Happy Birthday, Jaxson!

Jaxson turned 5 on Thursday! We celebrated by taking him to Toys-R-Us to pick out a new bike. His old one was getting too small. We walked around the store for awhile looking at toys, then he wanted to go to McDonalds for lunch. We had to get back home pretty quick so Dad could make it to his doctor's appointment. While Dad was gone, Brooke went down for a nap and Jax went to his room for a quiet time so I could get the cake made and set out his gifts. He wanted everything to be Mario Brothers, and we found a picture of a DS cake online, so that is what he picked, along with some mushroom cupcakes on the side!

He didn't want to have a big party with friends, so we just celebrated with the family, and both grandparents stopped by. He got a MarioKart hat, some Playmobil Pirates, a Wii game, Camo hat, Nerf gun, and pop gun with a coonskin cap! He said that everything was his favorite and he really enjoyed his birthday.

He has also picked to go to Kangaroo Zoo for his activity. We didn't have time to go on his birthday, so we'll try and go there next week. He did have a chance to take his bike out and try it since the weather has been so nice. Next step... take the training wheels off!

Our Favorite Things About Jaxson:

• He's obsessed with Nintendo. It's the first thing he wants to do when he wakes up and the only thing he wants to do all day. He's pretty lost when he doesn't get to play. He loves Mario and the kids usually pretend that they are the characters. I think all the neighborhood kids now know who Bowser, Mario, and Peach are.
• He's a total sweetheart. He loves to give you hugs and kisses and cuddle with you on the couch to watch a show. He steals the hearts of all his teachers in church and in school.
• He's just a funny kid. He makes funny faces all the time and has funny little mannerisms. He's fun to watch while he's running around playing and always keeps us laughing.
• He still loves pirates and trains. He'll play with his GeoTrax and his Playmobil Pirates for hours. He loves to set up the whole city and run all his trains around the tracks. He loves trucks and always runs to the window to wave at the garbage truck driver when he hears him coming. He still says that when he grows up he wants to be a garbage man and a train driver!
• He loves to read books. He probably uses it more as an excuse to stay out of bed a little bit later at night, but he always wants us to read him a story.
• He loves school. He'll graduate from Discovery Day Preschool this year and he's learned a lot. He's quite good at writing his name and we're working on his reading.
• He's still clumsy! I keep hoping he'll grow out of this and that it's just a stage! He's constantly running into walls, falling off chairs, and just getting scrapes and bruises everywhere. We're lucky he hasn't broken anything yet!
• He's a pretty quiet, mellow kid. His sisters definitely rule the roost and he's pretty good to just follow them and do whatever they want. Brooke, in particular, likes to pester him to death. I hope they become better buddies as they grow older. Oftentimes we'll be hanging out with friends, playing, and he disappears. I think sometimes he just likes to find a quiet space to be by himself.
• He loves to take long baths. I think he'd stay in there for a few hours if we would let him.
• He loves to eat at McDonalds, M&M's, watching movies, Scooby Doo, Planet Heroes, Transformers, pizza, lasagna, and helping me in the kitchen.

We love you, Jax! We are glad you are part of our family and hope you had a great birthday!