Dallin is 5

Dallin turned 5 on Sunday. It is hard for me to believe my little boy is so big. In my mind, he is still my baby. Nevertheless, he is still growing up. Even when I look at the things he could do a year ago, I am amazed at how fast he is growing up.

He can write his name and identify and write all of his letters. He wants me to teach him to read so I have been working with him a little. He is surprisingly fast. He always shocks us with how much he knows. He is good with numbers too. Sometimes he has to remind us that he can't do everything though. I will ask him what something says he and is quick to let me know that he can't read it yet.

Dallin is also pretty creative and funny. If you catch him at the right time, he will tell you stories about things that never happened (about what it was like when he was in my tummy or what happened when he was 7 and Porter was 2). My favorite part about him though is how expressive he is. He make such funny little faces and gets so worked up about everything that I can't help but laugh at him sometimes. Last night he told me that he wants a phone for Christmas. We have told the boys that they are not old enough to have their own phones right now. Dallin decided that he would tell Santa that he is 7 and Porter is 8. He kept giggling to himself, thinking about how he was going to trick Santa into bringing them phones (unfortunately, Santa knows how old they are and knows they are not allowed to have phones until they are at least 10). I have also related Dallin's dealings with the poisonous beetle on this blog. I think those stories illustrate how Dallin's mind works. He builds up weird or scary stories in his mind and then just builds on them for months. He never forgets things that are important to him (like looking out for poisonous beetles). By the way, when we were driving to Las Vegas, we saw a giant beetle outside of one of the gas stations. Dallin believed it was a rhino beetle (also, apparently poisonous) and had to be carried past it so that he could use the bathroom.

Dallin and I have had the chance to spend time alone together more this year because Porter is in school all day. I have learned that Dallin is fairly thoughtful. Whenever he gets a treat or something, he makes sure that we get one for Porter too. He also likes to be helpful. He likes to vaccum and clean the bathrooms. He gets tired of it easily though and after about 10 minutes of work, he claims that he needs to rest on the couch and watch a movie or something. (He doesn't tire when he doing something like riding his bike or playing something that he likes).

Dallin loves to play sports. He has been playing soccer for a while and really likes it. He also likes to go to the rec center with Joe or I and swim or play basketball. He likes to do gymnastics and wants to take karate.

Dallin also thinks he is very sneaky. For some reason, he doesn't want to flush the toilet or wash his hands and tries to convince us that he went into the bathroom for some other reason. He sets traps for us around the house and can't wait for someone to get caught in his snares. He sneaks candy and treats when he thinks no one is paying attention (including eating Porter's halloween candy, etc.).

Even though he can pretty naughty, we love Dallin and are glad to have him. He brings so much happiness and joy into our family.