Zachary "Makes" Double Digits!

Zachary's special request breakfast on his birthday: waffles!  He blew out a candle (and Owen demanded that he get to as well), and we all sat down together before church that morning to celebrate him.  In Hawaii, locals say their child "made 3" instead of "turned 3."  Zachary made 10!

He had a loooonnnnnngggg wait until after dinner to open his gifts. He wanted to eat dinner at 3pm.

First up, a 20' racetrack.

Grandma and Grandpa Nufer gave him a book he is excited to read and Grandma and Grandpa Edwards gifted him cash and a thoughtful card.

Zac's excited face, seeing a lego chain reactions book.

He begged for hints but all I told him was it he would love his main gift and he had no idea what it was.  He was shocked to open up Laser Tag sets and we played round after round in the dark.

His birthday party was Friday, the last day of school break.  Isaac, Sam, Caleb, Finn, David, Jojo, and Ahonui came mini-golfing with us at a new course.  It was the saddest excuse for mini golf we have ever seen, but the kids had fun competing.  We came back to play basketball at the house and the highlight of the day--a nerf gun obstacle course Zachary helped design and execute.  It was a lovely three hours and made me grateful for his friends.  Boys are rowdy and loud and funny and we loved their energy.  Lunch was his favorite--Pizza Hut, and he was a lucky boy and scored a Costco cake with the ocean and surfboards all over it that was big enough to feed an army.  I told him there was no way I'd make another cake on his actual birthday, so we blew out candles on the last 1/4 of the cake.

 Nerf gun obstacle course, involving fake snowballs/war after the first shots were fired.

 Love his expressions, always:

Zachary is everything described on his birthday poster.  He's a classic first child, aiming to please, working from start to finish, very responsible, and driven to succeed.  Zachary is fast on the field, on foot, in basketball, and on the beach.  He is gutsy on his boogie board, more cautious on his surf board, and generally much more careful in general to avoid collision with anyone.  He laughs loud, he teases, and he is the most playful of all of us with Owen.  Little kids still adore him and he can make any baby smile.  Zachary reads profusely and finding new books for him is a challenge.  He loves science fiction, but is also interested in non-fiction (especially when it comes in the form of Guiness World Records or Weird-But-True facts).  Zac plays the piano for recreation now in addition to his daily practice and it makes my knees weak to hear him play with sensitivity and musicianship. He's artistic and whips up mythical drawings and painting.

He's all these things but he is also a big personality that is worth so much more than any of his accomplishments.  He's learned to really hug this year but his affection comes more in the form of unsolicited, generous compliments.  He wants to make good choices.  He wants to be kind.  He talks about helping the homeless and serving.  He is resilient and does not mind being corrected.  

He saves money and only buys things after really analyzing his options.  He loves to play--board games, lego, foosball, sports, anything with competition.  He loves to win but he is also a good loser.  He has a steel trap memory, except for with spacial awareness.  He can't remember where his old room was in our most recent house, where we lived, or directions.  Zac is never late and reminds us constantly what time it is and how many minutes it is until we need to leave.

Zachary has to be convinced to try new activities and new foods.  He has to be convinced to eat most foods, in fact.  We can't convince him to take art classes or break dancing even though he loves to mess around with both at home.  He is initially cautious but when he's in, he's all in.

10 years!  10 years since we held you and hoped you were ours.  10 years of non-stop energy.  We love you, we love you, we love you.

Owen Turns 2 and Graduates from "Baby Owen"

Happy birthday to my happy toddler!  I learned today that Owen is not an ignored 3rd child when I was asked to text pictures of Zachary and Kate to a friend for a slideshow.  Sorting through hundreds of Owen to find a few of my older kids reminded me that Owen is a treasured little dude.

We used every scrap of remaining birthday paper in our house.

Brady took the afternoon off and we planned to hike, so we decided Owen could open gifts that morning so he could play with them before we left.  Kate spent her own money on this light-up fish bathtub toy.

Zac paid for a fun fruit-cutting set.

Owen also received more bath toys, a dump truck for the beach, and play dough.

We took our camera with us up the canyon that afternoon, hoping for a beautiful day.  It rained the entire time and it was a mud fest on the trail.  The kids loved it but we only made it 2 miles and called it quits.  Owen hiked for 1/4 of it, carefully trying to avoid mud and failing.  "Ugh.  Mud.  Ew.  Mommy.  Ew."  He showed me every new mud spot and asked me to remove it before we continued another step.  He's the same way with sand.  He loves to play in sand but when he's done, he wants it all off.

 We looked for hiking sticks longer than we hiked.  Joking, but only mostly. 

 We dared Zachary to put his hand inside the creepy, hollowed-out tree.  He did, and even put his head in.

Kate didn't want to be shown up.

Sigh, these pictures!  I love the relationships my kids share with their little brother.  Every Sunday, it is a BIG deal who gets to pick him up from nursery.

Nic and Heidi's family came over to celebrate after the hike, and we all sang to him.  He held this precious smile on his face the entire time and was so excited to blow out the candles.  We are not sure when he learned to blow out candles and it was so endearing and eye-opening.  He is still so little--21 pounds of love--but he's growing up fast.  He repeats words and phrases constantly, and hearing him say, "Thank-you, Mom," is my favorite thing all day.  He tries to squeeze milk from his own nipples, he takes off his diaper if I wait to long to change it (groan), and he tries to dress himself and his stuffed animals.  He mimics Zachary's motions for prayer, church and reading.  He loves to sit on Zachary's back while Zac reads or does homework.  He still loves his binkies and lately makes a game of deciding which one he likes the most and rotating them by his pillow.  Bath time with Kate, playing cars with Zac, falling to the bed (1-2-3!) in Dad's arms, and racing around the house to play peekaboo with me are his favorite ways to bond.  He sleeps one hour a day, he never makes it to bed before 8pm, and he often sleeps until 7am.  He has his finger in his belly button 90% of the time, and can't run without squealing, and he loves to play in cars--toy or real.

Letting go of calling you, "Baby Owen," is the hardest part yet, but it's time.  Goodbye, Baby O!

Happy, happy, happy birthday, you treasure.  We can't imagine life without you.