A Fifth Birthday P"ARRRRRR"TY!

May 10!

Sometime in the wee morning hours of May 10, Jackson silently crawled in my bed and stole all of my cover. Warmed only by cats, I woke up shivering and immediately woke him to sing "Happy Birthday"! He smiled sleepily, blinked a few times and sat up and started rubbing his arms. Then he asked, "Why is it the same?!". I was confused and then he frowned at me and said "WHERE ARE MY ARM HAIRS??  WHY DO I SOUND THE SAME?!"  Apparently, he expected to go through early puberty in the night and wake up with man-hair on his arms and with a deep voice. I had to explain to him that it doesn't work that way and his body wasn't quite ready for man-hair and a deep voice and that Mommy is absolutely in no way prepared for him to have man-hair and droppage of the dangly bits. I promised him that one day he would man-hair to his heart's content and he was pleased with that notion.

We took him to Ihop for breakfast and he ate like a champ! (Is it bad that I always want to write it like "iHop"? Darn you, Steve Jobs.)  He told everyone that it was his birthday and he wore his super-awesome birthday crown. He spent the day outside playing and he even took a good nap! That night, we had fun making some pirate birthday art with his handprint.

Oh, and I had to add the awesome photo of him sleeping with his hand in the soup bowl. It is a fitting last photo of him as a 4 year old.

The day of his party did NOT dawn bright and clear. It dawned rainy, drizzly and cold. I don't know if you know me, dear reader, but please know this:

THE RAIN DOES NOT DARE FALL ON MY BABY'S BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!!!

This is a well-known fact. I put a lot of planning and time and thought into his parties and rain is unacceptable, so I wasn't worried. I knew it was going to clear up....and it did! We had the best time! The weather was sunny and cool with no humidity. Over thirty people were there to celebrate my baby's day and I couldn't be happier. He had the absolute best time in the whole world. I am so thankful to each and every person who came. The kids got dirty and played all over the house and backyard and even the adults got to play dress-up!