The Birthday Boy and His No Party Clause

High-energy. Spirited. Emotional. These are just some of the words one might use to describe this child of ours. I do believe that a birthday brings out all of his personality traits and magnifies them exponentially. I am usually the entertainment coordinator around here and have tried to keep the festivities 'fair' when celebrating major milestones. It has taken me 4 years to figure out that what is fun for the firstborn is a nightmare for the middle child. I think in an effort to make his feelings known, Andy declared this birthday would be "no friends and no parties". Say what? I didn't put up a fight since he was cutting my workload considerably, but part of me was very afraid that he would be disappointed with the lack of birthday hoopla.
I think I was mistaken. He looks like he is having a pretty good time. We celebrated a little early last weekend but took his no party request very seriously and only served brownies, decorated with 1 tea light. It was a very un-birthday thing to do. He totally melted my heart with his wish: closing his eyes he declared, "I love Luke!" So sweet.
I saved 2 presents for today because it is his real birthday. Since we didn't have to wait for a party or any friends to attend, he opened his gifts at 6:03 am. It was lovely.
Grandma made her legendary chocolate cake and all he wanted to do was play in the frosting with his Lightning McQueen toys. Don't you love the crown? They made a big fuss over him at pre-school today (he didn't complain about that one bit) and the crown was his to keep.
Just prior to blowing out the candles he yelled, "I love my toys! I love my family!" Glad he has his priorities straight. Although some days he tests me at every turn and I was more than ready to put him to bed tonight, I am grateful for his adorable smile and infectious laughter that brings such joy to our family. Happy birthday, dear Andy.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Lots of changes here at the hive...Andy started 5-day pre-school last week. I was so eager for him to go because he is high energy and definitely behaved like a bored child. But I must confess I miss him. Sometimes. Eli and I are having a good time playing together with less interuptions and I enjoy going places with just one child again.

Clearly Andy is miserable in his new endeavors. Just kidding. He comes home every day full of enthusiasm for all that he is learning and the new friends he gets to play with. Yesterday he took in a bird's nest that Steve found in the yard and apparently that was a big hit.

Luke decided to give soccer another try after a miserable experience back in Maple Valley. We are trying Upward soccer this season, which is much more about character development and having fun and a little less emphasis on competition. His coaches are wonderful and his teammates are great. One drawback is team size, with only 5 kids on the field I think exhaustion sets in quickly.

Luke was pretty stoked that his uniform is similar to the Seattle Sounders. He is equally thrilled about the water bottle. It goes everywhere with him.

Sorry, no pictures of the little mister today. He started walking totally independently on Saturday and rarely remains still. He be-bops around the house laughing and saying, "WHOA!"

Funny stuff.

The All-Boy 48 Hour Adventure

Andy and Luke have longed for another camping trip. They started asking about the next camping trip about an hour after we got home from our beach vacation. I think that means they like to camp. Recently they started hounding Steve to stay not one but TWO nights at the camp site. And they wanted to try a boat ride. Poor Steve, you all know how he hates to be outdoors. And drive a boat. Kidding. It was not a hard sell at all. He eagerly booked the camp site and the boat rental. They piled into the car on Friday afternoon with all of their gear and zipped off, leaving Eli and I to wander the house looking for somebody to play with. Here they are, posing in their life jackets on the boat.

Andy isn't quite ready to make new friends at the camp site but he must have sweet talked somebody into sharing their cars with him. As far as Andy is concerned, it's not a party until Mack and his trailer show up.

Luke immediately joined the other boys camping nearby. I have no idea who these fellas are, but Steve tells me they became buddies for the weekend and spent quality time doing what boys do.

Every boy's dream: lighting something on fire.

Apparently dessert involves a walk to the store for something loaded with sugar. And blue dye. The love affair with the push pop begins.

They had a great time and came home tired and smelly. It sounds like the boat ride was the highlight of the weekend, as each boy got to take a turn 'driving'. I'm not sorry I missed that part.

Eli and I had a good time playing with everybody else's stuff and embarking on his favorite adventure: strolling through the neighborhood and squealing "hi!" to everyone we meet.