Briggs is officially 6 years old. He weighs 45 lbs (46th percentile) and is 45.5" tall (50th percentile). He is outgrowing his size 5T clothes and is mostly wearing size 5/6 and 6 clothes and size 12 shoes. Briggs has lost his first tooth. He is in Kindergarten with Mrs. Doty and participated in one session of Stage Kids in the fall. He goes to bed around 7:30 on school nights and around 8:00 on weekends. He typically wakes up between 7:00 and 7:30. He tends to wake up much easier (and sometimes earlier) on weekends than on school days.
Likes: Briggs still loves trains and vehicles of all kinds. He loves to see them when we are out driving. He loves to play with them as toys. He loves to read books about them and wear clothes featuring them and watch movies about them. Briggs favorite play activities typically include playing with his cars and trucks and trains. He also enjoys building with Legos, blocks, and Magnatiles. Doing puzzles, creating perler bead creations, and making crafts with Adelie are other favorite activities. He likes to color, draw, write/illustrate books, and paint. His favorite things to draw? Trains, of course.
My little artist
Briggs has favorite play activities, but is generally good about playing what his sisters or friends want to play. He enjoys playing Hatchimals or figurines or stuffed animals or dolls, participating in plays and shows, and playing imaginary games with Adelie. When he's outside, Briggs likes riding his bike, scooter, and roller skates. He is getting more active and jumping, wrestling, running around, and chasing are other ways he fills his time.
He has no problem keeping up with his big sisters on their big bikes.
Briggs likes to play American Girl dolls with his sisters with his doll, Sam.
Briggs loves books. He enjoys being read to and listening to books on tape. He can follow along with the longer chapter books that we listen to or read, but also still enjoys picture books and Easy Readers. He has a great sense of humor and really enjoys clever or funny picture books. When reading to himself or to us, he likes to read Biscuit books. When Briggs gets to choose what to watch for movie night, he generally will pick some episodes of a cartoon like Blaze and the Monster Machines, Paw Patrol, Puppy Dog Pals, or TOTs. He does enjoy animated movies like Cars or Planes, as well as nature/animal videos.
My little reader
Briggs has a variety of friends that he likes to play with. He loves to play with his sisters and cousins, but gets very excited about play dates with neighbors and friends. When given the choice of a friend to play with, he typically picks Dava, but he also really enjoys playing with our neighbor, Grace, who lives a few houses away.
Briggs and Grace
Briggs is a pretty good eater. He likes breads and fruits and is typically good about eating his veggies. Favorite foods include meatballs, tacos/quesadillas, chicken pie, ham, tomato soup, brunch foods, and anything sweet. He is not picky about his clothing, generally wearing what I put out for him. However, when he is choosing his own clothes, he typically picks athletic pants over jeans. And he always wants to wear footie pajamas.
Briggs with his favorites...footie pajamas, cozy blanket, and Legos.
Dislikes: This has gotten to be a rather long list these days as Briggs has plenty of things that he gets upset about. He does not like being told 'no', not getting to do what he wants to do when he wants to do it, and being asked to do something he does not want to do. He does not like going to a floor of the house by himself (like upstairs or in the basement), storms, wind, doing homework, or not having someone to play with. He typically does not like being asked to clean up or do his Sunday chores. He is not super picky about food, but often does not like enchiladas or Mexican casseroles or salads or veggies that are not our typical. He definitely prefers familiar foods to novel foods. Briggs does not like being barefoot, always preferring to wear socks when he is inside or outside. If he is wearing a shirt or coat with a hood, he likes to have the hood up. Briggs also does not like movies with bad buys or "scary" parts. He does not like when people are laughing about something he says or does if he is not trying to be funny. Having his hair cut, his nails clipped, or teeth pulled are all things that he resists as well.
Skills: Briggs is a fast and coordinated little guy. He runs fast, skips well, and can ride his bike really well without training wheels. He does well on his scooter and is learning to skate on roller skates. Briggs is very good at putting together Legos by following the directions, making perler bead creations, putting together puzzles, and figuring things out. He writes pretty well, although continues to have some letter and number reversals. His drawing skills continue to improve. Briggs is pretty independent with most things around the house. He can get dressed, take a shower, brush his teeth, and get simple snacks and meals by himself. He can do his buttons and zippers, but I'm not sure about tying since he has never had any tie shoes. Briggs is a bright student. His reading skills are continually improving and math seems to come pretty easy to him so far. The homework packet he brings home each weekend is never challenging for him. (The only challenge is getting him to do it.) On his winter standardized tests, he scored in the 91st percentile for math and the 95th percentile for reading.
Briggs learning to roller skate with Grammie and Staley.
Personality: Briggs' continues to be dichotomous with his personality. He is often very sweet. He loves to snuggle, hold hands, and sit on my lap. When things are going his way, he is very fun. He is bright and inquisitive and asks good questions. He follows really well when we are listening to a chapter book on tape or reading a longer book together. He plays and shares really well with friends and there are never any behavior issues at school. He can be silly and goofy and enjoys making people laugh (if he's trying to be funny). On the other side, however, Briggs continues to have a short fuse and a quick temper when things are not going his way. He can be rude, sassy, belligerent, and stubborn when he gets upset. Tantrums with screaming, crying, hitting, kicking, or throwing himself on the ground are still relatively common around our house. We have seen some progress recently so hopefully maturity and growth will help us put some of these struggles in the past. Briggs is also sensitive, crying easily when he gets hurt, scared, his feelings hurt, or if he thinks people are laughing at him or excluding him.
He definitely has a silly side!
Five was a tough year as Briggs struggled with emotional regulation while navigating the life changes brought about by quarantine, pandemic life, and starting Kindergarten. He continues to grow and learn and mature in many areas. In the midst of the tears and tantrums, Briggs continues to sprinkle his energy and love, sweetness and snuggles, creativity and fun into our daily lives. We love our boy so much and can't wait to see how he flourishes in this next year.
My big 6 year old!
