Celebrating 5

We started Noah's birthday celebration the night before his birthday. He'd requested Justin's spaghetti for his birthday dinner but, unfortunately, Justin was working on Noah's birthday so we started the party early. We had a delicious dinner (for the record, this is the very first time that one of my kids requested anything other than pizza or mac 'n' cheese for their birthday dinner - hooray). We then let Noah open one gift. Aunt Missy had sent him a box about a week ago and Noah had been staring at it longingly ever since.

He was even more excited to discover what was inside...

Three new pair of soft pants! My boys have an obsession with "soft pants". Soft pants: pants with an elastic waist band; typically made out of some sort of cotton or fleece or some other 'soft' fabric. He wanted to immediately change out of his "hard pants" (a.k.a. - jeans or anything that has a button and is made of stiffer fabric). I told him that he could wear one pair of his new soft pants on his actual birthday. He then spend a weirdly long period of time deciding which pair he'd wear on his birthday.

On his actual birthday Noah bounced downstairs to where I was serving breakfast to Clayton and Josie. He was all excitement and energy.
"Mom, I had to be VERY careful getting out of my bed today. I had to slide out without sitting up."
"Why?" (I was pretty confused)
"Because I'm 5 now and I didn't want to hit my head on the ceiling."
I had to laugh. He's at that magical age where he thinks that just because he officially turned a year older that things have changed overnight. He thinks he's taller, faster, smarter, and can do things better than he could when he was four (a.k.a. - yesterday). All day he was asking Clayton to wrestle with him because he just knew he'd be a better wrestler now that he's 5. I love how kids' minds work!
Keeping with birthday tradition (because I'm all about tradition), he had muffins with a candle in it - because who doesn't love blowing out candles first thing on your birthday - and cheddar cheese eggs served on the birthday plate.

After breakfast he got to open one gift. Of course it was the birthday shirt! I've been experimenting the past few birthdays with bleach. You put bleach in a spray bottle and just spray the design you're going for on a shirt. It's super fast and easy. I definitely need more practice with it (the last two just haven't been my favorites) but I like the almost tie-dyed look and I think with a little more practice I could really love these. The kids love them though and that's what matters.

He got ready for the day in record time. Green soft pants and his birthday shirt. He loved his outfit.

When we dropped Noah off at school on his birthday he made me watch as he got out of the car. He did a spinning jump out of the car.
"Mom, did you see that?"
"Yes."
"I couldn't do that when I was four but now that I'm five I can do it!"
Silly kid. After we dropped Noah off at school, the girls and I hurried home to get the cupcakes ready. We showed back up at Noah's school to share the cupcakes with his class. He was wearing the birthday crown and his teacher had been making a big deal about him all morning (I love pre-school). He was so excited.

We shared our cupcakes with his class. I love this picture. I don't know what that face is that he's making but it's pretty funny.

After school I told him I had a surprise lunch planned for him. We ended up at the hospital to eat lunch with Justin. Noah was so excited. He was even more excited when Justin met us with a present for Noah to open! Cars 2! Noah couldn't wait to watch it.

At the hospital I sat with the girls while Justin and Noah went to go get our food. When they came back, Justin said, "Wow, Noah has ALL the energy today!" It was so true. Noah is pretty rambunctious on a normal day and to magnify that makes him almost impossible to keep up with.

When we got home after lunch, he wanted to watch the movie but I knew that Clayton would want to see it also so I made him wait. He asked me if I would download a new game on the iPad for his birthday. I caved. I downloaded, "cut the string". It's a Christmas game and it's super fun and addiciting (and free - I love apps like that).

Right before Clayton got home I told Noah he could choose another present to open. He had been eyeing this large wrapped gift all morning and I was sure he would choose that one to open. It contained a really cool Batmobile and I knew he'd have a good time playing with it while Clayton did his homework. However, before I could even turn around, he'd grabbed the smaller present and torn it open. It was an Angry Birds shirt. He was really excited about it (which I knew he would be), but I was kind of bummed that he hadn't chosen the present that he could actually get instant gratification from.

After Clayton had finished his homework I told the boys they could (finally) watch Cars 2. I didn't watch it with them but they both said they liked it (which is good because I haven't really heard good things). Then it was time for dinner (leftover spaghetti) followed by a visit from Jared, Kerstin, and the kids.

They came for cake and ice cream. Before we dug into the cake, Noah opened the last of his gifts. He got Bionicles from Landon and his brand new Batmobile. I think after that it was a little bit of torture to make him eat cake before he could play with his new toys but that's the kind of mom I am.
His cake wasn't fancy (it never is), but it said his name, was the flavor he'd requested (vanilla with chocolate frosting), and had five candles. I don't think he'd have been any more pleased with a super fancy one.

Blowing out all those candles required his "very powerful blow" (he tells us he has a very powerful blow quite often, usually when he's served something hot for dinner). That last candle was a tricky one though. It took him a while but he eventually got it (and after that I made a mental note to eat from the other side of the cake).

Once cake had been served and eaten, the kids got to play with the new toys that Noah got. After our cousins went home, I let the boys stay up a little late playing with toys and the new iPad app. On his way to bed Noah told me with a sigh, "I wish it could be my birthday every day."

I'm glad he had such a fun day. I don't really do fancy big parties or make elaborate cakes or buy a ton of presents like some moms do (I think it's awesome when mom's can do that I just don't see where they find the time or energy) but we try to make birthday's special. I love that on their birthdays my kids feel like the most important person in the world. I could tell that Noah definitely felt like the king on his birthday. That's how it should be. I love my Noah and I'm so glad that he's mine.

Happy birthday Pootie! I can't believe you're 5!