Ben is FIVE!

Okay so I can't write a post about Shelby turning 1 without recognizing that Ben turned 5 yesterday! 5 is an interesting age. It's awesome for many many reasons but also incredibly frustrating for just as many reasons. I'll include a list like I did for Shelby, highlighting both the good and the bad about our 5 year old!

1. Ben loves Star Wars. Especially Lego Star Wars. After he broke our tv a few months ago he hasn't been able to play Wii. Which means no Lego Star Wars video game. This has been pretty traumatic for him, but I have not backed down on the Wii privileges! We're dealing with a small tv in the living room and Ben will get his Wii privileges back Friday when he opens his presents from us (and gets a new Star Wars game).

2. Ben has been going to preschool at a friend's house this year. He's learned a lot. He's also learned how to add some numbers together but swears he didn't learn that at school. He reads fairly well and is as prepared for Kindergarten as you can probably get!

3. Ben starts KINDERGARTEN this Fall! A lot of people hold their boys back a year, and even though Ben is going to be one of the younger ones in his class we're not holding him back. Besides the fact that he's huge! He's definitely ready. He will probably be a little on the immature side, but we'll work with him on that.

4. His favorite thing to eat is peanut butter and (strawberry) jelly sandwiches and chocolate milk. He has this for lunch every single day!

5. He loves the Texas Rangers. He wears his Rangers hat we got him during the playoffs last year all the time.

6. He has really sensitive eyes and wears sunglasses all the time. I can't even tell you how many pairs of sunglasses we've bought and lost. Thankfully I found some at Dollar Tree and am going to stock up on a few pair to last us the rest of the summer!

7. He weighs 51 pounds and is 46" tall. He hasn't had a 5-year check up yet but that puts him over the 95th percentile for height and weight.

8. His obsession with Thomas the Train is definitely on the down turn. I'm kind of glad because I was getting kind of tired of watching Thomas movies and because I was ready for him to move on to more grown up toys. Like Star Wars and Legos. Now he spends all his time building Jedi Star fighters and I love it.

9. Ben is incredibly independent. He thinks he knows everything and even when he's told not to do something he'll say "it's okay Shelby likes it." Not the point!

10. He also thinks he's the boss of Shelby. Granted, he does great when I ask him to keep her entertained or to make sure she doesn't fall asleep in the car, but then he likes to take his own liberties and try to put Shelby on his bed, or try to run with her around the house. And when I tell him to stop he thinks he knows what's best. ie #9.

11. I wish I had Ben's self control when it comes to food. He never over indulges. Sometimes we wish he'd want more than one cookie. Or another bite of brownie, but nope. He's perfectly content with the minimum. I can hand him a pint of rainbow sherbet and he'll bring it to me saying he's done after he's only about 1/6th of the way into it.

12. When Ben gets bored or tired it's not pretty. He wakes up most days around 6:45 and is banished to the living room to lay on the couch so I can sleep a little longer (since Shelby doesn't wake up till 8). If he wakes up any earlier than that I can pretty much count my day a loss because he's almost uncontrollable. He doesn't listen, he throws himself on the floor when he gets mad. He cries if I get upset with him, he's mean to Shelby and he flat out tones out the world and goes a bit loopy. It's so bizarre. If he wakes up after 7 he's usually great. 6:15, total devil.

13. He loves Phineas and Ferb and Fish Hooks on Disney and Wild Kratts on PBS. That's pretty much all we watch besides the occasional random PBS show or if Chuggington is on Disney. It's been kind of nice the past two days because he got two presents on Sunday at dinner at my mom's and he's been playing with them constantly. (A Polar Express electric train from my mom and a Snowtrooper Lego set from Nikki). We didn't even turn on the tv till after lunch time yesterday. That's a big deal in our house.

14. When Ben knows he did something wrong he gets REALLY upset. Like, I have to send him to his room and he'll cry sometimes for half an hour if he thinks I'm mad at him. Yesterday he got so frustrated with Shelby touching his new train he pushed her down and she started crying. I was painting the kitchen and ran in asked him what happened and he ran to his room, slammed the door and just cried. He said he didn't want to tell me what he did because he knew I'd be upset. And then he told me 'cause he knows if he doesn't he'll get in more trouble. It's nice he has a conscience, we're just working on managing his emotions.

15. Ben never forgets a prayer. And he likes to say really long, specific prayers and then when he's done he'll say "That was a good prayer, huh Mom?" Yes, yes it was.

16. He asked for a Book of Mormon for his birthday. I forgot he even wanted one. He got one from his Primary teacher on Sunday and he was SO excited.

17. He's really sensitive to his friends. He told me the other day that he wanted to do something nice for his friend Fynn. He thinks about Fynn a lot because they've been friends for so long and they're in the same class at church and Fynn is really shy. So he told me he wants to draw him a picture and mail it to him. And he always wants to write thank you notes to people who do nice things for him. He's already got Nikki and Grandma and his primary teacher on his list of people to make cards for. I've never once told him he needed to do that!

18. When he gets mad he whines and grunts at me. This makes me so mad sometimes. I always lose my patience once the whining and the grimaces come out.

19. He also gets really impatient when we go shopping. So I have to resort to rounds and rounds of "What's your favorite....?" and "I spy" otherwise it's not exactly the most pleasant shopping experience. Frankly, it's me that's the impatient one.

20. He loves playing Angry Birds on my phone.

21. He's the worst bargainer. If he's eating something he doesn't like and asks if he can be done, I usually say 3 more bites. Then he'll counter, "How about 7 more bites?" 7 it is!

22. Ben is a perfect angel when John is around. He wants to grow up and be strong like his dad. Today he asked me if he's stronger like his dad now that he's 5.

23. He has a lot of girl friends. All the kids in his preschool are girls besides him. The first girl he ever said he was going to marry was Emma Pool. Then it was Sarah. Then Cameron. Now I'm not sure who he's planning on marrying but I think it's hilarious!

Okay that's all I can really think of. If you read all of them thank you. :) We love Ben. He's a great big brother and is one heckuva cute kid. Here are some pics from the photo shoot I did for his birthday party invitation plus one from when we did bluebonnet pics (minus the bluebonnets!) Seriously, could he be anymore handsome?