So I invited a couple friends and we went down to Chuck E. Cheese while Ryan and Hayden ran some errands. Once we were ready, Ryan blindfolded Hayden with a knit cap and drove him to CEC. Once they were in the doors, Ryan took off the hat—but the friends were still hiding.

When Hayden passed the kid check, finally we let the other kids run out and shout . . . okay, so they didn’t actually say “Surprise” but they ran out as a surprise.

Hayden . . . wasn’t that surprised? After about 10 seconds, he realized who these people were and was very excited. But it seemed like the biggest surprise was when he saw me with the camera—before he saw his friends.

Ah well. A surprise visit to Chuck E. Cheese makes any six-year-old’s birthday, right?

Have you ever thrown a surprise party for a little kid? How did it go?

Celebrating with homemade angel food cake and strawberries. (We had angel food and strawberries for Rebecca’s first birthday, too, I believe)

Opening presents

Fun little wheely animals!

She knows the good stuff! And yes, that is a wrapped candy bar bite in her mouth.

Cute outfits! (Note the candy still in her hand.)

My personal favorite: a little car & dashboard. (I wanted a toy like this for my second or third Christmas. Apparently I could find the toy in the catalogue on command and point to it to tell my parents and anyone else who asked what I wanted.) (Oh, and I got it. It was awesome.)

Happy birthday girl! (With cake in her hair)

I keep wondering if she’s crazy small or if I just don’t really remember the other kids at this age. I mean, she can walk across rooms and my other kids couldn’t at this age. So finally I dug out some pictures and stats of the kids on their birthdays—she’s totally normal. (Take THAT, grocery-store-guy who asked if she was two or three months old!)

Because today is mine!

(And to be honest, this is why I wanted to do the A to Z challenge. It’s just too perfect.)

I haven’t opened my birthday presents yet, but I have a couple for you: yesterday’s Aquaphor giveaway (entry form fixed now!) and the beginning of my latest fiction WIP, Façade!

Photo by Chris in Plymouth

The first thing he got for his birthday wasn’t really planned, but I had to make a quick run and happened to ask if he was old enough, and he was:

His first library card!

He insisted on checking out my books for me. I let him enter his own PIN on the touchscreen at checkout. He was very happy. (He was also quite proud of the map the librarian gave him. I was quite proud that he printed his first name himself.)

He got the Pillow Pet (or Piwpet, as Rebecca calls hers) he’s been wanting since before Christmas, and the “mo-trol” car (remote control) he’s been wanting since he played with his cousin’s at New Year’s, as well as some awesome building toys that he’s already hard at work with. (He’s built a two foot tall crane on the dining room table!)

Also fun: Aunt Jasmine is visiting!

In the last week, Rebecca turned 2.5, Ryan turned… another year older, Hayden turned 5 and Rachel will be 8 months tomorrow. Me, I’m just a loser .

When Rebecca got up, he told me to “Tell her what I have now.”

I correctly guessed he wanted me to tell her he was four. Hayden came to stand over her, and Rebecca grunted at him to go away, using her sign for “all done/all gone/no more.”

“See wants my fee years old back,” Hayden explained.

Birthday boy needs a haircut

Just a few of the inventions Hayden claims are in “his car” (the red Honda we haven’t driven in years, but still have):

• wings, so it can fly to Nana
• guns (that go “pew! pew!”)
• a machine that makes purple monkeys with sad faces and happy faces
• two ovens
• [added later: bathtub]

Some words Hayden puts his personal spin on:
woo — you
wuze — use
Werbecca (still)
foon — spoon (and all other words beginning with sp-, sm-, etc.)
[added later: DVDV ("divvydivvy") — DVD]

Words Rebecca can say (at 18 months, in the order she learned them as best I can remember):
des/dah (yes/yeah)
dat (that)
Dada (this was a long time before the next ones)
Mama, Nana, Papa
Beebe (baby, sometimes Pinky)
Deesa (Jesus)
oooh (no)
oosh (shoes or juice)
[added later: mmmmooowa (more, which came after Dada), boo' (book), ba'/bap (bag), ba' (ball), hi, bye]

Words Rebecca can sign:
more
shoes
cookie/treat
Jesus
milk
apple
cheese
Pinky
Hayden
baby
cracker
clean
no more/all gone/all done/FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY STOP CHANGING MY DIAPER!!!!
[added later: hi, byebye, please, thank you, bread, excuse me]

Body parts Rebecca knows:
Hair
Head
Eyes
Ears
Mouth
Nose
Chin
Tongue
Cheek
Neck
Knees (sometimes)
Feet
Toes
Fingers
Hands
Belly

We had angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream. She ate almost her entire piece!

(That’s my hand at the bottom telling Hayden expressly not to blow out the candle. Not that I thought Rebecca would/could, but man, give her a chance! Going through the ~125 photos on the camera to find this one, though, I found enough pictures by Hayden to complete his photographic introspective, The World from Waist-Level.)

July was a crazy-busy month for us. My family was in town for a family reunion and extended visit, and then we rushed down for another family reunion. (10+ hours in the car each way. Have I ever mentioned that the kids don’t sleep in the car for more than 45 minutes a day?) I hope things will get more normal for us now, but as much as I like the new-found quiet, it’s sometimes a little empty.

What are your favorite parts of your family visits? Least favorite?

(And before you ask, I’m 26. I don’t mind saying, but asking is just soooo tacky, don’t you think?)

Waiting for grandma

The birthday princess, tiara and all

The delicious cake—no, that’s not 90 candles. Also pictured: said angel aunt, one of four women named Rebecca in the room (the others were me, my daughter and my cousin’s date, Becky)

Rebecca with her great-grandma

A wonderful night—many thanks to Aunt Janie for throwing a wonderful party!

What do you get a little boy that doesn’t really need more toys for his birthday? (Great toy suggestions are, of course, welcome, too.)

I had a couple ideas:

• Outdoor furniture. (No, really—I saw this cute plastic Adirondack table and chairs set at the store and thought that would be fun for Hayden in the summer. Not now with our six+ inches of snow, though.)
• Books. (When shopping for friends, you may want to get suggestions for their library, just so you don’t get them something they already have.)
• Art supplies/crafts. (Even Hayden loves to color. Especially nice—something they can do together as a family.)

What else will make a kid’s life complete?

I’m afraid I didn’t use our time very well . But it was really nice to have an extra, extra long weekend and to have him home with me. Hayden wasn’t as grumpy as I’d feared, either.

Ryan got me a very sweet card and a pair of books with parenting coping strategies (which I know I need; I was very happy to get them!).

I sent him out to get rainbow chip frosting for my cake. A few minutes after I left, my sister arrived at my door. She came in and we talked for a minute before she said, “Well, go get ready.”

“For what?”

“Ryan’s taking you out to dinner. Surprise!”

Indeed. I felt like eating at Happy Sumo, so we did. I was sorely tempted to get what I did last time we were there (Fuji Chicken), but I ended up getting something different.

Before we left, we realized that the last time we were there was nearly a year ago—my belated birthday celebration. Should we make it a tradition?