The Meert Family... now in Florida!: Rylan is 5 !!!!!!

We were thrilled to celebrate Rylan's 5th birthday in September!!! We feel incredibly blessed and thankful that he is part of our precious family. He is such a happy, healthy, curious, energetic and creative little boy! In some ways it feels like these five years have just flown by....

Here's some of what he's been up to... from the little things to the big things, it is pure joy to be with him and help him as he grows and experiences new things.

Ry has gained more independence this year in a lot of areas, from picking out his clothes and dressing himself, to wanting to try out his own ideas and not necessarily just go along with our suggestions. He's happy to help Maylee (when she'll let him!). They are having more fun playing together also. She's always trying to keep up with him!

It's also been so exciting to see Rylan drawing more and learning to write in the last year (especially since until recently, he has never really liked coloring or drawing!). From his first recognizable picture last fall (of a monster face), to basic trucks, then stick figure people, outdoor scenes, and lately he's copying pictures from a learn-to-draw space story! He now writes his first name really well on his own (after lots of struggle and practice), and we're working on our last name and more letters and words. He also really enjoys completing mazes and his color by number marker book. He's still in love with airplanes, and loves his paper airplane book and flying little gliders.

We also love watching Rylan make creations with small legos! While he still plays with his duplos (and they are still the best for making huge airplanes and trucks), he now also makes elaborate trucks, planes, jets, etc with the small legos and can follow the instructions to build vehicles and other things. Indoors, he also likes to build various contraptions, play games (Animal upon Animal is a favorite) and play things like "restaurant" where he's the chef and waiter and one of us is the guest coming to visit the restaurant... so hilarious and fun! He's learning more about coins and bills and what things are worth, and he's thrilled about the wallet we got him recently. He's amazing at memorizing and knows my phone number, our address, the Lord's prayer, weekly memory verses, etc.

Rylan will come over and grab my hand to hold when we're walking somewhere and say "I want to hold your hand" (I just love this!), and my heart nearly bursts every time he says, "I love you, Mom," just out of the blue!

His favorite thing on the playground is climbing and finding new friends to play with! He loves to play chase and make up games with any other kids his age. He continues to love his bike and he, Jason, and Maylee often go on rides together, all on their bikes.

He started the 4/5's class at Issaquah Coop Preschool in September and loves it! Some of his favorite things there are the creation station (where they can build what they want from things like paper, lids, popsicle sticks, straws, paper towel rolls, etc), the sand pit and playhouse on the playground there, and the snack room (a different parent brings snack each day, and they do family-style snack with real dishes... it's so fun to talk with the kids and we help them learn table manners). Rylan also started Adventurers in September! Jason goes and leads out in his group of 4 and 5 year olds, called Little Lambs. They meet for an hour the first three Wednesday of the month and learn about Bible stories and things in their community. Rylan is always excited to go!

He continues to enjoy the water, and finished level 4 in swim classes at our community pool in August. He can do a basic back stroke, doggy paddle, and loves to jump in from the side and make a spash.

Here are some of my favorite quotes of his from the last several months:

"I wanted to make your day" (after doing something nice for me - too sweet!)

"I love the dentist!" (of course, they always have good prizes after they get a cleaning)

"I'm gonna give you six hugs today. You count while I hug" :) (I love every hug I get!)

"I want to be a pathfinder when I grow up!" (the scout-type program at our church that Jason and I led out in before we had kiddos)

"I can't wait until the day Jesus takes me into heaven. Heaven is full of love."

"You know why Pooh and Huggabear are next to each other [on the bed]? Because they love each other. They're watching a midnight movie and having a midnight snack."

Our little boy is growing up. But for now, he still loves ticklefests, and snuggles, and saying "I love you." I think there will always be part of me hanging on to these days and this sweet little boy we have right now!

Here are photos from his birthday, Sept 2...