Cal at 5

Cal is 5! What the absolute heck?! It felt like he was 4 for 100 years but for some reason being 5 sounds so crazy old to me. Here's a bit about Cal at 5:

He is the most beautiful swimmer. That ballerina body might actually be a swimmer body instead. He did lessons this Summer and has progressed so much! 

Cal is still the funniest. He has a very natural sense of humor that is so effortless and lots of times kids trying to be funny just means they're being annoying, but Cal is actually funny to me on an adult level. He always has been and I don't know what that will mean for his future but we enjoy it so much around these parts.

First day of preschool. He enjoyed preschool, even as my introvert, he had a couple friends he really liked - Nate and Persephone and Weston. He has one more year of pre-k and then he'll be Kindergarten! We opted to have him be old for his grade and I still feel really good about that decision. He'll be starting a more academic 4 day a week pre-k and thinking that is the best transition possible.

He is such a lover, cuddly, snuggly and loves to lay by mom and dad and Raleigh. He is super sensitive to things that are scary (and things that aren't scary like a recording of a lion roaring, going to the bathroom alone etc.) He is sensitive to energies it seems too and gets tired and needs down time a lot after being around people. He doesn't like kids in his personal space and is really just a textbook introvert minus that he LOVES to be the center of attention at our house.

He is in his own world lots of the time. Pretend fighting, Hulk Smashing, lots of play fighting. I catch him doing this all day long. Like below:

So silly, and never smiling normal:

And let's not forget his naughty side. The kid is so crass, every thing is a butt joke. I told him he needed new material and he said "How bout weiners?" He is constantly saving up toots to rip on his dad, has dance moves that would make a stripper blush. He actually has a move called the weiner guitar where he strums his junk like he's playing an air guitar. I just don't know man, he's a trip! Ive put him in time out a million times his naughtiness but he is undeterred.
I put him in time out earlier this year and came into the room to find this ...

He's complicated and complex and a multi dimensional little dude. He's so many things. and reminds me of that Walt Whitman poem, "I'm large, I contain multitudes" we're only scratching the surface with this kiddo.

Since adding a little sibling Cal has changed so much! It was like before when he was the youngest and with Hayes being so unassuming, he got lots and lots of attention. Everyone was trying to get him to engage with them and he could care less. So many people told me all the time that they just wanted Cal to acknowledge them. He's too cool for school! But, now that he's the middle child I've seen him make more of an effort to be noticed, he actually tries to converse with people, and is more assertive about being noticed and heard. How grateful am I for siblings and birth order, without this change he'd never have to grow and adapt and progress and its been great to watch! Of course I feel bad a lot since he doesn't get as much attention as he once did, but overall it's been great!

Cal's expression before meeting Raleigh:

Meeting Raleigh was iffy and stayed that way for a few days after we brought him home. Cal was super excited to see him but didn't really want to go near him or touch him. I could not figure out why and it was breaking my heart! Finally we realized that first, the umbilical cord freaked Cal out. So once that fell off he'd go a little closer. But then we realized that he also didn't like Raleigh to be in just a diaper, which was tricky since Raleigh was on the bili-bed and had to be in a diaper all day and night. BUT as soon as Raleigh was dressed Cal became obsessed and still is. He's constantly commenting on how cute he is, "I like his nose" "I like his pajamas" He wants to lay by him talk to him pet his head. He is his biggest fan! HE came in one night late and said he "just wanted to sweep wif Ra-wee.