Craig Year Five Retrospective

Four years old was a busy year for Craig.

He's been doing gymnastics and loves it.

He talks about how gymnastics makes him strong and he's been getting better at the skills and at listening to his instructors.

Craig finished up preschool, doing spectacularly, although sometimes being a little sillier than some people might prefer.

His teachers say he's quite a character, which I'm pretty sure is a euphemism for "super crazy, silly, awesome, smart, annoying, loving, and frustrating."
And, of course, just a few weeks before he turned 5, Craig started kindergarten.

In the first couple of days, he had a bit of trouble transitioning, but seems to have found the groove now.

And he absolutely loves going to school, with taking the bus and playing on the playground being the highlights.

Craig loves to tell jokes. For a while, many of his jokes employed potty humor that made little to no sense. With our encouragement, he's most expanded past the poop jokes, but they still make little sense. Like this:
Knock, knock! (Who's there?)
Banana! (Banana who?)
Banana on your glasses [or head]! *Hysterical laughter*
He taught that one to Caleb, who repeats it regularly.

Caleb loves Craig, and tries to follow his example in more ways than just telling jokes.

Usually, Craig is an excellent example for him to follow.

Craig and Calista are a silly duo, as well.

They often love each other, and occasionally get on each others nerves.

I still find them sleeping together fairly regularly.

I'm pretty sure they are each other's best friend and biggest frustration.

We've gone and done many things this year. We went camping at Writing-On-Stone,

roadtripped to Oregon,

spent time with cousins,

and went to several Provincial and National Park.

Of course, we also had a ton of time to just play, inside and outside, at home and at parks, alone and with others.

Craig learned to actually peddle his bike this year, finally.

We've gone on several short bike rides, and he's done great on them.

Oh, and speaking of things Craig finally learned to do, I suppose it's only in the past year he actually has been out of diapers. That's pretty crazy, and I'm not sure I ever want to speak of that process again.

Craig absolutely loves playing with Legos.

Sometimes he gets frustrated, either because the blocks aren't going together quite the way he wants, or because Caleb is a toddler.

Mostly, he can spend an hour or more building and playing.

As do most kids his age, Craig definitely has opinions. He refuses to wear jeans and occasionally other pants that aren't "soft pants" (sweatpants) or shorts, which can make getting him ready for school interesting when it's laundry day.

Craig's favorite number is 89.
His favorite color is red. And blue. And brown. Even white. And pink. Even violet...

The best thing about being four was videos, videos, and more videos!

The Sunday before his birthday, Craig sat down in my lap and gave me hugs and kisses and told me he loved me, over and over again.

This is my little boy. This is the Craig that warms my heart and I'm so grateful for.

He may frustrate me sometimes, but he is also the sweetest and funniest buddy around, and I'm so happy that he is mine and chooses to love me.


October 2017

November 2017

December 2017

January 2018

February 2018

March 2018

April 2018

May 2018

June 2018

July 2018

August 2018

September 2018

Five for Craig!

Craig has done it! He made it to his fifth birthday, a full hand of fingers.

He survived, folks! And he did it in style.

Before his birthday, when Kyler and I were discussing what we wanted to do as a family for him, Craig said he wanted to do mini golf like last year. When we told him we weren't planning on doing that, he pouted and said, "Well, then I don't want to do anything!" Then I told him what we were actually planning, and he changed his tune...
We started his birthday celebration on the Saturday before, and drove down to Drumheller... in the snow. Sorry, Kyler! But it was for a good purpose: to go to the Royal Tyrrell Museum!
After a quick (indoor) picnic lunch, we headed into to museum.

Caleb hasn't been there since he was a baby, so we wondered a little how he'd do. He absolutely loved it - maybe a little too much. Caleb would become obsessed with an aspect of the exhibit (a turtle or shark or the gardens or something) and keep coming back to it, refusing to move on.

When we finally would decide to force him to come with us, he'd cry and scream until he found his next obsession in the next room, and then he's fall in love all over again...
Calista is basically the perfect age for things like this. She is so curious and loved learning, and at the same time is actually old enough to start to understand and ask questions for herself.

So, needless to say, she loved going through the museum and learning all about paleontology.
And the birthday boy himself? Craig "liked it 100%."

He was excited and full of energy, running this way and that to look at everything.
The fan favorite of the day was an experience we'd never done before: we actually paid a little bit extra for a fossil casting course. Caleb wasn't old enough, so it was just Calista, Craig, and Kyler. For everyone, it was their favorite part of the day. They learned about what fossil casts are (copies made from molds of original fossils), why museums make and use them (protect or study real fossils, casts are lighter for display, and they can share casts with other museums), and then made one for themselves to bring home!

They absolutely loved it! I'm only a little jealous I didn't get to go, but hanging out 1-on-1 with Caleb was actually really nice, too.
Finally, we had dinner before heading home.


And then, on Craig's actual birthday, he... went to school! But we had a lot of fun playing in the leaves and taking a couple of pictures beforehand.

After school, he came home with a pencil from his principal, which he was thrilled about. He promptly asked me to sharpen it for him, and then Craig drew a picture of a long-necked, short-bodied, long-headed Headband Monster!

Oh, man, that boys makes me laugh.
As soon as Daddy got home, it was time to open presents.

Craig only got three this year, and he loved them all. Before he opened them, he thought one was a recorder ("And if it's not, I'll be really sad") and one was Legos ("Hopefully jungle Legos!"). Well, he was right!

The Legos are the biggest set I've ever done in my life!

The finished product!

All told, it took me two days to put it together while Craig helped, and he was thrilled about them!

Before playing with Legos or the recorder, though, the kiddos all a break with Daddy to read the spooky books that were Craig's final present, also a big hit.

Next up was dinner - pizza! - and then time for cake.

Chocolate cake. Obviously.

He didn't actually finish his slice, but he was pretty happy!

Because it's his happy birthday!