Saturday, April 12, 2014

Birthday Celebrations for Jack

Birthdays are more like birthweeks in our house. Here's how we spent the week celebrating Jackson's birthday:

Monday: I baked a cookie cake to take to Jackson's preschool on Tuesday. Jackson picked out the dye color for the frosting and decorated the cookie with sprinkles.

Tuesday: Per Jack's request, I provided pizza and cookie cake for lunch at school. I emailed the parents ahead of time so they knew not to pack a lunch. There are only 8 kids in his class and I know them all by name because I hear about them constantly. His peers were more excited about touching the babies than eating pizza. When it came time for the kids to sing "Happy Birthday", Jackson said, "Wait. I not have candles." I blushed a bit and informed him that there were no candles. Oops.


Wednesday: The birthday boy awoke early as usual. My goal for the day was to let him choose anything he wanted for food and entertainment, and to sing "Happy Birthday" as often as possible. His breakfast request was strawberries and "special waffles" (aka cinnamon rolls cooked in a waffle iron). We stayed home since Maddie had her PT at 11. Jackson found great entertainment from watching workers reshingle the roof on our next-door neighbors house. We spent two hours outside before he came back in and zoned out in front of the TV.

After lunch, I took Jackson to the park and Sweet Frog for a special treat. I honestly don't know what happened, but we needed an exorcist for Jackson at Sweet Frog. His meltdown included laying on the floor in front of the register kicking and screaming. I asked him if we needed to leave and he said, "No. I calm down now." Gee, thanks! Sure enough, he returned to his normal (albeit tired) self while we indulged in our frozen yogurt. We even managed to sneak in a quick trip to Target afterwards before he crashed in the car.



Thursday: Our morning was busy with the Easter egg hunt and picnic at school, followed by an afternoon at the park. While the babies napped, Jackson and I went through over a thousand pictures on my computer and talked about what a big boy he was now. I later narrowed down my favorite pictures of Jackson to 75, then uploaded them to Walgreens to print.

Friday: I picked up and sorted our pictures. I've made a large, framed collage for the previous two years. This year I decided to display the photos throughout the house. I put all the pictures related to potty-training on the bathroom door, close-ups beside the hallway mirror, messes with food were displayed in the kitchen, etc.

I stayed up until 1 a.m. baking Jackson's birthday cake.  It turned out well, but a Batman cake from WalMart would have been just as well-received and given me the opportunity to sleep.

Saturday: Party time!  Nearly twenty family members filled our home and yard. Jackson asked for pizza, so we had salad and pizza for the birthday boy. The weather was perfect which meant the kids got to take advantage of the hula hoops and balloons my mother-in-law brought over. Jackson didn't understand the concept of waiting to open all of his presents at the same time. He opened almost every present as our family members arrived. Silly boy! After everyone left and we cleaned the house, Jackson spent the evening wearing his new Batman pajamas, riding his new Batman tricycle


I'm overjoyed that Jackson was able to feel so special this week from his teachers, classmates, and family members. 

1 comment:

  1. It was an awesome day! He is a very special little boy!

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