Graham turned 5 in April and I kept meaning to finish his birthday blog post, but I've been struggling to find time. Although it's cliche, the truth is that things don't get easier or less busy as kids get older, it is just different. When the kids were younger I could plan on some down time during naps, but I haven't had a child that napped since Graham turned 3! And although our kids spend more time playing independently than when they were younger, many evening are busy with sports. Plus. the kids go to bed much later now, so there isn't as much time (or energy) after they go to bed to get stuff done.
In addition to the normal busyness of life, we did some traveling and we were sick right around Graham's birthday. We traveled to New York over Graham's birthday to visit Legoland for a day and to go to NYC. We had a great time, but we must have caught Covid while we were there. Covid made its way through our family, but thankfully the kids only had mild symptoms (fevers, sore throats, headaches, and coughs for a couple of days), Micah was asymptomatic, and I never got it. After having Covid, we traveled to Michigan and finished up our homeschool year. Things just never seem to slow down!
 |
| He opened some of his presents before we went on our NY trip |
 |
| Legoland! |
 |
| His last night as a 4-year-old (in the hotel) |
 |
| Opening gifts on his birthday |
 |
| His favorite gift - a Pokemon battlefield backpack |
 |
| We took a carriage ride around Central Park on his birthday |
 |
| More Central Park |
 |
| We got cupcakes from a fancy shop |
 |
| Graham has a little toy minion that he named "Sycamore." He was excited when he saw that the minions had also been to the Empire State Building. |
Although this post is delayed, here are some things about Graham at age 5.
Height: At 42 inches he is the same height Alexis was at this age (he’s taller than Jack was and shorter than Faith was). He grew 2 inches in the last year.
Weight: Physically he’s our heaviest child at this age, which is funny because he’s only 35 lbs (still very light compared to other kids his age). He gained 4.5 lbs in the last year!
Sleep: Jack and Graham continue to share a room and it actually works out quite well despite the age difference. Bedtime is between 8:30 and 9:00, and lights out is around 9:15. Most nights Graham decides to just rest while Jack reads in bed, and sometimes he even falls asleep when Jack is still reading. Graham wakes up between 8:00 and 8:30 most mornings, although sometimes he even sleeps later. None of our other kids slept in at this age, but homeschool has allowed us to be on a later schedule.
Food: He’s not a very adventurous eater. His favorite foods are Iced Oatmeal Z bars, Fig Bars, Chobani Mixed Berry yogurt, applesauce pouches, pesto pasta, pizza, quesadillas, chicken nuggets, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and salami. He also enjoys most fruit and he’ll eat broccoli (steamed) and carrots (cooked and raw). He'll also eat all desserts!
Preschool: School was great for Graham. I was sad that he missed out on a year of preschool because of the pandemic, but this year he went MWF from 9-12. Although most days he complained about having to go to school, he always came home with stories about what he did there. He really seemed to grow as a person during the school year. The school, St. Aidan's, focused on moving and playing outdoors, but they also spent some time working on letters and such. It was a wonderful school and I felt great about dropping him off there while the big kids and I worked on homeschool.
Writing His Name: For some reason, Graham was resistant to learning to write his name. For Valentine's Day, though, he was supposed to write his name on cards for his classmates. He decided to sit down and do it all in one day, and that was the day that he memorized how to write his name. He still didn't know the letter names, though, so Grandma taught him to sing the letters of his name to the tune of Happy Birthday (they did a little bit of "Grandma School" while our family was stuck at home with Covid).
Music Class: On Thursday mornings the kids and I attended an outdoor music class for homeschool families. This was a highlight of our week as all of the kids enjoyed the class, and it was great to interact with other homeschool families. At the beginning of the year Graham didn't participate much, but by the end of the year he happily did drum solos, danced around with the class, and sang along to the songs. It was awesome to see him grow musically this year.
 |
| Drumming during class |
 |
| In the spring we spent a lot of time playing in the muddy stream while dancing to music! |
Speech: Graham's speech has come a LONG way in the last year. He started speech therapy right before his 4th birthday with a private therapist. In the fall he switched to a speech program through the local school system, and it worked out well. On Monday afternoons I brought him to the neighborhood elementary school where he met with the speech therapist for 30 minutes 1:1. On Tuesday mornings a preschool resource teacher came to our house and worked with him 1:1 for 45 minutes. Going to speech at the school was one of his favorite things to do every week, and it was amazing for me to have 45 minutes of someone working with him in our home while I worked with the other three on homeschool. When we first had him evaluated for speech over a year ago we were told that he had a stutter, but that seems to have disappeared on its own. He will continue with a private therapist over the summer and then he'll probably switch back to the school program in the fall. He still drops his S at the beginning of some words and he has a lateral lisp that makes his speech sound a little slushy, but his articulation is so much better that I rarely have to help others understand him these days.
Art / Creations: Graham loves to draw and recently he’s really into coloring in his drawings (and he colors well!). He also loves to create things out of paper and cardboard, just like Jack. They spend hours working next to each other creating things like Star Wars weapons and such. I'm always amazed by what he comes up with. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings when he didn't have school, he mostly spent time making things or drawing while we did our homeschool.
 |
| He made the letter G out of math manipulatives |
 |
| Yoda |
 |
We decided to do topic and country posters for homeschool, and Graham wanted to do them too. He studied Koalas as his topic and then Australia as his country. |
 |
| Graham's corner of the schoolroom for displaying his art |
Sweet Personality: He's very affectionate and randomly he’ll say, “Mom I don’t think I’ve given you a kiss, a hug, or an I Love You today.” He loves to give me kisses on the cheek and to be held. I'm trying to savor these moments as I know that they won't last forever.
 |
| One day when we had our baby chicks he decided to "teach" the chickens. |
 |
| Holding a baby chick. |
 |
| When we went to Mount Vernon recently he did an excellent job of reading the map all by himself. |
 |
| His room for the last two years. Sadly we have to move soon, but it's been fun to have this giant mural by his bed. |
 |
| "Meditating" while we were on an evening walk. I have no idea where he comes up with these things. |
Play: He’s into playing with the big kids now. He still plays by himself a lot (he gets really into his imagination), but he can easily play with the others too. He loves to play Legos with his siblings. He also likes to ride on the “B machine” (teeter totter swing) in our backyard. Jack and Graham like to play with their Harry Potter wands and do other reenactments from tv shows or movies. He also enjoys riding on the back of the Trail Gator that is hooked up to my bike.
Photos: Most of my photos these days are of Graham (his request), or taken by Graham of something he’s created.
 |
| He has the best bedhead |
 |
| "Take a picture!" We were doing a geometry lesson outside with toothpicks and marshmallows and Graham joined in. |
 |
| I have tons of random stuff like this on my phone |
 |
| "Take a picture!" |
Reading: Like his siblings, he really enjoys books. He loves being read to, but he’ll also spend a lot of time looking at books by himself. He's even written some of his own short books!
Conquering Fears: He’s still not that excited about play structures at parks because he doesn’t like being up high and looking down at the ground, but he will go on them. He shocked me when we went to Legoland and he decided to do the rollercoaster. Admittedly, he did not really enjoy it, but he tried it!
 |
| He was really nervous about this slide, but when he finally agreed to try it he loved it. |
 |
| Climbing the Magnolia tree in our yard. |
Annual Birthday Questions
What is your name? Graham Andrew Howard
How old are you turning? 5
When is your birthday? April
How old is Daddy? five a hundred
How old is Mommy? five a hundred
What is your favorite color? All the colors
What is your favorite food? Z bars and ice cream
Who is your best friend? Luke (a friend from preschool)
Favorite song? Ninjago
Favorite animal? Koala
What are you scared of? The darkness and the Dark Lord (in Star Wars)
What makes you happy? Koala
Where is your favorite place to go? Australia and New York
What is your favorite toy? My minifigure and koala
What do you want to be when you grow up? A koala hospital person
What is Mommy’s favorite thing to do? Listen to Alexa's music
What is Daddy’s favorite thing to do? Eat candy
 |
| Empire State Building |
 |
| Birthday cupcakes in the hotel room |
Harry Potter 
swim, and play with Legos 
