Pomerleau Family Blog: Brandon's six

Dear Brandon, December 18, 2016

I write you this letter a few weeks after you turned six on Daddy's 35th birthday. It has been a busy last couple of weeks with your birthday party, getting ready for Christmas, the three birthday parties we went to last week, and then getting ready to go Sun River plus three Snow Days mixed in there where you did not have any school. I am writing you this letter from Sun River now. You, Livie, and Daddy have left to go swimming at the SHARC pool and I have a little peace to myself. Its all snowy outside and I am snug as a bug inside with a nice fire roaring.

I am reflecting on the past year. I can't believe you, my first born, are six! That suddenly seems very old. You have turned from a little boy into a boy right before my eyes. You have grown 3.25 inches this year and was 49.25" at your doctor's apt (in the 99%) and 65 lbs (also in the 99%). You have huge feet and wear a size 3 shoe (have been for several months). You have been stealing my socks lately and can fit in them even! You are so large that technically you do not have to be in a booster seat even although I will keep you in one until you are 7.5-8 as recommended. You tower over your friends but you are what I call "a gentle giant." You play gently with your friends and your sister.

You love kindergarten and learning. You love your teacher Mrs. Borrelli. I am so happy to see you so excited to go to school every day and to learn. We are working on your reading and in making you a lifelong learner. You are getting quite good at sounding out words and are able to start reading some of your Step 1 Reading books. You are learning your popcorn words at school. You don't have too much homework at school which is good but we do have to read every night for 15 minutes. You love reading with Daddy your Pokemon Go Guide and the Little House books with mommy. We are currently on our fourth Little House book, "On the Banks of Plum Creek." You also like the Elephant and Piggie Books a lot and most books by Dr. Seuss. Your writing is coming along (although that was an area to work on). Sometimes you get your letters backwards (d becomes a b) but you are doing much better with that as well. You are awesome at math and at the start of kindergarten already exceeded the benchmark for counting to 100 and are working on addition which you really like. You like to go around the house asking us what plus what equals what?

Speaking of learning, I am excited that your school is so close by to our house and that we can easily drop you off and pick you up (something that was much harder at Horizon so Daddy did drop offs and pick ups a lot). I get to volunteer in your class one day a month for 1.5 hours and help out your teacher with projects and then help you out during your center time. It is really fun for me to observe you learning and to see what your class is up to and to meet your friends. Speaking of friends, your teacher described you as being a "gregarious, friendly guy" that is everyone's friend. You show deep compassion and empathy for your friends with any prompting. You continue to be your little sister's best friend and are a great calming source for her. You can calm her down and get her happy like no one else can. You do have quite a sense of humor about you though at times and can be quite funny. You love making others around you laugh! Your best friend continues to be Logan and you are still great friends with Andrew and Gavin from Rocking Horse even though it has been several years since you have been in the same class. You somewhat reunited with Andrew again and have been playing soccer a few times this fall during clinics with him. Your new friends from school are Cruz and Kaiya (from your soccer team), Cullen (who was your table buddy for the first few months of school and who came to your birthday party), the twins Riley and Colton, and your buddy John from down the street who is Mrs. Madrietta's class at Alberta Rider. You have a fun group of friends!

You are still quite an active guy. I watched you go from being a somewhat slower runner to a boy that can run faster and further. You amazed Daddy and I by running over 1.5 miles in your school's Jog-A-Thon in the sun. You also ran quite hard and fast at soccer. You love sports and competing and really loved soccer. You want to do Westside Timbers with your buddy Andrew and we might be signing you up for the Winter/Spring League with him. You also enjoy your swimming lessons at the YMCA. We have signed up you up for basketball too through your school that starts in January. When you are not doing sports you enjoy running laps around the house while Daddy times you. You still love food and are a good eater. You are becoming more adventurous with trying new things especially things that Daddy cooks as you proclaim that "daddy is the best cook ever!" Speaking of Daddy, you are Daddy's boy. You adore Daddy and want to be just like him. It is really sweet to watch but Daddy does have to be careful not to say bad words around you as you will soak that up just like a sponge! I am not too jealous since you were mommy's boy when you were really young and I have your sister who is still very attached to mommy.

You like building Legos with Daddy and love playing the Wii. You love the Mario Party game that mommy recently got and love playing it with both Mommy and Daddy and CiCi as well. You love to win and have quite a competitive streak about you. You also like cooking, playing at the park, and playing make believe games with your sister. You love anything Pokemon related right and we just re-did your room for your birthday with Pokemon decor. You love Pokemon cards and playing with Daddy and have a big binder organized with your Pokemon cards. You still like people playing with you and not a super independent player but you at least do have a little sister to play with. I am so excited to see what this next year brings as you finish Kindergarten and start first grade. I am so proud of you and so happy to be your mother. I love you lots Brando!

Here are some of my favorite photos of you over the last year...I can't believe how much you have grown!