Peter Turns Six

Peter celebrated turning six last week. For some reason, it feels like a big deal to have my middle child be this old. I realize he’s still young, but wow. It’s kind of mind-blowing.

As is typical, we let the birthday boy call the shots on his birthday. Peter was eager to open presents as soon as he woke up. We had told him he couldn’t get up any earlier than 7 a.m., so I think he and his brothers bided their time in their bedroom waiting for the clock to hit 7 before storming into Melanie and my bedroom and demanding we get up. They were actually awake a bit before then, keen to get started on the festivities. I admire their discipline, all things considered.

Per usual, Melanie did some thoughtful decorating the night before so that the birthday boy could awake to celebrative décor. For the first time, Melanie created a candy bar poster like the kind her own mother used to do for her and her siblings on their birthdays. Basically, the poster consists of a personalized message where candy bars affixed to the poster serve as words in the message. So, for example, you could say, “Your SNICKERS make us smile,” where the word “snickers” is actually made with a wrapped candy bar. You get the idea. Sometimes you cross out part of the candy bar name in order to get the right message. It’s fun. You can’t read the message too well in this photo, but here’s what Peter saw on the living room wall when he came out of his bedroom on his birthday morning:

Peter’s birthday presents were also arranged on the dining table, like so:

We had also strung streamers on his doorframe after he’d gone to sleep. We have a photo of what it was supposed to look like, but apparently the streamers fell sometime during the night or something, so the effect was lost. What a bummer. Here’s what it was supposed to be:

As for actual gifts, Peter received a couple of books and a new, bigger scooter (and helmet) from Melanie and me. Peter’s maternal grandparents sent him some Hexbugs and other doodads that he quite liked. Earlier in the week, we had let Peter buy a plush version of the Angry Birds character Bubbles (the inflated, “fat” version of the character). With his own funds (primarily a $3 birthday voucher from Toys R Us), Peter also bought the non-inflated version of Bubbles. Fun stuff.

For breakfast, Peter wanted Village Inn. This has become the go-to breakfast spot for birthday boys. Eddie and Peter both got the “funny face” pancakes. So did Creegan, but we asked them not to make it look like a face because Creegan didn’t want any part of such shenanigans. After breakfast, Peter wanted go back home and spend time playing Kindle. His wish was our command. This ate up a few hours of the day. Because breakfast had been kind of late, we ended up not really having a lunch. Instead, we had an early dinner at Peter’s second requested restaurant of the day: Jason’s Deli. (Cute side note: Creegan believes the restaurant is called “Jason’s Belly.”) After our second and final meal of the day, we went home and had birthday cake and ice cream. (The boys had already enjoyed some complimentary ice cream at Jason’s Deli, but what did that matter on a birthday?) A close friend wasn’t able to come over due to illness, but we had a good time nevertheless.

Village Inn for breakfast.

Jason's Belly for dinner.

Cake and ice cream aplenty for dessert.

Melanie made smiley cupcakes to remind us of our smiley boy, and also to have another option for guests who decided to get sick rather than show up.

And that was that. A simple but fun day celebrating a boy that always keeps us smiling. Happy birthday, Peter!