Dallin turned FIVE years old on May 18, 2018.
Birthday theme- About a week before, he asked if we could go camping for his birthday. Luckily, the weather was beautiful and his birthday landed on a Friday, so we went camping!! I managed to order some camping cake toppers that got to the home just in time. The camping cake was complete with campfire, trees, pond, canoe, water rocks and a tent that looks just like ours AND that lights up! Jeremy made the cake from scratch, I decorated it and Tanner helped me decide where to put the figurines. The cake got a little dried out, so it didn’t taste super good, but that’s ok because it looked awesome!
Cake reveal- I wasn’t sure if it would survive the drive to the campsite because I didn’t have a real cake box. So we let dallin see it ahead of time. We made him close his eyes until he was standing right in front of the cake. He had a grin on his face waiting to see it. As soon as he uncovered his eyes, his expression went blank. I thought to myself, “oh no! It’s not what he was expecting. Is he going to yell?” He stood still, then got a twinkle in his eye, dropped his jaw a little, rocked back and forth, and then collapsed on the floor pretending to faint! What a goof! He said he liked it a lot. Woohoo!
He was really excited to kiss me because he loved the cake so much.
Dallin’s Growth & Personality- Before camping, we went out to eat dinner at Pizza Ranch for his special birthday dinner. We talked about all the things that Dallin has learned and done this past year while being four. Some firsts included first (and only) year of preschool, first trip outside of the country (Costa Rica), first helicopter ride, and first two trips away from home without his mom and dad (colorado and texas). He learned how to take baths amd showers almost all by himself, unbuckle his seat belt all by himself, and how to pump on the swing all by himself! He improved in drawing, writing, using scissors, climbing, jumping and computer games. He is actually pretty good at navigating computer games and video games. He is often showing Tanner how to find websites and use the mouse.
He can write names and sentences with inventive spelling, and can read a handful of sight words. He knows a few songs on the piano and improvises songs called “napping songs.” He can sing in tune, keep a beat, play rhythms to songs he knows, and recognizes tunes and rhythms. In the world of sports, he’s gotten better at floor hockey, ice skating, baseball and basketball.
His sense of humor is growing and expanding. He likes quoting funny parts in shows, telling knock knock jokes and giving goofy answers to questions in casual conversations. He’s basically just a goof ball most of the time. But he’s a responsible goof ball. He gets himself ready for the day in the morning, which includes get dressed, make bed and get his own breakfast, and when I let him, he turns on his own TV shows.
Our Dal Pal loves to help people. He is the first to jump up when anyone asks for help. Even when no one is asking for help, he quietly goes around the house doing things that he thinks will be helpful. Sometimes, he even chooses helping over playing with Tanner or neighborhood friends, right in the middle of a game they are playing.
Dallin is still our big Cuddle Bug. He will cuddle all morning long with us. He is still taking naps about 5 days a week, too! When we cuddle, he still loves touching and stroking the mole on my face, a habit he developed when he stopped breastfeeding. He also likes Jeremy’s mole, too, but “mom’s mole is the best.” During the day, when he gives me hugs, he reaches for my mole and says, “Mama’s mole!” I love it, and wonder how long he’ll keep that up! We can’t wait to tease him about it when he is older.
DJ has grown a bunch in height, fits into 5t clothes in his arms and legs, but he is pretty thin around the waist and bum. He still wears 2t-3t undies, so idk how that works! He wears pullups at night. His shoes are one size less than Tanner’s, and his hands are the same size if not bigger than Tanner’s. Also, this past year, Dallin has gotten much better at standing up to his big brother when he doesn’t want to do what Tanner wants. He will say no and if he gets beat up on, he will fight back, so it makes for some intersting dynamics now.
Our Dal Pal loves to help people. He is the first to jump up when anyone asks for help. Even when no one is asking for help, he quietly goes around the house doing things that he thinks will be helpful. Sometimes, he even chooses helping over playing with Tanner or neighborhood friends, right in the middle of a game they are playing.
Dallin is still our big Cuddle Bug. He will cuddle all morning long with us. He is still taking naps about 5 days a week, too! When we cuddle, he still loves touching and stroking the mole on my face, a habit he developed when he stopped breastfeeding. He also likes Jeremy’s mole, too, but “mom’s mole is the best.” During the day, when he gives me hugs, he reaches for my mole and says, “Mama’s mole!” I love it, and wonder how long he’ll keep that up! We can’t wait to tease him about it when he is older.
DJ has grown a bunch in height, fits into 5t clothes in his arms and legs, but he is pretty thin around the waist and bum. He still wears 2t-3t undies, so idk how that works! He wears pullups at night. His shoes are one size less than Tanner’s, and his hands are the same size if not bigger than Tanner’s. Also, this past year, Dallin has gotten much better at standing up to his big brother when he doesn’t want to do what Tanner wants. He will say no and if he gets beat up on, he will fight back, so it makes for some intersting dynamics now.
At the site- As soon as we got to the campsite, the boys did not waste any time getting the fire started. Then, we had cake and opened presents. Tanner was really excited to watch his brother open presents. Jeremy and I gave Dallin his cake, balloons and dinner. The rest of his gifts were from Tanner and grandparents.
Racoon story- Right after we fell asleep, Jeremy heard and saw a racoon scuffling around our campground. The racoon found one of the cake toppers that we left out on the table. It was the little tent that lights up. He could hear the racoon chomping on the plastic. There must have been frosting still on it! Then Jeremy saw the little tent glowing everytime the racoon pushed the button, haha! Jeremy scared off the critter and put the cake topper in the car. The next morning, Dallin was snooping around for his cake toppings to play with them. He found the tent piece and showed us that there’s still frosting on it. Before we could get it out of his hands, he took several big licks all over the thing, in the same spots where the racoon had licked. YUCK!
It was a very relaxing birthday party/camping trip.
Here’s some pictures from our little hike.
Birthday Service- At home, we finished up with Dallin’s birthday service project that he had been working on for about a week. I brainstormed all kinds of things he could do, and he said no to everything until I suggested making cards for people, particularly for the parents of all his cousins and his grandparents. He decided to make flower cards for the girls and drawings for the boys. We looked up ideas for the flower craft, and he chose what to use for the stems and petals. He wrote “love Dallin” in some of the sunshines. With each picture, he tried to make it personal for the person he was drawing for. They turned out absolutely adorable.
We love Dallin so much!! He helps keep us from being too serious and keeps us laughing. One day I asked him, “Why are you so funny all the time?” He said “Because my name is Dallin Jerold and Jerold loved to tell jokes!” Which is true. Even though Dallin will have to wait until the next life to meet his great-grandpa, I am glad that he feels a connection to his namesake at such a young age. Dallin is kind, helpful, silly, active, and did I say goofy? I am so grateful for all the amazing fun we’ve had with him this past year and look forward to the neat adventures he’ll take us through this year!
