Happy 6th Birthday, Leander!

Once again, time has done that crazy thing where it seems like it’s going nice and evenly slow, and then all of a sudden it’s been SIX years and TODAY we’re celebrating Leander’s 6th birthday!!

Here’s a little update on our sweet boy!
(*note: we still don’t have baseboards on our second floor after it’s renovation NINE years ago – I’ve kind of given up hoping that “someday” they’ll happen – so we’re just rolling with it – don’t judge the bottom of my walls!)

To point out the VERY obvious: all Leander wants for Christmas is his two front teeth! He lost his first top tooth earlier this summer, and then the second tooth fell out, during dinner, just a few weeks ago! He is obviously a cute kid, but the missing two front teeth is just TOO cute!
For so long, it just seemed like Leander was his big sister, Braelynn’s shadow. He followed her everywhere, repeated everything she said, and loved the things that she loved. Braelynn is obsessed with stuffed animals? Guess what? So is Leander. Braelynn loves to draw? Guess what? So does Leander. Braelynn loves to ride her bike. Guess what? So does Leander. Braelynn loves certain TV shows and movies? Guess what? So does Leander.
And that’s all normal and fine, but this year, he’s actually started to break out of that shadow and his own, true, unique personality has started bursting forth. AND I LOVE IT. He’s suddenly obsessed with dinosaurs, dragons, and ninjas. He loves legos and will sit for hours and build these complex cars and “things”. He is constantly “exploring” and “off on an adventure”.
Don’t get me wrong: he still adores his big sister and follows along with most of what she’s doing, but I love that his own unique self is starting to grow too.
Earlier this summer, we realized that his precious blankie wasn’t always coming to bed with him anymore. It was usually in his room somewhere (under the bed, tangled up in his sheets, stuffed in with his stuffed animals) but all of a sudden, he didn’t need it to go to sleep. And ever since, his blankie, while still being treasured, hasn’t held that “top spot” it once did. Nothing has truly replaced it either. He has a few stuffed animals he loves, and a few he carries around a lot, but nothing he absolutely cannot live without.
We are (just about) officially half-way through Kindergarten and I have to say: I’m SO impressed by what Leander has learned this year! He may not “love” school, but he’s very smart and learning his numbers and letters with ease. He loves to write and can write his own name, he’s also started trying to write Braelynn’s name. He is LEFT handed (at least, I think he is!) He naturally writes with his left hand, but every once in a while, I’ll catch him drawing with his right hand, so I guess we’ll just see what happens with that!
His best friend remains his cousin Layla, although he loves his cousins Alethea, Leo, Alex, and Leah too. He is a very easy-going kid and gets along well with almost anyone (he just has a weird thing with really little babies, they make him nervous). Layla got him walkie-talkies for his birthday and her intention was that they would be able to talk to each other whenever they wanted. They were disappointed to learn that the walkie-talkies don’t have quite the range needed to do that.
Like his sister, he LOVES being outside. He figured out that he could climb the “bush” we have in our yard, so he claimed it as “his tree”. He loves exploring, hiking, and digging giant holes (much to his father’s disapproval). He LOVES swimming and has worked very hard this summer, at the various pools we’ve swam in, to master swimming without a life-jacket. He’s getting better and better! He can officially dive under the water and swim by himself, but just needs a little help when he pops back up. He’s so brave in the water!
However, Leander has NOT found a love of roller coasters yet. We theorize that it’s the heights that bother him, but we’re really not sure. He rode Jack Rabbit at Kennywood once at the beginning of the season and cried when we got off. He likes “kiddie coasters”, but that’s as far as he’ll venture out right now.
He did discover a love of family raft rides in water parks this summer though! That and tube slides! He always used to be too nervous to attempt either, but this summer, he branched out, and suddenly we couldn’t get him to stop! (Needless to say: it’s made going to water parks as a family much more enjoyable when the entire family is willing to ride water slides!)
Leander is TALL for his age! Both he and Braelynn have always been on the tall side (genes they’ve inherited from their father) but I’m super curious to see what percentile he’s in when we go to his wellness visit next week!
He has mastered playing video games on our Nintendo Switch, which has taken our family game nights to a whole new level. We eat pizza every Sunday night and switch off between a movie night and a game night. He always used to simply watch us play, but now, he joins in and it’s a RIOT. We usually play boys vs. girls and we’re all pretty competitive, so needless to say: we get pretty rambunctious while playing!
Leander is such a sweet and silly boy. Whenever we are together by ourselves (whether we’re running errands, doing school, or his sister is off doing something on her own), he talks my ear off. He loves to tell jokes and laugh and as with every little boy: farts are the funniest thing in the world.