The Boy Is 5

Mr. Austin turned the big '5' two weeks ago.

We enjoyed a multi-birthday celebration for Grandma, Grandpa, Austin and Tyce at a cabin in Brighton. We ate yummy food, opened presents, and attempted to enjoy the outdoors despite the rain. (In the bottom left pic you can see the cabin we stayed in right above Debbie's head). By far, Austin's favorite gift was from grandma, a set of Bakugan transformers that change from balls into animals. He could hardly put them down for 2 straight days.

Austin got a fun truck/puzzle set from Oma and Opa that he was obsessed with for a couple days. Austin's gift from his parents was a new bike. (Top pic is of a Brighton-classic arrow hunt he followed to find it). Austin has not had a lot of success riding the bike he got for Christmas because the training wheels are unstable. We thought a new, smaller bike might be the solution. But training wheels just don't provide perfect balance no matter what. Austin was momentarily excited about the bike, but 3 minutes in to riding it got mad when Anthony let go of it and it felt unstable. He got off and huffed away, tripping over the bike in the process and scrapping his knees. When Ruthie asked for a turn, he was so mad he wanted to throw the bike across the parking lot. Needless to say, the bike went back to the store. So I guess he won't be a bike kid till he's 6 or 7 and he may just skip the training wheels phase altogether.

I've thrown Austin a big 'friend' party for the past 2 years, but decided to go low key this year. I told him he could invite any 2 friends to the Monkey Island bounce houses and he picked his three best friends: Kalyana, Kayla-Rayla and Tycey. So Debbie and I took the cousins to play and topped it off with a Wendy's lunch at my house.

So those were the celebrations. Now for some low-down on life as a 5-year-old.

A 5 x 5 View of Austin Johnson

5 Personality Traits

1. Imaginative. Give him the right toy or idea and he's engaged for hours creating or story-telling.
2. Friendly. He's never been shy, never held back. He goes right up to kids at the park or McDs or wherever, introduces himself and wants to play.
3. Solver. He loves to understand how things work - from the computer cords, to food growing in the garden, to the bones in his ear.
4. Rough and destructive. What can I say? He's a boy. Everyday I have to break up fights between Austin and Ruthie, where Austin is hitting or pushing or sitting on Ruthie (though Ruthie tries to throw a few punches now and then). We're also going to have to replace furniture someday. We've got marker drawings on his dresser and walls, cracks in a couple of doors he's kicked in anger, and scratches in our dining room table when he experimented with a sharp object.
5. Unashamed. On more than one occassion, I've caught Austin running around outside in the nude. Last time, I left him alone in the front yard to play in the mud. When I came back 15 minutes later I found a pile of muddy clothes and a nudey tushy playing on the swingset.

5 Random Things

1. He hides behind the couch or under a blanket when watching scary parts of movies.
2. He coaches Ruthie on what to say when playing together. Typical phrases are, "Say, 'huh'", "Say, 'what's going to happen?'", "Say 'really?'"
3. Austin and Ruthie find pill bugs (rolley polleys) in the sandbox then create houses for them. All pill bugs are named 'Filbert'.
4. Anthony and I both enjoy reading simple chapter books for Austin's bedtime stories. Favorites include: The Magic Tree House, The Magic School Bus, Dinosaur Cove, Superman, Batman.
5. He loves to write, asking me how to spell certain words. His drawing and writing often end up on himself. This one says "Super Hero Circle."

5 Favorites

1. The color green
2. Life cereal, apples, strawberries
3. The number 5 (recently upgraded from the number 4)
4. TV show 'Wild Kratts'
5. The letter 'A' (and then the letter 'u' and 's' and 't' and 'i' and 'n')

5 Big Life Events of the Past Year

1. He completed a great year of preschool with Mrs. Shannon.
2. He enjoyed his second trip to Disneyland and is now completely hooked.
3. He jut finished a fun summer of gymnastics.
4. He has been patiently anticipating his baby sister whom he has nicknamed "Eviva" after a character on Wild Kratts. He knows she is coming soon after he turned 5 and is very eager now.
5. He lost his front 2 teeth around March. The dentist warned us this would happen because his roots were so short on those teeth. Austin thinks the hole is cool and a handy way to drink through a straw.

5 Goals for This Next Year

1. Learn to read.
2. Meet Baby Sister.
3. Attend 2 preschools - a professional one that focuses on reading and a neighborhood one where he's excited to enjoy his good friends Calvin, Corbin and Afton.
4. Take another trip to Disneyland (of course)!
5. And his ultimate goal: "When I grow up I want to be a Superhero and a Daddy."