Half a Decade of Parenting

Yesterday was Nico’s 5th birthday, which just seems completely surreal. How have we kept that kid alive for half a decade? Especially since he has the ability to make a person want to wring his stubborn little neck sometimes. Yesterday, though, was perfect.

We asked a couple weeks ago what he wanted to do on his birthday, and he said he wanted to eat crab legs. We said, “No party? You don’t want to go somewhere special?” He said, “No, I just want to eat crab legs and then have some cake and open presents.” This is the second year in a row he’s requested crab legs for his birthday, by the way, and last year we talked him out of it, thinking he’d prefer something more age appropriate (you know, for a four year old). This year, we decided to indulge him and picked up a couple pounds of crab legs, corn and potatoes to cook up. The kid knows what he wants, and even if we think that what he wants to do for his birthday is strange, what better day to indulge a kid, right?

Anyway, after Nico and his father dropped Linc off at school, they hit the bookstore, then the pet store (to look at lizards and fish), and then the toy store. I left work early and got to pick Linc up from school (which he was not a big fan of, I’ve got to say, though I was thoroughly excited to get to do it), and we all had lunch together. Then, Nico and his father went to a 3-D movie, a new favorite treat for them that they rarely have a chance to enjoy with Linc at the crawly, loud babbly stage that doesn’t suit polite movie going.

When the big boys got back from the movie, Nico and I set to work decorating his cupcakes. He had, of course, requested the world's most difficult theme: wizard cupcakes. Right, kid, because I have a PhD in frosting design. At any rate, we made the most of it and managed to squeeze out Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, Ginny, and (since we only had one cupcake left and he wanted to do them both) a Fred/George hybrid. I realize that none of this makes any sense unless you are a dork, but I figure there are enough of you out there to include it.  You know who you are.  If you are related to Sam, you can pretty much assume I am talking to you.

Before dinner, we had a surprise visit and gift drop off from some great friends, and then we tucked into crab with butter and corn with butter and potatoes with butter and sausage with tortillas. By the end of the meal, we could hear our arteries screaming. It was that good.

Finally, it was on to presents. Legos, Buzz Lightyear, and drumroll please... a bike! We couldn't believe how well he did on his first ride. Even after a hard fall, he made it up the block and back home with only occasional help. We loaded up on sugar in pure cupcake form after that workout, and once our blood sugar was back up in the stratosphere, Nico played with his new Buzz Lightyear. The best moment of the day, in my opinion, was looking over to see Nico at the table bent over Buzz. We started to ask him what he was doing when we realized he had gotten a marker and was writing NICO in sloppy five year old handwriting on the bottom of Buzz's foot. Too darn cute.