happy birthday, wesley

A handsome little dude turned 7 last month. WOW! SEVEN!

We started celebrating BEFORE his May 26 birthday.... we took a trip to Elevated Sportz, our local trampoline park. The kids were in heaven. Here's a Wesley video, and a Laurel one for added cuteness:

I love those kids. They had a blast.

Monday (Memorial Day) was a trip to Brackett's Landing, our new favorite beach which is right by a set of railroad tracks and a railroad crossing. Wesley's crazy about railroad crossings. It was kinda cold, but then it got better. Later Monday night Shane took Wesley out to eat at Red Robin where he had macaroni and cheese and they sang to him. He enjoyed it. We've really tried to explain the concept of "celebrating" your birthday on a day that's not your birthday ;-)

Tuesday morning we started the day with balloons in his room. Laurel and I bought them four days earlier and hid them in a closet, haha. I accidentally only bought six!! HA!

Breakfast was chocolate oatmeal, one of his favorites. Oatmeal with a teeny bit of chocolate chips, baby marshmallows, and crushed graham cracker. So yum. "S'mores" oatmeal, actually.

I went to have lunch with him, it was just wonderful! I brought cupcakes to share with his class. He got to choose, and he chose red, white, and blue Memorial Day cupcakes. I didn't take a picture!

I'm not sure why, but every kid in the lunchroom got a popsicle that day! One of the teachers said that sometimes they just have these surprises for the kids. Laurel and Wesley were excited. I got one, too :-)

Here is Laurel enjoying her blue cupcake. I got a red one :-)

Our big project that afternoon was frosting the cake! She and I worked on it when Wesley was at school.

As if you couldn't tell, he's really into railroad crossings right now.

Dinner was Little Caesar's pizza and breaksticks. A favorite.

So. At breakfast, Wesley says to me, "when are all my friends coming over?" I'm like, gulp, I didn't plan a party. We went to the trampoline park and the beach, THOSE were the big activities. Anyway, I posted messages in two Facebook groups, my mommy friends and our Church friends, and I said "hey! cake & ice cream at 6:30!" And BOOM! Like 10 friends came, with their siblings and parents! It was wonderful! I cleaned for like 45 minutes tops, I needed zero prep work (I was making the cake anyway!), and then all the cake was gone! One piece left that I put in his lunch the next day. I totally recommend the last-minute cake & ice cream party.

A couple friends brought gifts; how thoughtful. I told them it wasn't necessary, but they really made Wesley feel special. I invited Shane over and it was nice for Wesley to have him here. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of the gifts! He got some mini railroad crossings for his train tracks (have I mentioned how he is OBSESSED with railroad crossings?), some books, kinetic sand from Shane, Legos, and all kinds of good stuff. He was a bit more aloof with his gifts than he has been before, like a Christmas, you know, opening them, tossing them aside, opening the next one, etc. That was hard to see; I guess he's just growing up into every other little kid out there. I'll have to work on that. Gratitude and such.

I can already see that he's growing up in some big ways. The biggest one:  letting go of Big Airplane. He hasn't been hanging out with Big Airplane nearly as much as usual. Big Airplane has a "bed" and it's been in its "bed" for probably 2 weeks. I never see him with it anymore, he doesn't sleep with it. He left it here the last time he stayed the night at Shane's. Wow.

In some ways he's maturing; he's doing well in school. He has progressed out of the "special ed" services he was receiving for his language delay and fine motor delay. His teacher is really thrilled with his progress. He just moved SLOWLY when doing work, but he CAN do it. I'm nervous going forward still, because if you think of kids in quadrants, the highest quadrant are the smartie pants kids that no one worries about, the 2nd quadrant kids are still "above average" so they skirt by, and the bottom quadrant kids are the ones super behind so they get plenty of help. Wesley's in that no-man's-land third quadrants... not delayed enough to be on everyone's radar, but still worrisome. Yikes. It give me pause, continues to be an opportunity and challenge for me, with his education.We're still in a bunch of therapies and I'm still worried about ADHD/autism kinda things, but overall he's progressed so much and I'm hopeful it'll continue.

Anyway, there's always going to be more to say on that. For now, our annual quiz!

1. What is your favorite color?  blue

2. What is your favorite toy?  trains

3. What is your favorite fruit?  pears

4. What is your favorite tv show?  Cars (the movie)

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  Chickin in a Biscuit
6. What is your favorite outfit?  Spider pajamas

7. What is your favorite game?  Soccer
8. What is your favorite snack?  Granola bars

9. What is your favorite animal?  Cat

10. What is your favorite song?   Bon Jovi, Livin on a Prayer

11. What is your favorite book?  Trains
12. Who is your best friend?  Katy
13. What is your favorite cereal?  I don’t have a favorite cereal
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?  Play with Laurel
15. What is your favorite drink?  Juice
16. What is your favorite holiday?  Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?  My trains book  

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  Chocolate oatmeal

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?  A granola bar
20. What do you want to be when you grow up?  A daddy

I love you Wesley!!!! I love the little freckles on his face and how his eyes twinkle when he's being silly. I love to talk to him about things he's thinking. I love to hear his idea. I LOVE listening to him read! He's learning so much. I love it when he surprises me.

Happy birthday, my son.