Happy Birthday, Lance!

Yesterday was Lance's 6th Birthday! We are actually celebrating this Saturday with family and our favorite families here in Charlottesville, but we tried to make his Birthday day a special one.

He actually got to bring cupcakes to school! I was surprised (I've heard rumors and horror stories about snacks and treats being banned due to allergies), but thankfully Lance's elementary school still allows it. He wanted chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting--surprise!--which I was happy to make for him. He helped me frost and decorate them the night before with him on the essential sprinkle duty.

He was excited to take them to school and share with everyone. When I picked him up that afternoon, he was beaming and said that everyone loved the cupcakes AND his teacher wanted the recipe. There is no better compliment than that! I was even stopped by one of the teachers helping herd the kids to the cars who told me they were great. I'm so glad they turned out!

We let Lance pick what he wanted for dinner since it was his special night. Originally he said China King Buffet, a favorite, but changed his mind to hot wings right before we left. We ate at Wild Wings Cafe off of Main Street. It was good and Lance was excited he got his wings. It was a good day and Lance went to bed that night saying he had fun.

I thought now would be a good time to write down a few things about Lance so I can remember this phase in his life.

Here we go:

- He LOVES the Transformers movies and watches them with his dad all the time. He has collected many of the toys and is very good at transforming even the difficult ones.

- Some of his favorite things to play with (besides his friends Killian and Kendall) are water guns, bouncy balls, and Nerf guns.

- His favorite food to eat is probably Chinese food--especially their noodles.

- He's not a big candy eater, but will devour a Hershey's chocolate bar in no time. Just don't put anything in his chocolate. He's a purist. He doesn't really like cake or ice cream or most desserts either, but will have bites if it's chocolate. He won't eat fruit snacks or most other kid snacks.

- He will, however, eat tons of Cheezits, Oreo's, and fishy crackers.

- The only veggies I can get him to eat are carrots (raw and dipped in ranch dressing) and broccoli (cooked). The only fruit he will eat is an apple, sliced with the skin removed and sometimes strawberries. We eat a lot of broccoli and apples at our house.

-  He is a bit of a picky eater, although he does have some crazy things he likes to eat, such as lamb, crab, shrimp, and crab. Did I mention crab? (Well, he used to like lamb until he found out it was baby sheep. Then he told us none of us should eat it because we were eating a baby.)

- Lance is obsessed with Legos and has a bucket here and at his dad's house that he is constantly using to build new things--usually cars and rockets and airplanes. I am always amazed at his creativity.

- He doesn't like to sing. I've been singing to him since he was a baby, but it is difficult to get any kind of song out of the kid. I don't know if it's because he feels like he can't sing or just doesn't want to. The two songs he will sing to himself are the Darth Vader theme from Star Wars and the Harry Potter theme. Interesting, huh? He has been singing a bit more lately--mostly narrating what he's doing at the time and I've really tried to encourage it and tell him I like to hear him sing. It's pretty funny!

- We have been working on reading for a while now and it's starting to stick. His enthusiasm for actually learning the skill isn't great, but now he's in school I've noticed a big difference his his willingness to try. I'm excited because I love to read and hope this love will rub off on him as well.

- Lance is 100% boy. He loves to get dirty, he loves to be wet, he loves to run and climb and jump off of anything and everything.

- He is constantly "on the go". There are few things that will hold his attention for much longer than a few minutes. Legos and TV are a couple of them.

- He loves to watch Phineas and Ferb on the Disney channel. I love to watch it with him. :)

- Lance is a passionate person and everything he does, he does at full power. When he laughs, he laughs hard. When he cries, he cries hard. When he plays, he plays hard. If he's upset, he's really really upset. If he's happy, he can't contain himself.

- One of my favorite things Lance and I do is lay down for a few minutes in his bed together before he falls asleep. He's asked me to do this with him every night for years and I love it! Yes, sometimes I only have time for a minute, but often we spend a while talking about things that are important to him, about his day, about a cool toy or something that happened at school. It's a neat time because it's quiet, there aren't any distractions and we can be together and just talk--something that doesn't usually happen during the rest of the day.

- Lance is a good brother--reluctantly. Jude is a bit messy and drools (which Lance has a hard time with) and can be a bit of a pesky brother, but I'll often hear the boys playing together and Lance making Jude laugh. We're all still learning how to be kind and nice and we're getting better at it day by day. Lance and Jude love each other and I know they will grow into great friends as they get older.

Lance is a wonderful boy that brings so much energy and love into my life. He is constantly teaching me how to be patient and kind and how to love. In these six years, I've learned a lot about myself and what his really important in life through being his mother and trying to teach him what he needs to know to be happy. I love his smile, I love his enthusiasm for life, and I love how the little things make him happy. I can't believe my baby is 6 years old!

Lance, thank you for being part of our family and for sharing your fun spirit with us. You make life more fun and eventful. I thank Heavenly Father every day for the blessing that is you! Happy Birthday, Lance!