Now, at five, Brandt is a delight. He is confident, smart, and funny. While he is certainly prone to teasing, he shows a surprising amount of compassion, especially towards Blythe. He is affectionate (a trait I particularly love), brave, and strong. He likes to wrestle and snuggle, to run and bike, and he wants to do what is right. He is unafraid to tell me when I need to be a better mom, and is both willing and able to help me with all sorts of projects. He is a good worker and a pleasant companion. He has a remarkable memory (or so it seems to us) and a quick wit. I love to walk with his hand in mine. He has a super vivid imagination, which he gets from me, and is a real leader. He is confident around his peers and something of an enforcer. We love him. In fact, I love him so much I could eat him up.
And speaking of that. Yesterday, after Brandt and Kent got out of the shower and got ready for the day, Kent having applied deodorant, they were snuggling on the couch. Brandt turned to Kent and said, "Oh, you smell so good, I could eat you up." It cracks me up to hear things I say come out of the children's mouths. I try to guard my tongue so as not to be mortified by things they say.
Here is our big boy in his 5 t-shirt.
He is wiggling his five fingers at me.
We started the day with Brandt's favorite breakfast--french toast, bacon, green smoothie. For lunch we had pepperoni pizza, and then we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a party. A pirate party. When I have asked Brandt what he wanted for his birthday, he has said, "A pirate ship." He has wanted a pirate ship that he could crawl around on with a gang plank. And he wanted a pirate cake.
I have not been able to come up with a way to create a pirate ship that could be crawled on, but Kent saved me. He found an inflatable pirate ship raft at Target that lacks a gang plank, but proved to be super fun anyway. And rather than try to make a pirate cake myself, I ordered one from Macey's. Easy.
We invited cousins to come to Brandt's party as well as Maia Case from across the street, and Paul Moreland who is in Brandt's primary class. I had purchased a pin-the-eye-patch-on-the-pirate game, but I lost it somewhere at my parent's house. I am convinced it evaporated because I could not find it anywhere. There is the possibility that a small person picked it up and carried it off, but I just don't know. As a result, we didn't play a game, but we did have a treasure hunt then swam.
It was enough. Swimming was great. No one drowned--always a bonus. The pirate ship was a hit! Captain Brandt Sparrow (self-named) piloted the boat and was even good to share with everyone. It was fun to watch all the children play together. We were going to have snow cones and cake for our treat, but the snow cone machine wasn't working properly, so we just had cake. It was also enough. Brandt got fun presents from everyone, and we came home exhausted from all activity.
I made Brandt's favorite things for dinner: sausage, watermelon, and corn on the cob. Kent bought him a bow and arrow set and some dominoes, so after dinner, Brandt worked on his archery and then he and I played several rounds of dominoes. I am working subtly to raise gamers in Brandt and Blythe because Kent doesn't like to play games but I do. If I can get the children to like playing games, I'll always have someone to play with. So far, so good.
Back row: Blake, Lydia, Jace, Makenna, Maia, and Luke
Front fow: Crew, Ava, Blythe, Griffin, Brandt, and Paul
Cute kids!
Captain Brandt Sparrow on The Black Dog
Maia Case, our across the street neighbor
Maia, Crew, Paul, and Brandt
"Sailing, sailing, over the bounding main."
Aunt Michelle and the Brinkerhoffs gave Brandt this remote control boat.
He drove it around the pool, and then, when we got home, he filled the bathtub with water and drove it around the tub.
The pirate ship raft was a huge hit!
Notice the finger print?
No one would confess to poking the cake.
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