Big Boy: Six and a Half

William hit the half way mark between 6 and 7 this week. It didn't seem as exciting as his 4 1/2 milestone but I suppose that is to be expected.  He is maturing in many ways but still a young boy needing a lot of attention, love and support . . . and don't forget play. He still needs lots and lots of play.

I think that is what I'm learning as we finish week three of sheltering in place -- That William loves to play with me, he loves to play with Stephen, and he loves to play all day long. "Homework" triggers all sorts of groans and emotions. It never takes him very long to finish and he seems to get into it once he starts, but disrupting play is a big deal.

So what does he love to play? Legos, Duplos, Hot-wheels races, Pokemon, and soccer. He also loves water color painting and coloring with markers. He still loves a good read-aloud but is not so interested in reading on his own (which is very capable of doing). Before we were stuck in our homes for days on end, he also loved basketball and baseball. In fact, we had just gotten in one practice of his new coach-pitch baseball league before all the things were canceled.

He was on a basketball Kindergarten league for seven weeks starting in January and that was a blast. I don't think I'll mind sitting in the stands for another 12 years. He had so much fun at weekly practice and the weekend games were fun too as long as he didn't get too concerned about the score. A few times he was so concerned (in tears) about losing that he asked us to go home before the game even started. We got to work through some hard emotions together this season. He learned a lot of new skills on the court too.

One of the things Chris and I enjoy a lot at this stage is playing games with William. Once Stephen goes to bed we usually have 45-60 minutes with William. And he loves strategy games - like Pandemic, Carcassonne, KingDomino and Ticket to Ride. He doesn't like loosing so after the game he gets a strategy lesson from Dad. One day he will beat his dad. (Mom is an easy defeat.)

 He has lost three teeth so far and looks forward to losing more. 

He has grown a ton this year. I haven't measured yet but he is in size 7 pants for length and 6/7 shirts. The uniform sets we started with at the beginning of Kindergarten are not the sets he ended with. I'm trying not to be too upset that I bought 4 new pairs of pants two weeks before school was canceled; or that he's missing nearly 11 weeks of learning Spanish. I'm praying that doesn't hinder his experiences next year.

I'm trying to enjoy my days with him at home; getting a second chance (or a longer summer) to enjoy his company and get to know him more. But I am very thankful for his school and his teacher.

The photos for this post were an attempt for me to get more practice in photography while stuck at home. The boys were less excited; but I'm inspired to grab my camera a bit more often.

William hit the half way mark between 6 and 7 this week. It didn't seem as exciting as his 4 1/2 milestone but I suppose that is to be expected.  He is maturing in many ways but still a young boy needing a lot of attention, love and support . . . and don't forget play. He still needs lots and lots of play.

I think that is what I'm learning as we finish week three of sheltering in place -- That William loves to play with me, he loves to play with Stephen, and he loves to play all day long. "Homework" triggers all sorts of groans and emotions. It never takes him very long to finish and he seems to get into it once he starts, but disrupting play is a big deal.

So what does he love to play? Legos, Duplos, Hot-wheels races, Pokemon, and soccer. He also loves water color painting and coloring with markers. He still loves a good read-aloud but is not so interested in reading on his own (which is very capable of doing). Before we were stuck in our homes for days on end, he also loved basketball and baseball. In fact, we had just gotten in one practice of his new coach-pitch baseball league before all the things were canceled.

He was on a basketball Kindergarten league for seven weeks starting in January and that was a blast. I don't think I'll mind sitting in the stands for another 12 years. He had so much fun at weekly practice and the weekend games were fun too as long as he didn't get too concerned about the score. A few times he was so concerned (in tears) about losing that he asked us to go home before the game even started. We got to work through some hard emotions together this season. He learned a lot of new skills on the court too.

One of the things Chris and I enjoy a lot at this stage is playing games with William. Once Stephen goes to bed we usually have 45-60 minutes with William. And he loves strategy games - like Pandemic, Carcassonne, KingDomino and Ticket to Ride. He doesn't like loosing so after the game he gets a strategy lesson from Dad. One day he will beat his dad. (Mom is an easy defeat.)

 He has lost three teeth so far and looks forward to losing more. 

He has grown a ton this year. I haven't measured yet but he is in size 7 pants for length and 6/7 shirts. The uniform sets we started with at the beginning of Kindergarten are not the sets he ended with. I'm trying not to be too upset that I bought 4 new pairs of pants two weeks before school was canceled; or that he's missing nearly 11 weeks of learning Spanish. I'm praying that doesn't hinder his experiences next year.

I'm trying to enjoy my days with him at home; getting a second chance (or a longer summer) to enjoy his company and get to know him more. But I am very thankful for his school and his teacher.

The photos for this post were an attempt for me to get more practice in photography while stuck at home. The boys were less excited; but I'm inspired to grab my camera a bit more often.