Happy Birthday, Micah!

Another post, another birthday.  That's how we roll from February to June!  This time it's Micah's 5th birthday.

He was very happy to decorate his own cupcakes, along with the girls.  He had very decided color choices.  They all had a very fun and frosting-filled afternoon!  For his birthday dinner, Micah requested tuna pockets, peas, and diced pears-- a nice, non-gourmet meal, which totally works for me.

Five-year-olds are so much fun!

After dinner, cupcakes, and ice cream, Micah opened his presents.  He got a Lego Star Wars t-shirt, a Darth Vader bath scrubby, some Minion stickers, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Seek and Find book, some candy (including a Spider Man Pez dispenser that was very well-received), and in that big box on the right, knight's armor from Grandma and Grandpa!  That was definitely the most favorite gift, especially since they included a set for Drew!

Every since we went to Medieval Times, Micah and Drew have been more into knights.  Unfortunately, all the knight dress-up stuff we had left over from the first 4 boys has seen better days.  Luke masterfully employed silver duct tape to keep the original 2 helmets wearable, but clearly they were not going to last much longer.  Now we have a fresh infusion of armor and swords, just what 2 knights-in-training need!  (And yes, I marked each item with the correct initial in sharpie, so we can keep track of who breaks or loses something--I'm not a newbie to this game, LOL!)  Any bets as to how long before the swords have to be confiscated and spend some time in the "penalty box"?  Ha!

Micah and Drew have actually gotten much better at playing with each other these past few months.  They can play Duplos, Legos, cars, whatever, for a pretty good long time together before it all breaks down. I'm glad to see them become so close, just like Nathan and Luke, and Caleb and Jonathan.  

I was reading back over Micah's birth story today, and I'm so glad I don't have to deliver him again!  He started out big, and he still is quite a bit bigger than anyone else ever was at each stage.  He's been our only child who actually wears bigger sized clothes than his actual age!  The thing I am really thankful for this year is that I can say that Micah is really a sweet boy.  The tantrums that he used to have with such alarming regularity (pretty much anytime he didn't get his way, needed to pee, or really just thought something that wasn't going his way *might* happen . . .) have really disappeared.  Even when he gets upset, he calms down again fairly quickly.  None of us miss the days of the 3 hour crying jags, complete with banging on the door or wall!  He has done so well in the elementary co-op.  One lady even stopped me a few weeks ago to tell me how much she had enjoyed teaching Micah!  He had helped clean up, he had listened well, he was just a joy.  Who knew anyone would ever say such things about Micah?!  He's no longer always the obstinate, uncooperative, stubborn mule he used to be!   I'm really glad we stayed the course, as it were, because now we are finally reaping the reward of a happy, more settled child.  I always say Micah is the child who really humbled me.  Before him, I might have thought I had pretty much "figured things out", as far as parenting goes.  Ha!  Not so fast!  What a challenge!  So we are really thankful the Lord put Micah in our family, and we're so thankful that Micah has settled down so that each day is not such a trying struggle, like it used to be.