Gerrit is Six!

September 22, 2022September 27, 2022 nk330Leave a comment

2020 was such a crazy year, and I really didn’t get any time to blog. So this post is getting typed up about ~~half a year~~ two years late! The majority of this was typed up in early 2021, but I’m finally getting the chance to finish it. Here is a recap of Gerrit’s life from age 5 to 6:

Age: 6 years old on 27 October 2020
Weight: 40.6 lbs
Height: 45 inches
Teeth: 20? I can’t remember if he had started getting his 6 year old molars yet!
Clothing size: 5/5T

I’m going to stop doing milestones, because I don’t even know what to put anymore! Gerrit started kindergarten a couple of months before turning six, but we opted to go with the full virtual option during the COVID-19 pandemic. So everything was done at home on a laptop he got from school. I know that when he started school, he already knew everything being taught. He was already counting to 100 and doing simple addition and subtraction. He knew all of his letters and letter sounds. He knew his shapes and colors.

I totally dropped the ball with doing a birthday interview, so here’s Gerrit’s 6-1/2 year old interview:

What is your favorite color? pink
What is your favorite food? Buffalo chicken pasta
What is your favorite TV show? “Pokemon” or Minecraft tutorials
What is your favorite movie? Frozen 2
What is your favorite thing to do? play Pokemon
Where is your favorite place to go? outside when it’s snowy
What is your favorite toy? chess
What is your favorite book? dragon books
What is your favorite animal? falcon
Who is your best friend? Isabelle (neighbor)
What did you do on your birthday? I had a Minecraft party and played punch-the-zombie!
What do you want to be when you grow up? an airplane pilot

Gerrit’s year from 5 to 6:

Halloween 2019: I basically took over Halloween this year! I really wanted to do a group theme, and I convinced everyone that a Wizard of Oz thing would be fun. Gerrit was really into the Tin Man costume when I put a robot spin on it, and thankfully Andrew took the reins on the costume design. It turned out to be SO cute!

November 2019: A trip to the alpaca farm, Gerrit’s obsession with homemade slime/goop, going to Gerrit’s preschool Thanksgiving party, and Thanksgiving dinner at home

December 2019: Enjoying treats from the Christmas countdown house, decorating the Christmas tree, Gerrit’s Nintendo gingerbread house, playing at home, Christmas at the squadron, Gerrit’s preschool Christmas party, Christmas celebration at home, and a few from Christmas with my family in Missouri

January 2020: spending time with Aunt Becki, more goop/slime, our weekend in Tucumcari to visit the dinosaur museum, and a nice day to play outside

February 2020: a snow day, enjoying hot cocoa, fun at home (Jell-O creations & color mixing fun), Gerrit’s preschool Valentine’s Day party, chocolate raspberry cookies for Valentine’s Day, and Jurassic World in Amarillo

March 2020: Dr. Seuss week at school, a visit from Gramps & Gram before Dada deploys, and trying to stay entertained as the COVID-19 pandemic begins (Safari Loop bear hunt, rock painting, and lots of playing at home)

April 2020: fun outside, Mama’s attempt at some “schoolwork,” Easter fun, day-after-Easter snow, haircuts at home, water fun in the mini splash pad, MORE goop/slime

May 2020: Front Porch Project Mommy-and-Me photos, fun inside & out with our quarantine buddies

June 2020: wearing a mask when out of the house, rough-housing on the couch, finding fun at home, wearing red for Dada being deployed, Dada’s homecoming

July 2020: Gerrit gets a cheetah, going out for rolled ice cream at The Unicorn, 4th of July at home, roasting marshmallows & making s’mores, day trip to Palo Duro Canyon in Texas, working on his beloved Minecraft workbook, playing with ice chalk, working on Lego creations, chalk paint, matching shirts with Berend

August 2020: launching rockets, celebrating Dada’s birthday, first day of (virtual) kindergarten

September 2020: a day at actual school, virtual learning, lots of outside play!

October 2020: Fall Break in Angel Fire, Mimi & Papa visit

Gerrit’s 6th Birthday!
By the time Gerrit’s birthday rolled around, things pandemic-wise were loosening up a bit. We were able to have gatherings up to 20 people, and we were able to have my parents on base (with masks). I didn’t intend to go crazy with Gerrit’s Minecraft themed party, but I feel like the pandemic and lockdown pushed me to do more than I originally planned! I felt bad that Gerrit never really got to finish preschool, he wasn’t attending kindergarten in person, and he spent most of his sixth year stuck at home. I hope it was a special day for him despite the unexpected year we had.

I usually give the kids the option of renting a bounce house or doing party games/activities, but this year we just went straight for games to avoid too much contact. We did a pin-the-tail-on-the-pig game, punch-a-zombie prize game, and of course, a ghast piñata. I was thankful to have my mom help me with decorations and Andrew put together some awesome Minecraft creatures out of boxes and spray paint. Gerrit had so much fun with his friends!

We celebrated a little bit more on Gerrit’s actual birthday with presents from us and a mint chocolate trifle!

Gerrit, I hope you had a great sixth year! I know it turned out differently than we all thought with a global pandemic, lockdown, longer-than-expected deployment, and things like social-distancing and masks in public. But you were resilient and lived the best 5-year-old life you could considering everything! We’re so proud of you and your hard work so far in kindergarten, and we love you so very much!

Daily living

Gerrit is Five!

February 17, 2020 nk3301 Comment

After a crazy fourth year, it was nice to have a more laid back 5th year. We didn’t move this year! It’s also a little shocking to see your toddler really becoming a “kid.” The things Gerrit says and does… just keep reminding me that he’s growing up!

Age: 5 years old on 27 Oct 2019
Weight: 38.4 lbs
Height: 43.5 inches
Teeth: 20
Clothing Size: 4/5 and 5T
Milestones: moving from rear-facing car seat to forward facing, more skills with coloring and drawing, writes his own name

Milestones are getting tough! I feel like at this age, there aren’t as many “big” milestones. Instead, a lot of things are improving and becoming more refined. I’ve definitely noticed more maturity with 5 as well as a little more impulse control.

Instead of just improving with coloring and drawing, Gerrit has gotten quite good at them! He routinely gets special treats at school for coloring so well. He also has become very imaginative with his drawings and paintings. I’ve gotten him some drawing books, since he has seemed interested. Andrew and I really enjoy seeing what Gerrit comes up with in his artwork.

I feel like there has been more of a push this year in preschool for Gerrit to write his own name. But he can do it unprompted now! He has also shown more interest in letter sounds, and he can write the whole alphabet (capital letters).

Gerrit definitely seems to have a knack for math & science. He can easily count to 30 now, and he can get to 100 with some help. He can do simple addition and subtraction… pretty quickly! He still sometimes surprises us with simple math that he does in his head. Gerrit has been interested in science for awhile now, and we try to keep feeding that interest with kits we pick up at Hobby Lobby. He also really enjoys making goop/slime, and we do that pretty regularly.

Gerrit still loves books. We go to the library about once a week, because he just flies through the books we get. He is beginning to get into graphic novels and chapter books already. He loves fantasy type stories, but he also really likes getting nonfiction books about dinosaurs, animals, and space. I love reading with him, and I know I’m going to miss it when he starts reading on his own.

Here is Gerrit’s birthday interview:

What is your favorite color? gold
What is your favorite food? pizza
What is your favorite TV show? “Wild Kratts”
What is your favorite movie? Incredibles 2
What is your favorite thing to do? do science experiments
Where is your favorite place to go? Chili’s
What is your favorite toy? Rescue Bots
What is your favorite book? “The Mischievians” (link here)
What is your favorite animal? cheetah
Who is your best friend? Anna (our neighbor)
What did you do on your birthday? I had a science party and an orange cake! And I went to Chili’s.
What do you want to be when you grow up? a pilot and a rock star

Gerrit’s year from 4 to 5:

Halloween 2018: Gerrit was Bumblebee from Transformers! This was also his first time trick-or-treating.

November

December

Flipped that car seat! Gerrit went from rear facing to forward facing.

January

February

Gerrit’s first Valentine’s Day at school

March

April

May

We explored a few different churches in Santa Fe

Celebrating Berend’s first birthday with a teddy bear picnic

June

Sharing a popsicle from the ice cream man

Playing with cousins and friends in Wisconsin

July

Doing fireworks with Dada for the first time

Exploring caves in Missouri on our road trip home

Setting up our deployment wall during Dada’s first deployment

August

Starting another year at Clovis Nazarene

September

Fun at the zoo with friends from the squadron

October

Gerrit’s birthday party this year was science themed! One of his favorite things to do is science experiments at home, so he was really excited to do some of his favorites with his friends. Andrew and I went all out with decorations this year, but we figured 5 is a big birthday!

This balloon flask was all Andrew’s creation!

Blowing out the candles on his orange birthday cake

Party favors: test tubes of Skittles and homemade lab notebooks

Gerrit had so much fun at his science party! We had beautiful weather and great friends to share the afternoon with.

Gerrit, we hope you had a wonderful 5th birthday and a great year! We have so much fun watching you try and learn new things, we love your creativity and curiosity, and we are proud of the little boy you are. We love you so much!

Daily living

Gerrit’s New Room

January 16, 2019 nk3302 Comments

When I wrote about setting up Berend’s nursery, I mentioned that we were reusing a LOT from Gerrit’s old room. That meant Gerrit needed a lot of new things: a new bed, a new mattress, new bedding, and a new dresser. He had had his beach nursery setup since we put his room together in North Carolina when he was about 6 months old. Here’s what his room had looked like for 3 years:

This was his room in North Carolina, but we set it up almost exactly the same when we moved to Texas.

When we found out we were pregnant with baby #2, I started thinking about ideas for Gerrit’s new “big boy” room. I found this awesome photo on Pinterest:

And then I asked Andrew how much he loved me and if he thought he could build furniture. 😀 Turn out… he can!

We put Gerrit in his new bed for about a week before we moved to Little Rock last spring, just to get used to being in a bed instead of a crib. Yeah… we kept Gerrit in a crib until he was almost 3.5 years old! Would you believe that he never once tried to climb out of his crib? He tried to climb into it a few times but never out. Anyways, we wanted him to get used to it before we moved since so much change would be happening, and we wanted him excited for his new bed when the crib got unpacked in New Mexico.

When my mom came to New Mexico to help out while Andrew was gone, she made the tent part of the bed. Thank goodness, because I’m veeery basic when it comes to sewing. It’s something I’d like to get more experience with, but I wasn’t about to just wing it with Gerrit’s tent. I’m so glad my mom took on the project for me!

Gerrit loves his tent bed! I found the quilt set on Zulily, and I really liked the colors of it. I’m not a fan of “kid” bedding, because I prefer something that can be used for years to come. I also liked the quilt because of all the colors! Hopefully it will get used even if Gerrit wants a new room theme or if we pass it along to Berend down the road. Andrew eventually wants to build a small matching bedside table for Gerrit, but for now he’s using this cute tree trunk ottoman. Then we’ll move the ottoman into the reading corner. Gerrit stores some of his stuffed animals in there right now.

Here’s Gerrit’s reading corner! We hung his name print from my friend Emily on the wall, and I got him his own sling bookshelf to keep his books separate from the board books downstairs. My mom recovered a body pillow we had with a leaf print fabric for the corner, and I used the pillow sham from his quilt set for another pillow. I think I want to add more cushions or pillows, but that’s what we have there for now. I also have an idea for something to hang from the ceiling, but I haven’t had time to do it yet. Stay tuned!

I have had this growth chart for Gerrit since he was a baby. I can’t even remember where I got it from! I’ve been keeping it updated, but I never hung it because it didn’t “go with” his beach theme room. It matches perfectly in his camping/forest room though, and he enjoys frequently checking to see if he’s grown lately. I got him a plug-in night light to replace his whale light too. I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for, but I liked the map and the nod to our Air Force life with the airplane.

On the opposite wall, we put the table and chairs set that Andrew had had as a kid. His parents sent it along with him when he passed through Reno last August, and I love that Gerrit has it now.

Above the table and chairs we hung this canvas map of the United States. It was an early birthday present for Gerrit. He loves seeing where we’ve lived, where his cousins and grandparents live, and where we’ve traveled. Plus who doesn’t need a map when out camping? 🙂

Here’s the dresser my mom and I built! It arrived just in time for her to help me put it together, and thank goodness, because it was definitely a 2 person job. Gerrit even helped a bit too:

Once we got Gerrit’s clothes put away, we could put stuff on the dresser! I kept the blue basket from his nursery to hold his nighttime diapers and lotion, and he still has the same sound machine. I’m 100% okay with raising white noise addicts. I picked up the ‘explore’ sign at Walmart as well as the wood-look frame for the photo of Andrew and I with newborn Gerrit. The little lantern was going to be his new night light, because I thought he could take it with if had to make a trip to the bathroom at night. But it was super bright, and I was prepared to return it, but Gerrit loved it. So it stayed.

It took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to hang above the dresser. I contemplated painting something myself again, but I wasn’t sure it would go well, so I thought I’d enlarge a photo instead. That looked like it was going to be expensive, so I scrapped that idea and decided to pick three of my favorite photos from our trip to Puzzlewood in England from 2013.

I found the frames at Hobby Lobby and loved the rustic, natural look of them. And the compass hanging with the photos was another Walmart find. I feel like their decor items have been improving lately… I may have to look there more often.

I still have a couple of things I’d like to add to Gerrit’s new room, but I didn’t want to delay sharing it any longer. He seems to like it (especially his awesome bed), and I hope you all like it too!