Walt is 5!


They say it goes by so fast, but how in the world did I end up with a 5 year old! I remember being pregnant with Walt like it was yesterday! He seems to have gone from toddler to little boy in the blink of an eye. But, what a charming and lovable little boy he is!

We got to celebrate this big man the entire weekend, starting with his actual birthday on Friday.  He did a "Celebration of Life" at school where he talked to his friends about cool things he's done each of his 5 years.

Walt walked around the world 5 times and showed pics of himself from age 0 to 5.  
 Walt begged us to let him leave school early on Friday. He said all the other kids get to leave after their celebration of life.  We couldn't turn down this eager 5-year-old. Plus, we had a big surprise waiting for him.

Before we picked him up, Chris assembled this full-sized basketball goal to surprise Walt with. I caught the surprise in the video below.


 

Of course he immediately needed to test his skills.  It didn't take him long - see the video below

The next day, the celebration continued! We had 20 of Walt's closest friends to Great Play where they played lots and lots of sports. Walt sported his Peyton Manning jersey. He's got good taste. 

Running around with his buddies and Oscar keeping up.

The medal ceremony at the end. Everyone's a winner!

Let us not forget cake! Cupcakes to top off a epic celebration.

So, what is Walt doing now that he's 5? He's become such a mature and tenderhearted boy and he makes me so proud. He's an incredible big brother. Way better than I'd ever be. He often relinquishes toys to Oscar or let's Oscar do something first, because he's just super nice like that.  (Of course, he's still a big brother and uses power plays when he can).  Walt is also my #1 helper. He's always cleaning up, helping with food prep, and even offering to prepare my coffee. The guy just wants to help out.  Walt is also very comfortable around new people. I wouldn't call him super outgoing (he doesn't have to be the center of attention), but he has no problem talking to new people and introducing himself to strangers. 

It's no question that he's sporty. I wouldn't say he's the best at anything, but he wants to try it ALL.I think that eagerness will do him well. He's also eager in school, which may not last forever, but it's pretty great right now. He's writing everything we let him try and even sounding out words here and there. He's started reading some very small words, but he's getting the hang of it! His teacher says he's best with numbers. He's doing some light adding and subtracting and can recognize numbers up to 1000!

At his 5 year doctor visit, we determined he's still tall :)

Weight - 48.1 lbs
Height - 45.5"

He's 90th percentile in both weight and height. I don't feel like he's as giant as he was 2 years ago. He seems to have leveled out with other kids his age (but based on the stats, he's still a big boy!). His vision is 20/40, which is good for now. My vision went to crap by Kindergarden and I had glasses by 1st grade. We'll see if he has my eyes.

To say we're proud of who Walt is becoming is a total understatement. He's such a super stud little boy and we love him a lot!