All pictures were taken Sunday, October 7, 2012, on Paul’s fifth birthday! Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa, for joining us for General Conference and cake!
Happy birthday, my dear five-year-old boy!
For Paul’s birthday, we gave him the option of doing any fun family event together. He chose to take the train to Des Plaines — where there is a train restaurant. Here are some fun pictures of our family excursion. Excuse the bad quality, as I didn’t take my good camera with me and these were just taken with my phone.
All pictures were taken on the afternoon of October 6, 2012.
Grandma Peggy and Papa Paul joined us last weekend! Then, my brother and his family and my mother and father came up on Sunday for Caroline’s blessing in church. None of these picture are very great (and I’m sad I didn’t get any pictures of my brother or his wife or Grandpa S with Caroline either!) but we were too busy enjoying each others’ company and holding that cute baby to take pictures, I suppose.
Paul was very excited to host a “party” for our Friday Fun Night with Grandma and Papa. It was full of made-up games that he enjoyed inventing for us. Here is one of them.
This picture is very out of focus but I love Paul’s ear to ear smile, so I had to include it!
(I promise, we will get real family pictures in the next few months.)
Paul saw me warming the bottle and asked, “But how are you going to get that back in to you to feed her?” So I had to let him give her her first bottle.
Reading bedtime stories with Grandma Peggy and Papa Paul.
Grandma Peggy made Caroline Rose her blessing dress and slip. What a talent! Here is Caroline Rose in all her cuteness! She slept through the photo session.
Thirty-one years and two months ago, these fake roses and the heart were given to a different little baby with the middle name of “Rose.”
And with her brother, of course, who felt a bit left out of the picture taking. He gave her the doll when he first met her.
More pictures of Caroline with family to come this weekend!
One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to update this page with family pictures in the same month in which the activities took place, starting with Christmas 2011. I especially want to be better since I posted 50+ pictures a month of newborn Paul and I want Caroline to feel she’s just as special a newborn.
I intended to post these pictures the last week of December. And yet, here I am well in to the new year, waiting for Paul to go to preschool to do so.
At any rate, Christmas was wonderful this year. I baked cookies and fudge to enjoy for a month and to give away to neighbors. Paul was incredibly excited to countdown until Christmas and he enjoyed the activities we did.
Before Christmas, I was able to attend Paul’s preschool holiday party. I haven’t attended any of his parties before so it was fun to be there to help and take pictures, etc. This was a rather chaotic party; I wonder if preschool is always like this? At any rate, they had some carnival games, a few craft projects, and then a gym floor covered in bath sponges that were called “snowballs.” They were encouraged to have a snowball fight. Put 20 kids aged 3 and 4 in a room and tell them to have a snowball fight? Um… Paul reacted much as I would have. He threw a “snowball,” then watched people for a while. Then threw another. It was a bit intense.
Here are some of the best pictures of my little guy. The full album of the preschool is on flickr with a guest pass.
Reindeer bowling
He's proud he knocked some bowling pins down.
We are low-key about presents (I do not want to raise a spoiled or greedy child who says “I want that!” for every toy he sees). I gave him a (plastic) kids microscope, books (which is what he asked for), and an inflatable globe, among some other smaller things. Grandpa Sorenson gave us a book of silly stories that he wrote and Grandma gave him a Thomas the Tank Engine puzzle. Grandma Peggy sent Trio blocks, which along with our Legos, have given me lots of time as Paul slips downstairs to create yet something else. (YES!)
We enjoyed the true spirit of Christmas. At the beginning of the month, he loved selecting some clothes for a “poor boy” from the library’s giving tree and talked for days about the boy who was too poor to get his own clothes. (He was particularly excited because the boy was FOUR just like he is so he knew just what the boy would like.) He loved selecting gifts for his cousins (we do a family gift rotation among my siblings). He loved the excitement of wrapped presents and waiting for them. I don’t think he was tempted to open them, he just loved shaking them and counting them and wondering. He was fascinated by the mystery of magical Santa (although *cough* the reindeer forgot to eat the reindeer food that Paul left on the front step. How’d I know he’d check that FIRST?! even before looking under the tree?).
And most importantly, Christmas was, for our family, about the true meaning of the season, the birth of our Savior. I love having Christmas on Sunday, because then church reinforced the real meaning of the season. I wish we had services every Christmas morning, but of course, that’s not how it works.
The not-so-materialistic goals we have worked well this year: we got to church at 10:30 and someone asked him what he got for Christmas.
“Ugh….I forgot.” he responded. (But he did remember to say that the reindeer forgot to eat the reindeer food he left for them…). So, at any rate, I know Christmas for Paul was not about the presents. Mission accomplished!
We also got to spend the afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa and Paul’s Sorenson cousins. It was lots of fun to watch the kids playing, and it was great to gather with family on a special day.
After Church Christmas Day
31 weeks pregnant
Cousins
Grandpa Reading The Grinch
Merry Christmas!
Decorating for Christmas was not pleasant this year… and I just keep thinking how taking it all down will be even harder because I’ll be that much more pregnant. Nevertheless, Paul loved helping put up the tree. And I do love the lights and the Christmas music. (Guest pass to view this set on Flickr.)
And then we come back to Santa. Do you remember Raisin’s reaction to Santa last year? Well, this season began much the same.
“I don’t like Santa. Santa is grumpy.”
“I don’t want Santa to come.”
“I don’t need any toys.”
So when we headed to the Lake in the Hills tree lighting, I warned him that Santa would be there, but we didn’t have to talk to him. We would leave after we saw the Christmas trees. Surprise! Once he saw Santa, he really wanted to talk to him.
They had this set up for pictures as we waited to talk to Santa. Paul is saying “Merry Christmasssss!” which is why his tongue is sticking out. I only had my phone with me (I wasn’t planning on meeting Santa, remember), so that’s why it’s totally out of focus.
I kept asking Paul what he was going to say to Santa. Would he tell Santa “not to come” like he did last year? He just said, “You’ll have to listen very carefully.”
So what did Paul say?
“What do you want for Christmas?” asked Mrs. Claus.
“Books,” said Paul without hesitation. “Books about books.”
Aw, like mother like child!
He said he
As you probably know, I hate Halloween. From the extra candy everywhere to the greedy kids to the scary costumes, I just don’t like it. But. Paul loves dressing up. So this was the year to join in all the Halloween fun. We even went trick-or-treating to the five people on the street we kind of know. Paul loved being Winnie-the-Pooh. I think the costume made him look a few years YOUNGER than he is. At any rate, he made a very cute Winnie-the-Pooh. He won an award at the ward party’s costume parade for cutest costume! I did feel a little guilty since his costume cost $4 at Goodwill; other moms actually, you know, made their kids costumes. Ah well.
I was going to wear my Karate Gi to the ward party so I could say I have a “costume.” But when I went to get ready, Paul looked at me in confusion. “But you’re going to be a Mommy for Halloween,” he informed me. “And you’ve been wearing your costume all day.”
Ok, then.
So with out further ado, here’s the cute kid. Larger pictures are on Flickr for friends and family to see and/or download.
At library Halloween story time.
At preschool
Ward Halloween party!
Costume parade
Playing carnival games
Paul with the pumpkin he carved with Daddy
Getting ready to go trick-or-treating
Paul has been playing “birthday” with imaginary friends for months. He will stir up a bunch of toys in a bowl with a spoon to make a “cake,” then he’ll spread out a blanket, wrap a toy in another blanket (to be the present), and then invite me to celebrate with him. His imaginary friends regularly turned two or maybe 10, and I have had dozens of birthdays since my last special day in January.
So needless to say, I was rather excited to help him celebrate his real special day. Although we don’t plan on having a friends birthday party every year, this was definitely a year to plan something fun.
I was told that a theme is not necessary, but I chose one anyway. Paul loves the concept of Super Why!, who is a superhero for preschoolers because he can read. Besides, Paul has learned how to read, so playing on the theme of reading, alphabet, and phonics was just what he liked. My games were rather loosely based on the show — but it didn’t really matter, because Paul went around for days telling everyone he was Super Paul because he knew how to read. That was the idea in my mind.
A few fun things about planning a party with a kid who is really excited: As I began making lists, he was jumping around the room.
“Can we play Duck Duck Goose?! Don’t forget we need decorations! I need a party hat!”
(He insisted on the party hat. He wore it for about 10 seconds and then told me he didn’t want a party hat. Sigh.)
Below, I have a video that has collected still shots from the birthday party, plus us singing to him as well as still shots from the rest of the birthday party. If you’d rather, you can browse the Flickr collection of photos here.
I missed Paul’s last day of preschool this year because I was in New York City. My friend Laura took some pictures of Paul with his teacher and with friend Ryan. I think they are adorable!
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Paul knows there is not school during the summer, but I’m not sure he realizes how long it will be! He loves it, and he will miss it.