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4yo is going to become 5yo this week, so yesterday we had his birthday party. February is peak strawberry season here, so when he was 2yo we celebrated by inviting friends/family to come strawberry picking with us. A lark became tradition, and now 4yo started asking about strawberry picking for his birthday back in October.
It helps that the farm we pick at is both just up the road and has a play area for the kids. For a fraction of what it would cost at any other play place, we can have them and their friends play all afternoon in the sand and sun. I hope he continues wanting to pick strawberries for his birthday because this is a way better tradition than going to a loud, overwhelming jump place.
I had to admit, what with all the cold and hard freezes, I wasn't even sure the strawberry place would be open. But their plants were healthy, even if some of the berries were clearly frost-bitten, and while the pickings were slimmer than usual for this time of year, there were still pickings. I think we got two pounds?
It was also just a perfectly nice day, one of those Florida winter days that almost make up for our summers. We haven't had a lot of those this winter, what with either the bitterly cold days or the cloudy ones, so it was nice to be out and be grateful.
The cold has really been a lot. I know the rest of the country is being hit hard, too, so I haven't been complaining, but (lol) I have had to de-ice the chicken water way more times than any other winter we've been here and most of our frost-sensitive plants are dead. Pour one out for our poor elephant ears. I'm waiting to see if the lemon tree pulls through, but it's not looking good. :/
Today we continue the birthday shenanigans with a dinosaur show. I'm not entirely sure what we're walking into, but it's put on by the university's Performing Arts and it looks like realistic dinosaur animatronics? IDK, but I'm 100% sure 4yo will enjoy it. I'm also reminded that I need to check out their showings more regularly, because I missed a lot of cool stuff last year.
And then later this week he'll be 5 and somehow we'll be half a decade into having two kids and living in this house in Florida and he'll start Kindergarten in the fall. We're finally transitioning out of the baby era, which lasted seemingly forever. A lot of the things he was struggling with earlier this year he's pretty much got the hang of now -- emotional regulation, for one; bedtime, for another. Even food, he's starting to open back up on. Is toddlerhood over?
I, for one, am just grateful to have two kids who sleep in past 5am, and no more middle of the night wake-ups. Solid sleep schedules are really the pinnacle of parenthood, and I know my mental health has been a lot more stable for it.
Here's to another five years and really getting to know who this little guy is. <3
It helps that the farm we pick at is both just up the road and has a play area for the kids. For a fraction of what it would cost at any other play place, we can have them and their friends play all afternoon in the sand and sun. I hope he continues wanting to pick strawberries for his birthday because this is a way better tradition than going to a loud, overwhelming jump place.
I had to admit, what with all the cold and hard freezes, I wasn't even sure the strawberry place would be open. But their plants were healthy, even if some of the berries were clearly frost-bitten, and while the pickings were slimmer than usual for this time of year, there were still pickings. I think we got two pounds?
It was also just a perfectly nice day, one of those Florida winter days that almost make up for our summers. We haven't had a lot of those this winter, what with either the bitterly cold days or the cloudy ones, so it was nice to be out and be grateful.
The cold has really been a lot. I know the rest of the country is being hit hard, too, so I haven't been complaining, but (lol) I have had to de-ice the chicken water way more times than any other winter we've been here and most of our frost-sensitive plants are dead. Pour one out for our poor elephant ears. I'm waiting to see if the lemon tree pulls through, but it's not looking good. :/
Today we continue the birthday shenanigans with a dinosaur show. I'm not entirely sure what we're walking into, but it's put on by the university's Performing Arts and it looks like realistic dinosaur animatronics? IDK, but I'm 100% sure 4yo will enjoy it. I'm also reminded that I need to check out their showings more regularly, because I missed a lot of cool stuff last year.
And then later this week he'll be 5 and somehow we'll be half a decade into having two kids and living in this house in Florida and he'll start Kindergarten in the fall. We're finally transitioning out of the baby era, which lasted seemingly forever. A lot of the things he was struggling with earlier this year he's pretty much got the hang of now -- emotional regulation, for one; bedtime, for another. Even food, he's starting to open back up on. Is toddlerhood over?
I, for one, am just grateful to have two kids who sleep in past 5am, and no more middle of the night wake-ups. Solid sleep schedules are really the pinnacle of parenthood, and I know my mental health has been a lot more stable for it.
Here's to another five years and really getting to know who this little guy is. <3
