Five-year-old Rowan loves a good poop joke. In fact, he learned how to spell "poop" in order to be able to speak about it more fluently. (Uncle John then taught him how to spell "loop.") He can say "K" and "L" now, though his "Ls" are very exaggerated. He sings and/or rhymes constantly. He yells "Boo-yah!" whenever he masters something. He also loves puzzling over train-track construction, marble runs, snap circuits, Mouse Trap, and similar types of problem-solving toys. He likes playing games (Zingo, Uno, Go Fish, Sorry!, Candyland), though he can be a sore loser. He enjoys dress-up and occasionally lets Fiona paint his face.
Rowan is in a phase where it's not uncommon for him to come find us in the night because he's scared. We leave a light on and he recently acquired this nightlight projector thingy. He and Fiona love a good spooky story but he can't really handle it. Loud noises still bother him -- he asks to press the button on the Sodastream but needs someone to cover his ears for the loud buzzes.
"Nap" continues to be a dirty word, though he unofficially takes them from time to time, mostly in the car. He continues to refuse a professional haircut, opting for Mommy and Netflix in the kitchen.
Rowan has taken to following me around quite a bit since camp ended and we've been spending so much time together. Being in the same room isn't always adequate; often, he needs to be in physical contact with me. It's sweet and peculiar, and then sometimes it's unpleasant, when he decides he'd like to tell me how much he hates me, often while in very close proximity. I don't know what he's processing but I guess I should appreciate the positive attention and know that the bad will pass.
I'm irrationally sad that Rowan no longer asks for a cup of milk, unless it's chocolate-ified. He does occasionally ask for a salad, which kind of makes up for it. He likes soup, pickles, yogurt, apple sauce, cheese, pepperoni pizza, pasta, beans and legumes. He's a moderately adventurous eater, depending on his mood.
Lately, Rowan's been watching the movie Sing! over and over on Netflix. He watches a Disney sitcom called Jessie, about a nanny of a wealthy upper west side family, and Bunk'd, a spin-off that has the kids at summer camp, with Fiona more than I'd care to admit.
Rowan tolerated camp this summer; we appeased him with ice cream from the ice cream truck. In a few weeks, he'll go to a new-to-him school for Pre-K (with the same teacher Fiona had -- and loved -- when she was four). I feel bad about separating him from the friends he established at Playhouse, but I think he'll have a good experience here. While he's not always good at being friendly and sociable with his friends and family, he seems to do pretty well with new people. And actually not everyone in Pre-K will be new. It'll be great.