Joshua's Birthday!

Joshua's birthday marks the end of birthday season around here.  We celebrate 4 birthdays within 30 days in September and October (Cookie's too, but she doesn't really count).  Josh's is on October 23rd.  He turned six this year.  That's UNBELIEVABLE to me!  He's so grown up!  Josh has made huge strides in terms of his anxiety this year.  He's mellowed out a lot!  But he's still such a sweet, tender, loving little guy!  I'm do proud of him!  Lately, I've been a little worried that he's suffering from middle child syndrome.  The girls are louder than him and the little boys are more demanding, so Josh can just kind of slip through the cracks sometimes.  He can go outside and play or get on the computer and I won't see him for a LONG time!  Sometimes I realize that he's talking to me about some alien or dinosaur or something and I'm only half listening.  I've been trying to be better at getting one-on-on, focused time with him every day.  I really wanted this birthday to help him feel special and loved and not ignored.  I hope it did.

Josh's birthday celebration started the night before.  Grandma and Grandpa Gee came over for a visit!  They took us to Red Robin for dinner.  It was very fun to spend a little time with them.  Hopefully, when their mission ends in a month, we'll get to see a little more of them.  Dinner was great.  Josh even got a free birthday sundae.  Woo Hoo!

Bronson with "Grandpa and Grandma Idaho" as he refers to them.  

What a good lookin' bunch, eh?

The almost-birthday boy!

The next day, Josh started off with birthday presents.  He got some fun toys - especially a bow and arrow with a huge inflatable animal hunting target.  I can't really explain it - just know that it's pretty cool.  He chose dinosaur instant oatmeal packets for his birthday breakfast (gag!  I passed, but the kids LOVE them!)  Then, I gave him half a hair cut.  That's right.  Half.

Love that boy!

Who wouldn't want a Captain America toy?

This is the hunting thing I was trying to explain.

Quinton supervised.

It happened to be crazy hair day at school on Josh's birthday.  I'd been noticing how long Josh's hair had been getting for a while.  I toyed with the idea of letting in grow long.  But when it came time to do a crazy hair do, I decided it would be the perfect time to give him a haircut.  We talked about a Mohawk or even a reverse Mohawk.  In the end, we went with a half-and-half look.  I thought it was awesome!

The whole crew.  Even Bronson got in on the crazy hair thing - we spiked it up and sprayed some color in it.

Josh's teacher goes out of her way to make kids' birthdays very special.  Josh was treated like a king all day!  He had such a great time!  When the little boys and I showed up for the last half hour of class, he was beaming with joy.  He spent some time showing the poster he had made and explaining all of his favorite things to his class.  Then, they sang and danced a funny happy birthday song to him.  And he passed out treats - frosted sugar cookies.  Yum.

After school, I made him his requested birthday lunch - scrambled eggs.  Then, while the little boys slept, I cut the rest of his hair and we got everything ready for that afternoon.  Know why?  He had a birthday party with a few of his neighborhood friends.  It was a dinosaur-themed party.  The girls basically ran it for me.  It was very fun.  I think he had a great time.

On a dino hunt in the back yard. The girls went out and hid a bunch of toy dinosaurs back there before the party started. Then, we handed out magnifying glasses and sent them out on the hunt.

Quinton supervised.  By the way, my parents stopped by for a little while to see the party and to give Josh a present - an AWESOME remote controlled Jeep.

We "hatched eggs" - a.k.a. sat on and popped balloons with little toy dinosaurs in them.

The party boys (missing one little boy who came later).  

Pinata time!

After the party, Dad came home and he brought Chinese take-out with him.  Yummy!  After dinner, Josh played with his friends in the neighborhood for a while before bed time.  I think it was a busy, fun, special day for our little Joshua James.

Josh didn't want a cake - he wanted a HUGE donut!

Look at that thing!