Even More Max

We don't just do birthday "days" around here- we do birthday weekends! Max's big weekend continued into Sunday with a family dinner, complete with chicken nuggets. My mom really knows how to get a kid's attention. He got a few more presents from Grandma, Papa, and Grandma-Great. It was another great day.

It also cleared up long enough yesterday to take his birthday pictures. I know, as a mother, I'm prejudiced, but that kid is such a stud. I love those big blue eyes and that blond hair. Of course, the photo shoot ended up at the park with some major silliness. Life with boys is never dull.

Max's 6th Birthday

Today we celebrated our Monster Max, our lovable, huggable, inquisitive, ultra-intelligent first born boy. We started today off in a huge rush. It was utter craziness. Jack slept in (go him!), so by the time Darreck and I got up, the big boys had made a mess of the house. Then my parents called saying their big freezer died, so they needed to bring over meat to put in our freezer. It got us out of bed, but it wasn't exactly a gentle, calm way to start the day. Amid the morning frenzy, we went to Sam's Club to pick up Max's Star Wars cupcakes then take Max and Luke for a little pre-birthday-bash haircut. Following the salon, we headed over to McDonald's for lunch, per Max's request. McDonald's was loud and the food was gross, but it made him happy. That's what matters. However, Luke got in huge trouble for refusing to leave the play place, and we were very, very excited to get home and get the little boys to bed.

After a short nap, we headed out to Max's party at the bowing alley. He hemmed and hawed for a few weeks over where to have his party, and the bowling idea came straight out of left field. Max hadn't ever been bowling before, but he was adamant he wanted a bowling party. Go figure. It actually ended up being a great idea, and he had a blast with his friends. The kids bowled for an hour, we sang Happy Birthday, ate cupcakes, and opened presents. Simple, to the point, and perfect for a party planning challenged mom like me. I want the boys to have memorable parties, heaven help me, I do. But, I'm not the most apt hostess in the world. Bowling parties are just about my speed.

Max did an admirable job bowling for his first time, but Luke was pretty funny, too. He used a ball rolling contraption because, at the tender age of 2, he's too little to push the ball. With the help of his ball roller, he out-bowled the rest of the little kids. Luckily, Max and Luke were in different lanes, so Max was too distracted to notice. Works for me.

We followed up bowing with dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. Huge props to my parents here for suggesting a restaurant. Max originally said he wanted either ramen or homemade turkey sandwiches for his birthday dinner. If nothing else, the kid is a cheap date. We all had much more fun with Grandma's suggestion, especially Jack, who downed almost an entire order of french fries on his own. Not my finest parenting moment, but at that point in the day I would have done just about anything for a content baby.

We returned home with enough time for Max to open his presents from us- a new tennis racket, two books, and a seed planting kit. We tried for months to get him to settle on what he wanted, and his only reply each time was, "seeds." What kind of little kid wants seeds for his birthday? Seriously. We obliged, and he was excited, both for the seeds and the Easy Bake Oven from my parents. He's obsessed with this Easy Bake Oven, but we spent the rest of his birthday fighting with the dumb thing. Turns out that Easy Bake Ovens aren't really so easy.

Above all else, Max was incredibly well behaved and gentlemanly on his birthday. We've been so impressed with him this year. He's had such a positive attitude and inquisitive mind. He's taken off learning to read and play piano, and he's also developed a gift for monologues. That kid can TALK! He cracks us up daily, and he's a diligent and doting (if not slightly bossy) big brother. We couldn't ask for a better first born, and he certainly deserved all the celebration he got today.

Baseball Fever

We're knee deep in baseball season this year, but it hasn't gone completely as expected. While Max is playing awesome, he's been miserable this year, and we've had more than one epic meltdown over having to go to practice or a game. In fact, he plopped his little butt down in the outfield and refused to play the entire first game. It's gone better the past few weeks, but it's kind of sad to see, especially since he's such a little stud. At yesterday's game, he hit three great hits, two pop flies and a line drive, on his first pitch each at bat. He also did some good fielding, and it was fun to watch.

He's agreed to stick out this year, but we'll go back into negotiations next spring. I guess I should enjoy it while it lasts.

Luke's Surgery Recap

I feel like we're creeping, ever so slowly, towards summer. I'm so burnt out that it's not even funny. The boys are lucky if they're fed and reasonably clean, but this week we upped the stress level slightly as Luke went into have new ear tubes placed and his adenoids removed. We were hopeful at his last ENT appointment that he would be done with tubes, but his ears are still filling with fluid as well as being full of wax. In fact, the surgeon actually said that the amount of snot and wax that came out of that poor kid was disgusting. You know you have a problem when you can gross out a surgeon!

Anyways, I took him in for a 6:30 check-in time Monday morning. Since appointments run from youngest to oldest, he got the first spot of the day. He was taken back to surgery by 7:30, back in my arms by 8:30, and we left to go home at 9:30. Since this was a slightly larger surgery than last year, he had to have an IV and breathing tube this time around, and he had a really hard time waking up from the anesthesia. No matter what I did, he refused to open his eyes the first few hours after surgery. He was awake and more or less coherent, but those eyes stayed stubbornly shut, not that I blame him.

We got his prescription, went for a drive so he could rest, then put him down for a nap at home. By the time he woke up from his nap, you would swear nothing had ever happened. The kid is a model patient. He was up, running around, and munching on chips all within a few hours. He amazes me. Actually, the funny part is Jack. He had a cold all week, and he way out-whined Luke. I feel almost as if Luke didn't get the babying he deserved because they baby was well... acting like a baby. Jack was a way bigger handful than Luke.

Now, we have to pay for all of this. That is never the fun part. However, we're glad that Luke is doing well, and we're hopeful that this is the last of the surgeries for a long while. Fingers crossed.