Oh and then strep throat came along and decided to join the fun. Thank God for antibiotics. Seriously I feel like I'm living in a germ factory. Like I'm starring in the movie, Contagion. Let's face it if there's some plague I'm probably screwed.
Onto the fact that I have a five year old! With a toddler in the helm, I really appreciate Collin's independence The fact he can get dressed by himself, play happily alone, even get his own snacks. We can also sort of reason with him. We're starting to give Collin more responsibilities and an allowance so he can learn about saving money. At times Milo drives him crazy and he plays the part of the torturer, but most of the time he's actually sweet and has fun with him.
He talks about his friends at school and draws them pictures. Cute moment of the week was when I picked him up and he proclaimed his love for his classmate, Cordelia.
"Why do you love her," I asked him.
"We dig for worms together and I like being with her," he said.
Now if that isn't a definition of love...
He's asking me so many questions about the world. Most of which I don't have an answer to.
Collin understands he has a hearing loss and is learning to advocate for himself. He'll tell you if you speak into his bad ear and knows how important hearing protection is. He'll continue to get services in kindergarten like an FM system in the classroom. It's obviously important for him to hear the teacher and his friends. Besides that, his speech and language ability is on target.
He is still obsessed with zombies, ghosts and the macabre. He loves to draw and spends hours in his art station in the playroom. He also likes building with Legos and does lots of make believe play with his army guys and pirate figures. He recognizes all his letters and can spell a few words (including zombie!)
Collin is so much like me in many ways. I wasn't drawing skeletons, it was more like ponies and people but I loved making up stories and lived in my imagination. He's also tenacious and when he gets stuck on something won't let it go. This can spell the secret to success and be as annoying as hell. Just ask Mike and my family. He's seriously dramatic. I can't wait until he "runs away." This was one of my favorite threats to my parents which they responded with "go ahead," eyeroll. He can get pretty frustrated which results in breaking down and screaming, but at least he'll use his words some of the time.
Unlike me though, the kid is a magnet for friends and is not shy in the least. When I take him to the school playground up the street he immediately jumps into chase or whatever game the kids are playing. Some of the kids aren't always thrilled with him and give him snarky looks or tell him to go away. But my tenacious boy just keeps on playing, or finds a new group and hardly seems bothered. Most of the time, the kids give in and let him play.
Sometimes I forget to slow down and talk to Collin and remember how nice it can be to spend time with him alone. Admittedly, I'll start thinking about all the stuff I want to get done like laundry, making dinner or just having time to veg out. But then I remember, he's only five once. Childhood is such a short time in our lives with an innocence and magic that'll disappear. When I start asking him questions, he's so happy to tell me about his day, about his friends, about what he's learning. Of course the conversation is pretty random at this point but nonetheless enjoyable. One day, he'll be a sullen teen and I may be stuck with one word answers and grunts.
We're thrilled Collin gets to continue his immersion K-8 education at Portland's public charter school, Le Monde starting in the fall. Mike and I are going to need to start taking some french classes or something because helping Collin with his school work will probably be a challenge considering he's about to surpass my French knowledge and I took college level French. It's so obvious that teaching kids a language at a young age makes much more sense than when you start in high school. Giant DUH America. I wish I had the opportunity that Collin has. He's also genuinely excited to learn French. He loves his vocab game on the ipad, points out things to me in French and sings. He was also thrilled to tell me about French bad words he picked up. I know that learning another language goes beyond the benefit of proficiency. It helps your brain develop in a different way, it opens up new ideas and lets you experience a different culture. Collin will be able to read in French without continually translating into English. He'll be able to think in French. Maybe even dream in it.
Collin ended up sleeping most of his birthday party away. We still had family over for a barbecue but you know Collin's sick when he had no interest in his Spider Man cake. He did however, muster the energy to at least open his presents. Score!
His big present from us was a big boy bike. He managed to try it out a little but a few days later was ready to take a spin around the neighborhood. Maybe this summer we'll be able to take off the training wheels.
On his actual birthday, he was still pretty miserable. The next day he went to school and I bought the cake for him and his classmates to eat. Unfortunately Collin was not quite better and while his friends enjoyed the yummy raspberry filling he ended up throwing up on the playground. Cake fail. Next time I'm bypassing the expensive fancy cake shop and going to Fred Meyer.
Here's an interview with my funny sweet boy:
