Nate is 5!

Even though he is the middle child, Nate feels like my baby. He was the snuggliest and the smallest and so I have been able to carry his little body around for a lot longer than I did Luke and most likely Brad too. 

He is such a sweet boy, very unselfish. His preschool teacher commented one time about how kind and helpful he is to the other students. She said most of the time when other kids do something nice or helpful they do it to get recognized but she said she could tell Nate does it because he genuinely wants to be nice. He does the same thing for his brothers. One time I took him to the store to pick out a gift for himself and even though Marshall is his favorite Paw Patrol character he ended up with a Chase (for Luke) and a Zuma (for Bradley). He did the same thing just yesterday when Chance took him to the store to pick out a birthday gift. He considered an Avengers t-shirt, but than muttered under his breath, "wait... I can't share that". So he opted for a scout trooper toy. Why? Because he knew Luke would like it. Nate adores him and will sacrifice his own desires to make Luke happy. 

He is also very sensitive. He gets very upset if he accidentally hurts another kid. Really embarrassed. Lately he has been having trouble going to preschool because he misses me so he cries when I have to leave. Him crying, embarrasses him, so now he stresses about going because he thinks he will cry, which he usually does because he convinces himself that he will. He also gets scared at night. Once his brain starts going I think he has trouble turning it off. There is really no convincing him when he has made up his mind about something. Poor guy. :(

He is my little lover and caretaker. I fell asleep on the couch one day and he went around and closed up the blinds and drew me a picture that he laid on me to find when I woke up. He has brought Luke water before when he was sick on the couch. He says thing like, "The only person I love more than you is God." and "I wish I could marry you when I grow up." He doesn't snuggle as much as he use to. But he still loves my hair. :)

He is hilarious and has the BEST one liners and his delivery is awesome. He will say things like, "At least the house is clean" when he came back home after being at Aunt Trisha's house. Or "That's my Line!" when he does something he thinks you should expect from him.

I can't post about Nate without talking about his coloring and drawing. He spends most of his time at our dining table. He never seems to tire of it. Here are a few recent drawings.

Superman and Lex Luthor.

Loki

Nate's love language is gifts. And treats. Treats and gifts. So he was really excited for his birthday this year. He said he wanted an "Ultron" birthday party. I have been very buys with the upcoming Maui trip so I did my best to throw together an "Ultron" party. Nate had "sushi" one day at school and loved it, so I decided to make it for his friends. Nate was very excited to have it.

To make it "Ultron-y" I put them in these bags:

I also had each kid go through an Avengers obstacle course. First they had target practice with a nerd gun. Then they had to put on Hulk fists and knock over some stacked boxes. Then I made an "Ultron" shield that I tied to their wrist and they had to run and pick up Iron Man and Captain America action figures while the other kids through "snow balls" (crumpled up paper) at them. Then Chance came up with the idea of the kids throwing water balloons at him (wearing an Ultron mask) at the end. All the kids seem to like the obstacle course. After each kid went through it we opened up the cooler of balloons and it was a free-for-all! Poor Chance. I think you can see the moment in the video where Chance realizes this may not have been a good idea. LOL

Waiting for his cupcake.

 Opening presents. He was very grateful. :)

Luke read Nate his birthday card for him.

Opening his presents.

  On his birthday he said, "Mom, you know what my favorite birthday present is? My family." Later that day he said it was "God." When Bradley was napping him and I put together his Star Wars puzzles he got. 

We took him to Red Robin. He was very excited for his birthday Sunday, but he made sure to remind me to tell them NOT to put the white stuff (whipped cream) on it. 

He rarely gets the spotlight, so he was a little embarrassed.

Happy 5th Birthday my sweet Naters!