Five years ago today, we welcomed our precious son into the world. I had always imagined myself having daughters and didn't know how I would do as the mom to a boy, but there is no doubt that this little man has my heart! He is such a special, sensitive, thoughtful, caring little guy, and I'm excited to share about him and his fifth year of life.
People are often surprised when they learn that Brenson is only four years old. He is constantly mistaken for being about six years old, no doubt due in part to his height. He has always been very tall for his age, and currently measures about 46 inches tall (this is three inches taller than Brianna at this age). He weighs about 45 pounds.
Bren wears a size 6/7 in shirts, a size 6 in pants, and a size 13 shoe. Keeping him in clothes that fit seems to be a constant battle! I'm continually asking him to change his clothes because something he's put on for the day is suddenly too short. Because he's so thin, I have trouble finding pants that fit his waist AND are long enough. Adjustable waist pants are the best thing for him!
As you can seen, Bren has blonde hair, beautiful blue eyes, and sweet dimples in his cheeks and chin. His chin dimple has always been one of my favorite physical features of his! I feel like his hair is getting darker as he gets older, but it does lighten up quite a bit in the summertime.
Although he's very skinny, Brenson can put away the food if he wants to. He can be a great eater and likes lots of different foods, but he's moody about eating. He may eat something great one time, then the next time be a stink about eating it. Dinnertime can be a bit of a battle with him. He's just not typically a big dinner (evening meal) eater, so if he's not in the mood for the food being served, then he can be a pain about eating even a little bit. However, he's always ready for a BIG breakfast and generally eats a very hearty lunch, as well. He's ready to eat as soon as he wakes up in the morning! He loves fruits, raw veggies, peanut butter, spaghetti, and Mexican food.
We went out to eat Asian food this summer, and it was Bren's first time using chopsticks.
He just about had them mastered by the end of the meal!
Brenson has always been our star sleeper. He goes to bed around 8:00pm each night, and wakes up between 6:30 and 7:00am. During the first half of Brenson being four years old (before we moved), he and Brianna shared a bedroom. It was set up with bunk beds, and Brenson slept on the bottom bunk. I would often check on him to find that he had tucked his covers up into the slats of the top bunk. He said he liked to do that so Brianna wouldn't bug him (although, he did it during nap time when she was at school, too, so I think he just liked it that way :-).
He had no problems transitioning from sharing a room with his sister to sleeping in his own room when we moved. I do have him lay down during nap time almost every day, but he only sleeps about half of the time. I don't mind that he doesn't sleep (as long as he has quiet time), but we do try to get him in bed a little earlier if he doesn't take a nap.
In the above photo, you may notice that one of his front teeth is a bit yellowed. That is the tooth that was knocked back when he was 3 years old. We took him to the dentist where they determined that the tooth was dead. At the time, it was very discolored and gray, and they told us that it would continue to discolor until he lost it. However, a few month later, it actually regained much of its normal color, but has remained yellowed ever since. I'm thankful that he didn't have to have it pulled and that it isn't dramatically discolored! Bren has his teeth cleaned every six months and has never had a cavity. He does well with his teeth cleanings, although they definitely aren't his favorite thing.
He hasn't lost any of his baby teeth yet!
Along with having his teeth cleaned, Brenson also gets monthly chiropractic adjustments. We've found that this really helps with his growing pains. About mid-way through the year, we changed chiropractors (same clinic but different doc), and this wasn't the easiest transition for Brenson. He is a routine-oriented child, and transitions can often be a little tougher for him. After a few months of being adjusted by the different doctor, he does great with his adjustments again.
We often refer to Brenson as our "old soul". He tends to be a bit reserved, cautious, and serious about things. He's a thinker and takes time to warm up to new situations. He's logical and wants things to make sense (which means that he asks approximately 23,476 questions a day!) He wants to know how things work and why things are the way they are.
I often find him sleeping like this or similarly. He likes order, and his sleep even reflects that!
Brenson loves older people and often connects with them. At my Grandpa's funeral this past summer, we found him visiting with an older gentleman that we didn't know at all. They were having a nice conversation, though!
Even though he doesn't see her often, Bren just loves my Granny T.
He is a compassionate and loving little boy who likes to snuggle!
Bren also just adores his Grampy. I think Brenson is most similar to Grampy in personality, so there is an extra-special connection there.
One thing that comes along with being a sweet and compassionate little person is that Brenson is sensitive and tends to have tender feelings. Chris and I think these can be wonderful traits, but they are often a source of frustration, as well. Brenson's first reaction when he's disappointed or doesn't get his way is to pout or cry. This is something we're constantly working on with him, as bursting out into tears all the time maybe isn't the best way to handle emotions. When he's upset, we'll ask him to use his words and talk to us about how he's feeling, take deep breaths to calm himself down, and sometimes go into another room to compose himself. In many ways, I love that he's so sensitive, but I want to teach him how to properly channel his emotions.
During Brianna's Kindergarten graduation, Brenson was upset about where we were sitting. He spent most of the ceremony pouting :-(.
This is kind of hilarious to me, but Brenson loves old country music. He's pretty opinionated about music in general, and definitely has certain songs that he almost obsesses over and wants to hear again and again and again (he comes by this honest . . . I'm exactly like this, too!) John Denver is one of his favorite artists, along with Kenny Rogers. His favorite Kenny song is, "You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille", and asks me to turn this song on in the van all the time, haha. He also loves flea markets and browsing through old "junk", but he thinks it's silly when new things are made to look old. If something looks old, he wants it to legitimately be old!
Another thing that Bren loves that is maybe not typical for a little boy is COFFEE! Yes, the boy drinks COFFEE (piping hot with two ice cubes in it). I think Grampy was the first person to let him try coffee, and he's been hooked ever since. We only let him have it on special occasions, but I'm not sure how long we'll be able to hold him off.
Drinking a morning coffee with Grampy on the back porch (and, of course, holding a nerf gun!).
Although Brenson was eligible to attend Pre-K this year at the school Brianna attends, we decided to keep him at home full time for one more year. We did this same thing with Brianna and were very pleased with how it worked out. Like I mentioned above, Bren tends to struggle more with transitions, so we've already had many conversations about him starting kindergarten in August. Brianna's school has a morning assembly every day that parents/siblings/grandparents can attend. I've tried to take Bren to that assembly at least twice a month this whole school year to help him get used to it all. Just within the last month or so, he's started to really show some excitement about starting school, and I think he'll do just fine.
Visiting Brianna's school for a class party
During the first half of the year, we attended our Mommy-and-me preschool, Miss Shelly's, once a week. Brenson was excelling in this class, and we were sad when Miss Shelly was no longer able to keep the class going. I'm thinking the photo below was taken over Spring Break since Brianna was with us :-).
This boy LOVES to read.
He would sit and listen to us read to him for hours if we could!
Reading with Brianna
Reading with G-Jo
Reading to Brecklyn and Brooke
He also really enjoys doing worksheets and workbooks. He will actually ask me if he can sit and work through a workbook (this is the exact opposite of Brianna!)
We have these cards that are two pieces and you match the letter to the word that begins with that letter. This is too easy for him!
I try to change things up and not just do workbooks too much. The teacher in me wants to expand beyond the workbook! Sometimes, we'll make words and simple sentences out of Play-Doh. He loves it when I make a sentence for him to read.
Brenson can be a perfectionist, which is a double-edged sword. It's great that he wants to take his time and do things the right way, but he's also frustrated easily if something isn't perfect. One area in which this is really evident is with his handwriting. He has nice handwriting for his age, but he wants every single letter to be perfect every time.
These are notes he took in church about six months ago (copied off of the big screen).
He helped write all of his thank you notes after Christmas this year. There was lots of erasing and wanting things just so, but we made it through! I'm not sure what happened with LOVE in this note, but look at how he writes his name! He actually begged me to redo the B because he didn't think it looked good.
Maps and globes are one of Bren's favorite things, so it's no surprise that he really enjoys this world puzzle we have.
One morning during breakfast last summer, he said, "Mom, look! I ate my toast into the shape of Oklahoma!" Hahaha.
Brenson is articulate for his age, and I just love the conversations we have with each other. He has funny little expressions that he uses (and I don't know where he got these?). One day, I said something that he thought was scary, and he responded with "Bumpity goose bumps!" Another day, he was surprised by something I said and exclaimed, "Well gaggles!" Haha. There are still just a few things he says that aren't quite right, but I'm in no hurry to correct them. I'm not ready for him to lose all of his baby talk quite yet! A few examples of this include "frigilator" instead of refrigerator, "panic" instead of hammock, and "hotness" instead of heat (like he'll say, "I can feel the hotness from that fire!").
It comes as no surprise that our local library is one of Bren's favorite places to go. We attend the baby story time (ages newborn to 3) and the big kid story time (ages 3 to 5) every Wednesday. The two story times are back to back with baby story time happening first, so Brenson sits through that every week. He's great to be patient for his story time, and even helps me get the girls to participate. He also loves helping Ms. Tena when she needs it.
Lego Club meets at the library on the first Tuesday of every month. It's for ages 5-9, but Ms. Tena knows Bren and invited him to start coming almost a year ago. He's mature for his age, and can handle things like Lego Club well even though he's not in the age range.
Our library also does a summer reading club. We signed Bren up in his age bracket, but Ms. Tena also invited him to join in the activities for the 6-11 year olds. These activities included weekly presentations that were quite diverse. Bren enjoyed several of the programs and had no problems with sitting still or listening attentively.
A zookeeper did a presentation one day, and brought all kinds of artifacts for the children to examine. She had live animals, as well.
Bren's favorite presentation was probably when the firemen came. He loved climbing in the firetruck and looking around!
One presenter taught the children to spin plates
and juggle with scarves!
However, there were a few programs that Bren did not like. One week, a mad scientist came, and I think his volume, crazy hair, and experiment that included fire scared Brenson. Another week, the library hosted a comedian that Bren had no use for. Again, I think the volume level was too much for him (Bren is still very sensitive to noise). On the days that he didn't want to participate in the presentations, I let him use the kid computers at the library while Brianna was watching the programs. We don't let our kids have hardly any screen time at home, so this was a special treat, for sure!
One thing that Chris and I are trying hard to instill in our children is a strong work ethic. Brenson is a focused, hard worker when he wants to be. There are a few chores that he tries to duck out of (such as picking up the house or his room), but for the most part he is a great helper! One of the best things about his helping is that he will see a need for something to be done and just do it without being asked. Chris and I both appreciate this so much!
Working outside with Daddy is one of Brenson's favorite things to do! In this pic, Bren's trimmer is a toy, but he is legitimately helpful sometimes!
One day, several water bottles had been left outside and Bren picked them up without being asked.
Bren loves helping me load and empty the dishwasher.
There was no way Chris was going to hang the Christmas lights without Bren's help this past winter. It was extremely cold and sleeting this day (and he kept calling icicles "popcicles"), but Bren insisted on being out there helping his dad.
While picking up the house isn't his favorite thing to do, Brenson does enjoy running the vacuum cleaner for me.
Another area in which Brenson is very helpful is in the kitchen. The boy loves to cook! Right after Brianna went back to school, Bren asked me several days in a row if we could make cookies together. I finally said yes, and we had the best time!
He and Brianna both have a great time when we make muffins and cupcakes!
During the holiday season, we do quite a bit of baking and candy making. We made almond-bark pretzels to give as gifts this year, and all the children helped. This photo make me smile because Brenson is standing like such a guy while he stirs :-).
Helping Daddy use this mixer is always a hit!
Speaking of Daddy, Brenson is definitely Daddy's buddy. I guess when you're the only two boys in a house full of girls, you have to stick together, haha!
Looking handsome with Daddy before Grandpa's funeral last summer
Brenson had so many questions about the presidential election this past November, and was super excited to tag along with Daddy when he voted.
Brenson will typically go along with Daddy just about anywhere he's invited, but his very favorite place to go with Daddy is to work! Chris takes care of getting Brenson's hair cut when it needs it, and they see a barber that is just down the street from Chris's office. On the days when Bren has an appointment for his hair, he joins Daddy at work for the day.
He thinks he's so big carrying Daddy's bag into the office!
The barber they see has a giant dog named Trig who hangs out at the barber shop all day. Brenson loves Trig but he's definitely cautious around him.
Looking handsome after haircuts!
Whenever I ask Bren how work was after he's been with Chris all day, he tells me about alllllll the treats he gets from Chris's co-workers. No wonder the boy loves going to "the office" so much!
If the weather is nice, they will sometimes picnic in a nearby park for lunch.
But mostly, Bren hangs out in Daddy's office eating treats and playing with puzzles, Legos, or reading books. When he first started going, I would come pick him up after a half day of being at the office. Now, though, he has no problem staying the whole day!
I'm thankful for the special bond these two have, and that Bren loves being with his Daddy so much!
While Brenson loves going to work with Daddy, helping him outside and doing all things "boy", he's really his Momma's little man most of the time. Out of all the kids right now, he and I are the most similar in personality and I think that gives us a special bond in some ways. He's extremely protective of me, and I love the way this boy adores his Momma!
He's the only child that consistently wants to sit by me when given the choice!
As I mentioned above, Brenson asks TONS of questions all day long. I try my best to answer most of them, but we often get interrupted. After I finish addressing the interruption, Brenson will say, "As you were saying, Mom . . . " because he always wants to hear the rest of what I have to say!
Brenson and I love to cuddle, talk, and read, especially for a few minutes after I put the twins down for nap in the afternoon. This is our special time together. One day I said, "I just love you. Can I keep you forever?" Brenson replied, "Yes. Well, maybe not when you die." Haha. He's very mater-of-fact about most things.
If he is focused on a task, Brenson doesn't like to be distracted or interrupted. One day, he came over to me and I started picking at him and playing with him. He said, "Mom, I was coming over here to get something, not for shenanigans." He makes me laugh all the time!
Another day when I was being silly, he told me I was "just cray to the zay!" Lol.
This boy is going to make another girl (besides me, heehee) very happy one day, as he's an extremely thoughtful gift-giver. He picked out a pair of sunglasses for me for Mother's Day last year because he had heard me complain that my current pair had a scratch. He also picked a pair with teal accents because he knows I like that color.
A few times a year, I try to go on one-on-one outings with my kiddos. Brenson loves these "dates" with Momma.
During church services, he'll often reach over and just hold my hand 💓.
And, when Brecklyn accidentally busted my nose with a metal triangle (and I thought I might have to have a stitch or two), Bren was super worried about his Momma. He rubbed my shoulders while I iced my nose!
Although he's not always as sweet to his little sisters as he is to me, Brenson is a GREAT big brother. He enjoys playing with his sisters, and is always willing to help me out with them when I need him to. Of course, they aren't always willing to accept his help, but we try :-). He and Brecklyn have a special bond (as they are similar in personality). There are certainly days where they fight and he gets tired of them being in his stuff or his room, but it just touches my heart to watch him with both Brooke and Brecklyn.
Brenson and Brecklyn cuddling while watching TV.
One day at the library, Brecklyn was playing and a little boy came right over next to her. Brenson noticed and got in between the two of them and kept his hand on Brecklyn's back. He's very protective of all of his sisters!
These four love playing together, and will sometimes "perform" for us. Most of the performances include singing, dancing, and a few tricks of some sort.
He and Brianna also have a very special bond, and they love to play together. Since we moved, they have both said how they miss sharing a room with one another.
Every day, Brenson is excited to pick Brianna up from school, and I usually have to wait my turn to talk to her while he fills her in on all the happenings from the day.
He definitely misses her during the day, and one day he said, "I wish we could just have her back!"
He really likes it when we go visit her classroom (not just attend Rise and Shine). She tends to be protective of him when we're visiting and is very maternal toward him helping him do the right things and follow the rules.
They play just about everything together, including with their imaginary friends, Kimii and Junii. Their favorite thing to do is probably play outside together in the playhouse and on the swingset.
I think Brianna is good for Brenson in many ways because she helps him find his silly side.
Haha!
He doesn't always need too much help, haha.
If Brenson is feeling reluctant or scared about something, Brianna will help comfort him and talk him through it. She'll say, "C'mon Bren, you can do it!" or "It's okay Bren, I'm right here with you!" She is generally successful at convincing him to do whatever it is we want him to do. Notice the ear protection in the photo below . . . we were at a basketball game!
Whenever we go shopping, Bri and Bren love to play like they are designing and building a house. They talk about the supplies they need to buy to build and stage their houses. This day, they were trying out a recliner in Sam's :-).
I hope their love for each other and their bond is always strong!
Not only does Brenson have three sisters, but most of our friends have either mostly or only girls in their families. At church, the boy closest in age to Brenson is 12 years old. This means that Brenson is constantly surrounded by girls, whether it's at church, on play dates, or even at Library Story Time! Only having {mostly} girls to play with isn't Brenson's favorite thing, but I keep telling him that someday he might not mind so much :-)
Chloe Jo is always a favorite friend to play with, but Bren ends up being the third wheel sometimes.
We have play dates with our LeFlore friends pretty often, and Brenson always enjoys Caroline and Julia.
Brenson has always loved tools. I remember him taking an interest in tools when he was barely a crawler. He loves to know how things work and is always trying to take things apart or fix things. The house building process that we went through this past year was so exciting to Brenson. One of his favorite things to do was to go to our house and see it in various stages of construction. He always had tons of questions regarding why this was being done, how that worked, what this tool was used for, etc. He often says he wants to be a builder when he grows up, and I definitely think that could be a good fit for him.
When we go visit my parents, Brenson is always eager to go out in my dad's workshop, use his tools, and make things with him. During one visit, they made this wooden saw together. What could be better than making your own tools?!?
One day, I walked into the kitchen and found Brenson crying. When I asked him what was going on, he said that he had taken this screw out of the doorknob to the back door, and he couldn't get it back in, haha. I'm not sure if he was upset because he thought he would be in trouble, or if he was just frustrated that he couldn't get the screw back in the knob :-). This, of course, was not the first or only time that he was caught taking screws out of random things around the house!
"Working" on the gate with his hammer
A screw had come loose in one of our dining room chairs, so Bren got a screwdriver from Daddy's tools and fixed it for me!
During lunch one day, he took his chip bag apart just to see how it was made.
When Daddy asks Bren to help him with jobs around the house, it thrills Brenson's little heart. One day, Bren helped Daddy change the brakes on our van.
Chris and I both agree that it's important for Bren to learn valuable and practical life skills!
With as much as Brenson loves mechanical type things, it comes as no surprise that Legos are one of his very favorite toys. He really enjoys following the directions for a project, but sometimes he appreciates free building, as well. His original creations are always interesting to me. This day he made a tractor pulling a blade for mowing.
For Christmas, Bren received a Lego set that said it was for ages 7 and up. I worried if we tried to let him build it, he would be frustrated by it. However, he insisted on building it without our help, and he was successful! Chris did help him with a few little things, but he blew us away with his ability to follow the instructions and build this larger set.
The car was one of the more difficult parts of the set, but that didn't slow Brenson down any!
For several years, VTech Go-Go Smart Wheels and Tracks have been one of Brenson's very favorite toys.
When we moved into our new house, more floor space meant a bigger and better area for building tracks! He used to play with his tracks almost daily, and while that's not the case anymore, he's definitely not ready to part with them quiet yet.
We have a magnetic board that came with pattern cards and colorful, magnetic shapes. Bren loves this board, and can follow the cards to make all the designs. Again, this activity really caters to the way Bren's brain is wired.
Other activities that Brenson really enjoys include:
Using his binoculars (a must-have for car trips),
(And, for when Mom drags you along on those boring trips to Hobby Lobby),
play-doh,
hotwheels (and all the better if they are color sorted!),
cooking in our play kitchens,
playing his guitar,
singing,
and making big messes with his sisters, haha!
One thing that he is certainly not outgrowing yet is his love for his "stuffies" and "little guys". He is a very nurturing child, and has always loved his stuffed animals. He is mindful to care for his animals by putting them to bed, rocking them, and even "feeding" them. He loves to pretend like his animals are little orphans that he found and adopted. It's really very cute and heartwarming how he shows so much love and compassion for his little guys. When Bren is sleeping, he will always have at least one (but generally more) of his animals in his arms.
As you can tell, Brenson is a pretty easy kid to please most of the time. He likes many different activities and is usually up for an adventure. Out of all the things I've written about, though, I would say that his very favorite thing to do is to go outside and just play. He LOVES being outside.
When he's outside, he can be often be found digging in the dirt, raking grass, collecting leaves, mowing with his play mower, or trimming with his play trimmer.
Last year, he dug some holes in the yard and planted acorns. He knew exactly where he had planted them, and he made sure to water those spots. Sure enough, little trees sprouted in all the spots but one! He was very proud of those saplings! Unfortunately - due to location - we weren't able to keep them.
Our trees in the yard at our old house weren't very big, but Bren sure found a way to climb them!
It's very common to find Brenson making "repairs" to our swing set.
And, seriously, how else do you make repairs to your mower but with your trimmer :-)?!?
Chris was able to take Brenson fishing a few times this past summer, and it was a hit with Bren! The neighborhood we're in now has a pond, so I foresee many hours in our future being spent there!
Of course, any activity that involves being outdoors AND water is guaranteed to please!
Bren is all smiles while playing in the sprinkler ball!
And, the splash pad is a favorite outing, for sure.
If we're playing outdoors somewhere where there are sticks, you can be sure that Bren will be carrying them around. When my friend, Amy, got married last fall, her reception was at her house. Brenson was playing in the backyard, and I looked out there to see him hauling a tree limb around, haha!
He also loves to ride his bike! He still uses training wheels for now, but we're going to work on riding without them soon.
Our swingset gets tons of use by our kids. In the photos below, it was obviously cold, but they don't care. Bren will have the double swing going so high that he's completely perpendicular with the top bar of the swingset. It puts fear in this Momma's heart!
The joy and love this boy brings to our lives is truly indescribable.
Happy 5th birthday to our little old soul! We thank God daily for the compassion, reason, and thoughtfulness you bring to our family!
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