My Bella Figlia: Westie's 6th Birthday, Belatedly

I can't believe that my baby boy is 6! He'd been pestering us to go to his favorite "restaurant" Old Country Buffet for weeks (his favorite because he is possibly the pickiest child on the planet, and at OCB he can eat pizza and fries to his heart's content *sigh*) and so for two weeks after picking him up from school I had to chant, "On your birthday, on your birthday" all the way home. The night before his birthday I snuck into his room and turned it into a maze of crepe-paper streamers and balloons. I started doing that when Winter was little and now the kids know that their birthday celebrations start the moment that they open their eyes. Westie wanted pancakes for his birthday breakfast, and so we all ate pancakes and watched him open a present at the breakfast table: the book I Spy A Dinosaur's Eye. He was thrilled that it was something that he could take to school in his backpack. Books are allowed, toys are not! He brought a big bag of treats for his schoolmates to ease the pain of having to spend his birthday at school-lol!

When he got home, he opened the two small presents from his siblings: a red Bakugan from Walker and a small shiny purple snake filled with sand instead of stuffing that his sister picked out and bought herself. She told him that it was just like his favorite stuffie (a huge, purple, stuffed snake) and that the new toy could be it's baby. He said, "No, it's the little brother!" I thought that was fitting.

At 5:15 we all clambered into the van to pick Daddy up from work. We headed to OCB equipped with a bag full of presents and a candle and lighter for whatever dessert he chose. We ate dinner and watched West's smile and the way that his hat hair fell across his forehead as he talked, animatedly using his hands for emphasis. We said our bests and worsts. Winter didn't have any worst, telling us that it was a triple-good day because it was West's birthday and she got to swim in gym class and the new Harry Potter film came out on DVD. West's best: "It's my birthday!" His worst: "I had to go to school on my birthday." Winter offered to take West for his dessert. He came back with a swirly ice cream cone, falling from it's cone onto his hand. I thought, "Seriously? There are a dozen perfectly good cupcakes over there that would hold this damn candle! Oh well..." I stuck the number 6 candle into the top of the cone and tried to light it. I burned myself. I yipped and shook my hand, making everyone laugh. I tried twice more (and burned myself twice more!) I finally got it lit and West blew it out immediately and laughed his head off, proud of his joke. I shook my head and said, "Forget it! Sing!"

We sang "Happy Birthday" and let him tear into the rest of his presents: a Play-Doh Burger Builder, Splashy the Whale, a small animatronic triceratops and another book, this one about Transformers. We carried the loot home and I let him stay up later than usual so that he could play play-doh with his brother and cheat at his new game (he doesn't like being sprayed with water and so turns the whale to face Walker during his turn-lol!) before tucking a very tired birthday boy into bed! Here are a few highlights!