Shaun is 5!

I can’t believe my first born is 5 years old. Where did the years go? I know I will be asking that for years to come. He has become and is becoming such a kind hearted, playful boy! He loves preschool. He wishes he could go to school more. He can’t wait to go to Kindergarten. He is always asking when that starts. I found out that registration for Kindergarten starts on March 4th! He has been doing “homework” in his getting ready for Kindergarten workbook. (He pushes to do this more than I do!) He is a pro at almost everything in the book. The main things that he is trying to learn in the book are telling time (on a clock with hands) and the basics of adding with coins. Telling time is just the basics of reading the “o’clocks” and the “30s”, so like one o’clock and one thirty. He kind of gets it, but not totally. With the money, he knows that a penny is 1 cent, a nickel is 5 cents and a dime is 10 cents. We are working on the adding concept, but not quite there yet.


This week Shaun is “Star of the Week” at school. I don’t know everything that they do, but the star brings in a poster of pictures of themselves, family and outings and answers to some questions about themselves. I think they then get to talk about the pictures each day and be the center of attention! Today, he also has snack duty and show and tell. I think also that the birthday student gets to wear a birthday hat, and I’m sure they sing happy birthday! A very special day and week for Shaun!

He loves swimming. He has turned into such a fish. He is currently in preschool level 3. He loves to swim under water. He can stay under for quite a while! He is working on getting his “reach and pull” arms more coordinated. He can swim quite a ways. The teacher told me at the end of the last session that he is close to moving up to the preschool advanced level 4; he just needs to mature a little more because he is still pretty uncoordinated with his arm movements.

He also is currently playing basketball through the Y for the 2nd year. He loves going out on the court and running. He is not the most focused on the team, but he is improving, even trying to dribble now, and shooting correctly, not granny style! Indoor soccer is next, starting in March. He reminds me about all his sports and to not forget to sign him up…

Unfortunately, Shaun got his first (double) ear infection this week. All of a sudden, on Monday after lunch he started complaining that his left ear hurt and he was even crying with tears about it. We knew this wasn’t just something to “ignore”, so we called the consulting nurse and she said, that he should be looked at like we thought. Fortunately, our doctor’s office said they would squeeze him in since they didn’t have any openings. I was so glad, because I really didn’t want to have to go sit and wait at urgent care! Amazingly, we were seen right away, and were out of there pretty quickly. One ear is worse than the other, but the infection is in both ears. He was such a trooper and big boy. He was answering the doctor’s questions and pointing to where it hurt. He is on antibiotics to clear the infection, so hopefully that is all that will be needed. It is an inner ear infection caused by a cold. We have been really lucky and this is our first ever experience with any kind of ear infection with either boys. I know a lot of people that have had kids with chronic ear infections and even had to have tubes put in, so I feel pretty lucky. As soon as the Tylenol kicked in, to take away the ear pain, he was back to his normal self and is allowed to do all normal activities. He doesn’t even really have a cold; just a slight cough. He has had much worse coughs/colds, so I was kind of surprised that this “mild” one did it to his ears!

The boys annual checkups were scheduled for Thursday, but have been rescheduled to March 14 because the doc is sick, so we will find out all their new stats then!

Shaun, you will always be my baby no matter how old you are, and I will never forget the day of your birth; such an answer to so many prayers by so many people! I love you to the moon and back! Love, Mom