Joshua is 5 ½!

On April 10, Joshua turned 5 ½. Though I am always a little sad at how big my kids are getting, this is never more true than with Joshua. I cannot believe I have such a big kid who is almost ready for kindergarten. He has so many complex thoughts and statements. The other day he said, "The orange ball is Hannah. Speaking of which, I don't like orange." He sounded like such a grown up. I assume I say "speaking of which" because it seems like something I would say, but I didn't think he knew how to use it.  He is a little bit morbid and asks about death and natural disasters a lot. In some ways he is pretty bold, but in others a little bit anxious so I think he needs to know what happens in a tornado to feel like things will be okay if we have a tornado warning and things like that. He really likes working with tools and fixing things and mixing (whether that's food ingredients, colored water, or dirt with water) things. Mud is his favorite and it has been an exceptionally wet month so I am pretty much over washing muddy clothes and scrubbing boots and will be happy when we get to summer and it's drier. I sort of doubt we will move before the kids are gone, but if we do, my next house will have a sink in the laundry room or an outdoor shower by the back door because my kitchen sink gets scrubbed out so often right now due to mud. Phineas and Ferb is his current favorite show, which I actually really like that show so that works for me. He loves playing rough with other boys, which is not my favorite, but seems to be pretty universal among five-year-old boys. He doesn't play with toys a lot because he prefers to be outside looking at bugs, swinging, and digging, but he does like building with legos and duplos and magnatiles. He also likes playing imaginary games with Clara. Their favorite one is they take turns pretending to be a dog and the other one leads the dog around with a leash and throws a ball for the dog to fetch. He also likes playing hide and seek. He really enjoys sports and has enjoyed both soccer and t-ball recently and he also has made good progress in swimming, though he can't really swim yet and he believes he is a really good swimmer so it is actually really stressful to take him to the pool a the moment. He is about 43.75 inches and weighs around 40 lbs. He is growing so much, but still such a sweet and giving kid and we love him so much!