The Ring Chronicles: Colin is 5!

Our little prince is growing up! I can't believe our first baby is already 5 and about to graduate from preschool. At 5, Colin is extremely talkative. He wants to know what the plan is for the day, the week, the month, etc. and if there is no plan, he will get on that and make one. He is our negotiator and problem solver. If you tell him no, his next question is why, and once he knows why, he will figure out a way (in his head, at least) to get a yes out of us. This inevitably means that we have to use the dreaded phrase "because I told you so" or my favorite phrase from Love and Logic "I love you too much to argue". I have to admit that the constant negotiating and questioning can be quite maddening, but I keep reminding myself that these are really good life skills for him to have. Colin is also our peace-keeper and our rule-follower. He doesn't like conflict and is learning how to compromise and if someone (particularly Eli) isn't making good choices, Colin is there to let us know about it. Colin is super active and always moving around. He loves to play outside and is starting soccer in a couple weeks. He's measuring at 44 1/2 inches and 37 lbs., 4 oz. and although he only gained one pound over the last year, the doctor says he's healthy and doing great. Phew! At least one kid that doesn't need a specialist!

Opening gifts before school on his birthday. Eli picked out a stuffed Yoda to give him.

At school on his birthday. Here he's playing with shaving cream.

We brought star-shaped cookies decorated with blue frosting for his birthday snack.

Instead of a cake, Colin wanted to get Mr. Freeze for his birthday treat. He chose a chocolate milkshake.

Such a Daddy's boy!

Right now Colin loves everything Star Wars, so for his 5th birthday, we used that as his theme. We threw him a friends party at our local YMCA gymnastics center and he invited all the boys from his preschool class and few friends from outside of school. I feel like this party has been a really great learning experience for me and I know I'll do things different for future parties. I kept experiencing one debacle after another from problems with the favors, the cake, and the venue but Colin had a great time so I'm trying not to dwell on it. I can say that I will never buy another cake from the baker we used and I'm wary to host another party at the Y, simply because the party space was utterly filthy. Thank goodness we brought an unopened box of wipes and had a little bit of time to go to town on that place. Unfortunately that didn't stop the ants from invading the party..., but like I said, maybe we just won't do future parties there. I can say the kids had fun and got a lot of energy out!

What the cake was supposed to look like (with Colin's name, of course).