Benjamin Sawyer turns 3.5!

Height - Roughly 41 inches.
Weight - 41 pounds
Hair - Blondish - and it desperate need of a cut ;)
Eyes -Gorgeous brown and shiny
Body - Tall, solid, STRONG!

My Best Little Man -- 

Here we are. Another 6 months, come & gone. While it hasn't been the easiest ride - we are really loving seeing your personality develop and take on new dimension. You are HIGH spirited (as in - you tantrum often) but we are constantly seeing the light at the end of the 3 year old tunnel. You no longer take an hour to get dressed in the morning which is HUGE progress. You'll wear other clothes besides superhero - very exciting! Your language is exploding which is hopefully allowing you to communicate your thoughts and emotions rather then throw yourself on the floor in a fit of rage. Last night, while watching you have an epic meltdown over the choice of water ice flavors, I told Uncle Matt I wish I could see in your brain. Your working purely on emotion rather then logic or thought and it's teaching me to be more patient, more even-tempered and more understanding. You are teaching me buddy - so for that, I thank you. 

While we have our rough moments, the good FAR outweighs the bad. You are such an important part of our little family. You are kind and silly and hilarious. You KNOW you're a comedian and eat up when people laugh at you. You are strong-willed. You are smart. You are athletic (you can hit a baseball HARD and FAR when it's pitched to you!). You love your friends, your cousins, your cats and your sister. You are passionate when talking about anything from food to Captain Hook. 

Your best friend is Layla -- you are her protector and confidant. You also LOVE to wrestle Max, Andrew & Justin. You really love to wrestle anyone that's willing to be there. You love all your friends at school but it's clear you love playing with the girls!! I love hearing that you played with a baby doll one minute and a pirate ship the next. You are friendly and love to share. You are sweet to everyone around you! A true gem in a person. You also love playing with Ava, Abbey, Marley, Remi & Sami! Your cousins are your favorite friends. You love spending time with your uncles, aunts, Mom-Mom, Pop-Pop, Grandma & Grandpa. Too cute. Your favorite friends from camp/school are Brody, Rian, Leighton, Hayden, Nila. SO fun!

We have a surprise trip to Disney coming up for you & your sister... we can't wait!! We are going with your cousins, Aunt Kim & Uncle Michael. Your favorite characters are Uncle Scar (Lion King), Zurg (Toy Story), Cheshire Cat (Alice in Wonderland), Captain Hook (Peter Pan) and King Louie (Jungle Book). I hope we get to see some of them in Disney!! You also LOVE your superhero and continue to play with all of them - especially your little Lego guys (Batman, Joker, Bane, etc). 

You love spending time at Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop's house every Thursday and usually one or two other nights. You immediately ask for chocolate or cookies as soon as you get in the door (uhhh) and you love playing with all of the toys there. We try to visit with Mom-Mom Millie often -- you love seeing the fishtank in her building. You REALLY love when Grandma and Grandpa come to visit - next week Grandma is coming for 10 days - wahoo!!! And when we go to Florida next month, we'll spend lots of time with GG (your great-grandmother!)

We are in the middle of camp and you really love it! You ask every morning to stay home but then we get to camp and you have the best time. You love going in the water! They have a bigger pool at camp then you're not allowed in until your potty trained. I'm HOPING that's the push you need - you are quite stubborn with this whole potty training business (opposite of your sister!) -- I'm trying not to push and I know in time you'll be ready. You'll be starting your 3rd year of school in September -- very exciting!! You'll be in the big room with 17-18 other kids. Lots of fun and lots of learning!! We continue to drive the 40 minutes to get to school because we love it there so much. 

You are the BEST EATER EVER. Seriously, I'm in awe of how much you can eat -- it's quite crazy!! Last night you ate more Chinese Food then everyone else combined. You are constantly eating...and if you're not eating, you're asking for a snack or when your next meal is. Your favorite foods include burritos from Moes, pizza, ribs (the ones your dada makes), italian hoagies, chinese food (wonton food and pork fried rice and spare ribs)...really you'll eat anything and everything you can. Keep growing big boy. Your sister continues to be the pickiest eater and you're constantly trying to get her to eat new foods -- hahaha. 

You love movies, books, playing bad guy, wearing costumes, watching Egg Surprise on the iPad, swimming every single day in the pool (you're SO SO SO good now!!!), going for walks, riding bikes and cuddles. Oh my sweet boy..can you cuddle beautifully. 

Some of the things I love that you say....

"No ANYBODY! No ANYWHERE!" (meaning nobody, nowhere)

"I love to Flew!" (I love to Fly)

"Catatiller" (Caterpillar) 

"Look Mama, I peed on the rock!" 

I love you my sweet, sweet boy. You are the cutest, sweetest, craziest boy and I love watching you grow. And boy oh boy, are you GROWING fast. 

Love forever,

Mama

(Here is a bunch of out-of-order pictures from the past 6 months)

With your sister & your first favorite friend, Baby Layla (and Baby Eva)

My handsome boy!!

swimming with Uncle Matt!

Swimming with Dada!

Beach bum

Always a smooch for Mama

Your first Phillies Game with Dada!

Trying out this whole underwear thing :)

Woo!

Fun at the zoo with the polar bear!

<3

Fun at school :)

Typical

OH i love you. 

Your face 25% of the time. HA!

You always bring me the best gifts.

You're SO good at riding your bike!

Me and you forever and ever.

xoxoxoxo

CHEESE!

Baby face.

Look at how you grew!!!

fun with Dada!

4th of July!

I love you.

Haircut goodness!!

Fun with Brody at schooL!

Cuddles with Mama

BENJAMIN SAWYER TURNS 3.5!

LAYLA TURNS 5!!!!!

                                                                    Weight: 40 Pounds 

Height: Just about 43 inches. 

Eating: Picky McPickster ;)  

Clothes: 4T/5T

Shoe Size: 11

"Mama... you don't want me to get bigger, do you? Well I AM -- I'm getting bigger! I'm getting to be FIVE! HA HA HA!" - Layla Jules

Last week, I had a phone conference with your amazing Pre-K teacher. Do you know what she told me? She said there is NOTHING bad she could say about you. She said your heart is so kind, you are sweet and share and you're a great friend and you're not afraid to try new things or say the wrong answer. She said you're determined and lovely and a dream... I'm SO proud of you, my girl.

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY!!!!!

A mere five years ago, you made me a mama. 

You taught me patience and kindness and to slow down. 

Here are 6 (5 +1 for good luck!) things that I want to remember about you....

1. You are so beautiful. Your super fair skin and striking blue eyes and long legs and teeny waist and long light hair. You have lost any look of "baby" and you're a gorgeous little lady. While I love your sweet face, you are most beautiful in your heart. You are kind and lovely and sweet. You make everyone around you feel happy and comfortable. You make friends everywhere we go and you're never afraid to introduce yourself to new friends. While you do love your best friends, you're also always to play by yourself. You defend your friends and stand by them always. You love your 8 cousins and wish you could be with them every day. By far, your favorite friend is your Benny. The two of you are inseparable and I love watching your friendship grow & grow. You often ask if you can marry Benny because he's your best friend. <3

2. You are SO smart. You did beautiful this year in Pre-K. You have come a long way -- you can read a few words, your writing is clear and sweet. You love to learn and read and write. Your teacher told me you really love school which is so wonderful. I hope your love of learning continues as you'll be starting KINDERGARTEN this fall. I can't believe it!! I'm so relieved you'll be with all of your adorable friends for one more year at school before you start our neighborhood elementary school. 

3. You continue to be the pickiest eater alive. I keep trying ways to introduce foods but alas I have not been successful. You don't need to eat breakfast most days (though usually I can get you to eat some yogurt or strawberries). You don't care much for dessert (except for Hershey's chocolate bars & nutella). You basically live off of pork roll, M&M yogurt, string cheese, fruit (bananas, strawberries, apples, grapes), refried beans & matzah ball soup. You don't like any typical "kids foods" but hopefully you'll start to try new things. 

4. Your favorite things include: Disney World, The Zoo, The Aquarium, Barbie, singing & dancing, wrestling Benny, Hide & Seek, Duck Duck Goose, princesses, My Little Pony, watching random videos on the IPad, painting your nails, watching ALL movies (literally, you'll watch anything.. it's so fun), reading books and art projects. You also love to travel -- South Florida is your favorite!!

5. You love hard. You love your family, your grandparents, aunts, uncles & cousins. You love your friends, your cats, your fish. You are just so full of life & love. 

6. You call bathing suits "baby soups", you like asking where babies come from (and always ask for a new baby sister and a new dog), you've become a really good swimmer, you recently (yesterday) discovered you love ice skating, you finished your first year of dance school and ROCKED the recital, you love making brownies and you're already planning your 6th birthday.

We love you forever. Continue to grow, shine and be YOU. I wish I could freeze time but I feel so lucky to watch you develop into this beautiful person.

With love always,
Mama


(Here are a million pictures of this past year - out of order)