On November 16,
2014, my baby boy had officially been alive for half of a decade. I'm not
really sure how that is possible. On one hand, it seems like it just yesterday
that I held him in my arms for the first time in the hospital in Stamford Connecticut.
On the other hand, I can hardly remember my life before he made me a mommy.
Like his Mommy, he's sensitive, empathetic and plays with toys by organizing
them neatly based on some sort of differentiating characteristic. Like his
Daddy, he is starting to love video games and has a startling knack for knowing
the right answer, even when he may not be sure how he got there. A perfect
combination - it is so fun to watch him become the little man he's meant to be!
Grandma and Grandpa came
in for the weekend to celebrate with us and attend the big 5th birthday party.
The party was on Saturday afternoon, so we had plenty of time to have a little
fun before the big event. Unfortunately, Grandpa took all of the pictures this
weekend, so we don't have a single picture of him. I promise, he was there!
Tommy is so excited that
Jack is finally old enough to play computer games with him - and that he seems
to share that love with his Daddy. Around his birthday, Minecraft was the game
of choice. Tommy set up a monitor and keyboard on the floor under his desk, and
they played together:
Meanwhile, Grandma and
Olivia created some beautiful artwork:
The party was at Main
Event, a bowling alley and arcade near our house from 1-3pm. I had to take a
picture of Jack in front of the list of the birthday kids' names. It reminds me
of all of the pictures my mom took of me in front of the sign at Sun 'N Fun in
Ponca City.
We invited a little over
20 kids from his class at school, soccer team, and cousins. Based on RSVP rates
in the past, I thought I would be lucky if 15 kids came. I guess we must have
caught everyone on a slow weekend because virtually everyone we invited came,
and a few brought siblings. I think we ended up with 22 or 23 kids. Needless to
say, 23 kids age 5 and under trying to bowl in 4 different lanes is pretty much
pandemonium - crazy, but in a fun way! Here are Jack, cousin Lincoln, and
friend Witt from school trying to set up the scoreboard.
They made it really easy
for the little kids to play. They had bumpers that rose out of the gutters, and
this cute dinosaur ramp to roll the ball down. Birthday boy went first:
Emma:
A little glimpse at the
craziness:
After bowling, everyone
lined up to head back to the party room for pizza and cake:
Emilina is one of Jack's
oldest friends from Kids R Kids:
After pizza it was time
for cake. I really loved the Ninja Turtle cookie cake!
After eating, each
kid got a game card to play a few of the arcade games:
Somehow, we managed to
line everyone up for a group picture. Starting at the top left: soccer buddies
Cade, Aiden, Tristan, and Jayden, Jordan, Carter, Jack, Truman and Julie.
Bottom row from left: Tiger, Lincoln holding baby Lucy, Ethan, Emma, Emilina, Olivia,
Tag, best buddy Cooper, Witt and Carver. Whew - what a group!
Obviously, he was
spoiled rotten! Lots of Ninja Turtles, Legos and Minecraft toys. We waited
until we got home to open the presents:
Jack's actual birthday was Sunday. I
had to leave for a business trip to New York, but I made sure to take a few
pictures before I left:
Looking back at these, I had him
posing all over the place in the house. I'm amazed he's still smiling because I
think he was pretty sick of the pictures at this point.
We had his 5th birthday checkup when
I got back from my trip. Unlike the 4th birthday, no shots at the 5th - hooray!
He continues to be super skinny and on the short side, but that's not
unexpected, I guess. Here are his stats:
- Height - 41 1/2 inches - 25th percentile
- Weight - 35 pounds, 2 ounces - 10th percentile
- BMI (first time we've gotten that measurement) - 14.4 -
20th percentile
I can't believe I've been a Mommy
for half a decade. Happy Birthday, Thomas Jackson - how did I get so lucky?!?
1 comment:
Lucky indeed! We are all lucky that Jack is a part of our lives. It is so wonderful that occasionally we get to share in the fun. Enjoyed the party. I can't believe he is five already either. It sure went fast. Hope the next 5 years are just as fun. Love, Mommie Dearest
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