Max at 5
At 5 Max is independent, smart, sensitive, funny, cautious, and a joy to be around (most days). On days he isn’t, I usually want to throw him out the window but always settle on a generous whiskey pour.
This past year has been full of big changes for our family. I was worried how Max would adjust to everything - new school, two moves, new house, saying good bye to his friends in VA, but he has been amazing. He has taken each new change in stride and adjusted better than any of us. Here is a snapshot of our PJ Mask loving, goofy, crazy 5 year old.
Activities
When you have kids, you sort of assume they will take after the interests you or your spouse had as kids. Both Aaron and I were pretty athletic kids, so we have been kind of surprised that Max has very little interest in sports. Don’t get me wrong, he is incredibly active and loves playing outside and riding his bike, but if you ask him to throw a ball or swing a bat he couldn’t care less. However, his interests evolve on a daily basis, so who knows what he will be into next month!
Max is playing soccer. He has come a long way since his first soccer season, where he was more interested in flying planes and flowers growing than where the ball was. Not sure what changed, but this year he decided to participate. We were floored his first game when he stole the ball and scored a goal! I felt that rush of adrenaline and wanted to shout “hell yea, that’s my kid!”, but filtered my reaction to something more appropriate. My second favorite soccer moment was Max confidently shouting “guys, it’s out of balance” every time the ball went out of bounds (I never corrected him).
We are back in swim lessons! When we left off last summer, Max was at that dangerous point where he thinks he can swim, but he really can’t. He is doing awesome, and will be swimming on his own by summer.
Daily Habits
It feels strange to talk about eating habits since he is 5, but he is a great eater. I appreciate that even more since Zoe was born, since having a picky eater is incredibly challenging! I used to think we were “really good parents” whenever Max would willingly eat veggies, but turns out we had very little to do with it.
Max still takes a nap, mainly because Aaron and I need those 2 glorious hours of solitude. We know we are approaching the end of nap time. On days he naps, sometimes he doesn’t fall asleep until 9:30-10:00 (bedtime is 8:00). I’ve officially written that in his 3 year and 4 year posts, but this time I mean it. Frankly, I’m thrilled we have held onto it this long.
School
Max is at Goddard right now and is doing great in his Pre-k program. He can write 3 words, “Max”, “Zoe” and “Daddy”, but he loves practicing his letters. Sometimes he will fill an entire page with random letters, then ask me what it says. When I tell him it doesn’t say anything he responds, “mommy, just tell me what it says” as if I’m somehow holding out on knowledge. I can’t believe how smart he is becoming and that he is starting kindergarten in a few months. Max is ready, I on the other hand will be crying my eyes out on his first day.
Max is the best big brother. He loves Zoe so much. One of my favorite things is listening to their conversations - simple exchanges where Zoe will ask “Max-y can you open this”, and Max replies “oh, sure Zoe” as she hands him the item. It’s just so cute that she goes to him for help. Of course it isn’t all perfect. Now that Zoe is getting older and voicing her opinions (so loudly), Max gets frustrated at times.
Max hates “costumes” (aka mascot). If we know there will be one, we can usually avoid a meltdown, but if one shows up unexpectedly, we can count on a full blown hysterical reaction.
Current parenting struggle
Our biggest struggle right now is listening. A switch flipped at 4 and a half, where all the sudden our sweet little boy stopped listening and started talking back. The first few times we laughed when he shouted, “I will never ever draw you another picture ever again”, but 1000 times later it is just a-n-n-o-y-i-n-g. Now that Zoe is 2, she picks up everything. She has started telling us “I will never ever go to sleep.”
Birthday Party
We had an awesome time celebrating Max’s birthday at SEGA gym this year!Plus he got some pretty awesome presents this year - transformers, a new bike (from us), his first drone (from Pops and Bebe), a pretty serious LEGO set (from Agong and Ama), but when we asked him what his favorite present was he said his Maui hook (this $5 piece of crap that he picked out with his birthday money). 🤣🤦🏻♀️
Max, you are an amazing kid. We love you more than you know!