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.