Ryan: Five and a Half

Ryan James Nullmeyer, you are 5 and a half today. Happy half birthday!

You are such a sweet little boy and I love you so much! You are at an age of transition where you are becoming more independent, yet you are still so young and innocent. You've been through some subtle changes since turning five. I remember blogging on your 5th birthday and I felt like we were really struggling with your behavior. Since you've started Kindergarten your behavior has improved at home (probably helps that you're separated from your little brother for half the day!).

You say the cutest things and I just can't correct you when you phrase things incorrectly. You still call the refrigerator the "frigelator". You call one of your favorite shows "Special Gadget" instead of Inspector Gadget. And you say "fremember" instead of remember. You have been learning a lot of songs in Kindergarten, and I will often hear you singing to yourself at home. It is so sweet and I wish I could record your cute little voice so I have the sound of it recorded forever. Your voice still sounds so young, even younger than most kids your age. I love it!

You are still quite reserved and shy. You definitely have your goofy/silly times, especially around your brother or friends. But you clam up around adults, even those you know pretty well. There is an adorable little girl in your class who loves saying hi to you every day. Every single day you just shake your head and frown at her. Ha! I think the girls will be chasing after you as you get older, but you're far too serious and shy to give them any attention right now. I can tell that you analyze and overthink things. Whether it's playing soccer, or doing a dance performance at school, I can see your little brain working and thinking before you act. You only talk or offer information when it's important. You don't talk just to talk. I think this will serve you well as you get older.

I think you often get lumped together with your brother, and get labeled as "the boys" instead of just "Ryan". I rarely get to spend time alone with you, but I recently went to Target one evening and you came along with me. It was amazing! You are such a different boy when you are separated from Lucas. You talked to me about all sorts of things and held my hand. I wish we could have more time like this together.

As sweet as you can be, you can still be really moody and whiny at times. If you're lacking sleep or aggravated by your brother, you start hitting or whining. A lot. I'm hoping you grow out of the whining phase soon!

You are such a GREAT big brother to your baby sister. You talk to her in a soft baby voice, and you "shush" her if she is upset. It just comes naturally to you! Your favorite thing to do with Jenna is to lay next to her and have a crawling race. She absolutely adores you, and I hope your bond continues to strengthen as she gets older.

The other day you were telling me about how a couple of kids at school really like their Mommies. I said, well I hope you like your Mommy too!! Your response was that you actually really like Daddy. Aw! It's true, though....you love your Daddy and would almost always choose to spend time with him over me. You like watching hockey with him, playing soccer with him, driving RC cars with him....pretty much anything is more fun with Daddy!

Ryan you are such a sweet, special boy and I love you dearly. Happy half birthday big boy!

Ryan exactly 5 years ago, at 6 months:

 

And 5 years later!