Birthdaygarten

Baxter turned 5 today! He had a wonderful day, beginning with his first present at breakfast...I wrapped up his favorite cinnamon raisin bread from Trader Joe's! He's been begging for it for days, asking us to go the grocery store each night when he goes to bed so he can have some raisin bread for breakfast! This was a great way to start his birthday.

At school, they celebrated by making cards for Baxter. Some of the kids (mostly girls) drew 2 or 3 cards for him, which his teacher said is very unusual. Apparently Baxter is quite a favorite with the girls! (This is true - walking across the school yard with him is like walking with a rock star: "Hello, Baxter!", "Hey, Baxter!", "Baxter, chase us!" all the girls call. "Who's that?", I ask. "I don't know!" he shrugs, after giving them back a big cheerful wave and hello.) Every single one of his classmates drew a dinosaur for him on his cards - I guess they really know him well.

I went in after lunch and stayed until the end of the day, which he was very excited about. Last night he chose a book for me to read when I came in - Jane Yolen's "In the Green, Green House" about the rainforest. I brought cookies, which the kids ate outside at the picnic table (it was about 70 and sunny here today - hooray!). The kids all sang songs to him, while he turned away or hid his eyes - a rare moment of embarrassment. Then we went back inside and Mrs. Baird showed him all of the cards the kids made him, and they played games of his choosing until the bell rang. It was very cute and he had a great time.

It was a great birthday for Baxter! A special day with Nana and Papa on Saturday, a birthday party with lots of his friends at a playground on Sunday, and then the school celebration and our gifts tonight. Enough chocolate cake to make any child happy. What more could he ask for?

It sure was fun, but I know what we'll be asking for...a good night's sleep and a few quiet, normal days!!

I Survived Halloween 2005

Phew. We made it. It was a fun Halloween, if a bit exhausting.

Baxter was up at the crack of dawn and had been in 3 time outs by 7:30 AM. I wish I was kidding. He had a great day at school, although I guess he was a bit excited there, as well. "He has those gorgeous green eyes," said his teacher, "and I've never seen them look more green and sparkly than they do today!" I went in at noon to help get the room ready for a little party and help the kids get into their costumes for the Halloween Parade. We sat outside in the hot midday sun and watched as each grade level marched by, showing off their Halloween attire. Baxter gradually removed each piece of his costume, he was so sweaty, and he looked totally exhausted. My parents came for the parade and for a little visit and some cupcakes back at the house afterward, which was great. I managed to get Baxter down for a good afternoon nap before trick-or-treating, and that was the key to our evening success!

We got together with some neighborhood friends and went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood for a couple of hours. The kids had a wonderful time, hardly caring if anyone was home or not. It seemed that 90% of the fun was getting to run up and down strangers' staircases, which these city kids aren't allowed to do the rest of the year. When they got to a house where no one answered, they screamed, "Haunted House!! Run!!" and took off for the next one. Adorable.

I discovered that Baxter's friend Ella has very, very smart parents. They convinced their daughters to trade in some of their Halloween candy for new books. Tonight we sat down with Baxter and looked on hungrily as he willingly cut his candy stash in half - he's trading in half of his sizable candy supply for a new dinosaur toy and book. Now, if you didn't already know that we're geeks, here's the proof. How much crap will we take for this from the kids someday? "Our parents made us trade in candy for books!"

Baxter woke up this morning with a bad case of the Halloween Blues. "Is it November now?" he asked glumly, cuddled up with me in bed at 6 AM. I tried to jolly him out of his mood by reminding him that now it's his birthday month, but apparently his birthday doesn't hold a candle to Halloween anymore. He cheered up later, as he began to plan for next year's costume: "I'm going to be a Velociraptor next year! Boy, it'll be hard to find those shoes with the two spike toes! And the mask with the eye holes on the sides of the head!" I groaned inwardly and prayed that he'll have a new interest by this time next year.