and sleeping was a joke.  But as the years have gone by, I realized that I keep bumbling!  That's ok, God is my strength and guide and I raise this warrior for Him!

November 27, 2008 (my first time seeing my baby Shrade)

This year has been the most challenging, yet the most exciting year so far!

Shrade has learned to be very independent.  He can put on and take off his shoes and clothes.  He can open and close doors and he can climb in his carseat.

He loves to play.  We let him play outside on our porch, in the garden and he really wants to ride his tricycle, but can't seem to work the pedals!  He can build with blocks and he loves cars and trains.  He is not interested in many conventional toys and often plays longer with things that are not really toys at all!

His favorite cars!

He likes things a certain way and is hesitant to try new things.  He usually doesn't participate in a group, but this year he started sitting with the group at library story time rather than on my lap.  He drinks everything in because when we get home he can tell exactly what was read or the songs that we sang.  He also has found a friend at church which is very exciting!

This summer he we had some friends come visit us and Shrade found a little "girlfriend."  

At home we do lessons with Brightly Beaming Resources.  I also take him to library story time and Play to Learn (a free preschool type program).  We try to go the zoo on free days and in the winter we go to the mall playground.  Shrade knows his letters and can sing the alphabet.  He also can count objects up to 10 and he has learned to jump and recently can do a forward roll.

Making letter N with newspaper

Shrade has very sweet little voice and loves to sing.  I have taught him many Bible verses by songs using Songs for Saplings.  He also is "reading" books.  He can basically tell the story and even has memorized words.

 This video is Shrade singing one of his Bible verses!

The most amazing way Shrade has changed is in his language.  He went from speaking only a few words at a time to complete sentences and asking questions.  I have started writing down all the funny things he has said!  He also has learned to argue and he can spell his name!

This year he started having an attitude that I wasn't quite prepared for since he was such a compliant and mellow toddler.  His temper tantrums in public is something that I don't care to remember.  But he is learning to listen and obey and he knows the good or bad results that will come with his behavior.

I think the biggest transition for Shrade was welcoming his new baby sister, Jessna.  He has been a fabulous brother and he keeps asking me when she will walk and talk.  I can't wait to see them interact more this year.

And most recently Shrade is being potty trained.  He is a real trooper and loves being a big boy!  Until next time...see you in a year.  Be sure to keep up with Shrade at Milk N' Honey Learn and Grow for all the fun stuff he is learning!

We love you, Shrade.  Keep growing in Jesus!

Shrade is 2 years old!!

Oh, I can't believe that my little boy is already two.  It seems like only yesterday that I was holding him and he was cooing at me.  I recently went back to watch those videos lest I forget.  But wow, this last year and even these last three months Shrade is just changing.

Shrade is an absolute joy.  He is always laughing, smiling and playing games.  Basically he is very busy and he doesn't sit still or slow down unless he's eating or sleeping.  We try to keep him very active both physically and mentally each day and he takes that challenge with vigor.  He is very emotional and easily frustrated but we are teaching him how to ask for help and also to solve his own problems.  He doesn't like messes.  He shouts, "Messy, messy!"  until it's cleaned up and he's still ultra picky about food, but you can't go wrong with bread and fruit.

Shrade is learning many ways to be independent: taking his own shoes off, climbing into his high chair and car seat, and crawling up and down stairs.  He is learning to follow directions and is very good at throwing things away in the garbage and getting things for us when asked.  He is also responsible to put his dishes in the sink and he is learning to say please, thank you and your welcome.  Also, if you happen to sneeze he will say, "Bless you!"

His vocabulary has exploded.  He names everything and repeats words.  The other day he said, "Oh, goodness!"   He also says, "There you go!"  He sings and is learning to ask for things that he wants.  We have started a little bit of Shrade School and he is learning letter names, numbers, colors, shapes and animals.  He is also coloring a little bit, but is much more interested in transferring crayons from one container to another.  And every toy that we have becomes a "train."

He is really interested in prayer time and even reminds us before a meal.  I want to start teaching him Bible verses and of course, we want to sing Jesus songs with him.  He usually stands with us during church worship time and bounces to the music.

We are so busy with activities.  We like to go to library story time which is a great reinforcer of songs and books that I like to read at home.  I also get a lot of good ideas to practice at home with him too.  We go to playdates and we started going to a free program in our community called Play to Learn.  I can see that he's catching on to books because he is starting to pick them up and name the title and pretends to read them too.  We also went to the playground a lot when the weather was nice and he wants to climb and run.  It's hard to keep up with this growing boy.  He is a bit more daring than I want him to be.

Also, we've been taking a parenting class that is really helping us to fill his moral warehouse with sound Biblical wisdom.  We are working on first time obedience and we say, "First time, every time, quickly with a happy heart."  He is starting to understand that and he obeys.  We also give lots of praise when he does things well.  Of course, we have a long road in the parenting process, but we are taking one step at a time because we want our son's heart to be soft toward the Lord.

Well, we will see you again in 6 months and by then, Shrade will be a big brother!  That will be another challenge altogether.  I would appreciate any help in getting Shrade ready for a sibling!

Shrade is 21 months old today!!

Shrade is 21 months old today!  I've been trying to update every 3 months since he turned 1.  So in 3 more months he'll be 2 years old!!  Can't believe how fast my baby is growing.  He is the joy of our lives.

Shrade has a very established routine.  He eats 3 meals a day with a few snacks inbetween.  He knows that we pray before each meal and gives a hearty "AMEN" after prayer.  He takes a great 2.5 hour nap and sleeps through the night especially if he has his "kitty" (his favorite stuffed animal).

Shrade loves to play with his stuffed animals and puts them in a basket or box and drags them around the house.  He also has started sitting at the piano and playing and even singing.  We love this because music is a passion in our home.  Shrade also bounces to music and has a reputation at church for his "dancing."

This summer Shrade and I took part in a Summer Reading Challenge where we filled out a form of all the books we read that week.  I calculated that we read over 200 books this summer!  Wow!!

This summer Shrade discovered our blueberry and raspberry bushes and picks them clean.  He also went strawberry picking with us and couldn't get enough strawberries in his mouth.

Shrade took a few trips this summer.  We went up to Oak Harbor, WA to visit Grandma Nettie and Grandpa Jeff.  Shrade called Grandma Nettie "Grandma Nut, Nut."  We thought that was funny!  Shrade also spent some time at Great Grandma Elayne's house.  We also went to Canada one weekend to Grandma Linda and Grandpa Del.  Grandma Linda also comes down to babysit Shrade so mama and daddy can go out on dates.  Then we made our annual trip to Minnesota for our Knowlton Family Reunion.  It was fun to hang out with cousins, especially Levi and Cortney.  We also got to see Great Grandma Aletha.

Shrade had an explosion of words this summer.  He can identify transportation objects like cars, trucks, buses, airplanes, motorbikes and trains.  He knows many animal names and loves to imitate their sounds.  He is starting to repeat the Alphabet with me and can count 1,2,3.  He also loves to say colors, especially yeyo (yellow), boo (blue) and pink!

Shrade wants to be very independent and insists on walking down the stairs just holding our fingers.  He can almost do it by himself by just holding on to the railing.

Shrade is very emotional which I guess is pretty typical at this age level.  He can be extremely happy and get very sad and upset.  He always likes to cuddle with mama after being reprimanded or after getting hurt.

Shrade is very generous with his smiles and hugs.  He also says "I You" (I love you) all the time.

We are looking forward to  starting Tot School this fall with mama as teacher.  You can see updates on Milk N' Honey Learn and Grow.

See you in 3 months at my second birthday!!

Shrade is 18 months old today!

This is our Shrade at 18 months old!  He is the joy of our lives!  I started blogging about Shrade from right before birth for every month until one year old.  After that I update every 3 months since my blog has grown into so many other things, but Shrade is still our #1 love!

Shrade and I do lots of activities together.  We go to library story time, playdates, MOPS, parks and the zoo.  We find lots of free and fun things to do.

Shrade has recently discovered the garden and loves the rocks. 

Cheesy grin!

Shrade is helping with laundry.

Shrade is saying new words every week and love to go outside in the garden.  He runs to pick up his shoes.  He has learned to climb up on to his rocking chair.  He really likes to walk up and down the stairs holding our hands.  Shrade and I are staring "Tot School."  You can read more about our adventures on Milk N' Honey.