Yesterday was Xander's birthday! I can't believe how old he is getting. In the morning Xander told Jared he had been laying in his bed thinking of how fun his birthday was going to be. We had to run some errands yesterday and so we started out the morning at Wal-Mart. Xander said it was supposed to be his fun day and he was not having fun. We went to pick out his cake and ice cream and birthday dinner and all of the sudden he was having a great time. He told me he wanted an orange cake again which is what we had last year. (It was disgusting.) I would have made him a Better than Cake but he declined and kept insisting upon an orange cake because that is his favorite flavor. So we went down the cake mix aisle which has no orange cake and he chose strawberry. I tried to lean him toward a nice white or chocolate frosting but no go and he chose strawberry. I added orange peel to the cake and so the cake was quite tasty but the frosting was naturally too sweet but Xander loved it anyway. Jared complained about the pinkness of the cake but what can you do when your child chooses based on flavor not color. When I asked Xander what he wanted for dinner explaining he could choose anything he wanted he said, "Noodles. Plain noodles and that's all." I was hoping for Macayo's or something good but no the five-year-old wants noodles. Amazingly enough I do not keep Ramen on hand due to its high sodium content and yuckiness. So we had to pick that out. He added plain hot dogs and cheezy chips with some coaxing from me. I kept asking him if he was sure and reminding him he could have anything he wanted. He kept saying things all day like: This is my special day. This is my goodest day ever. This is my best day! This is my funnest day. and I get to decide everything. He even tried, "I don't have to listen to you today cause it's my birthday." But only required a gentle reminder that that would lead him to a bad day and that I was still the boss to get that out of his system. Maxwell got Xander a Gross-Out Doodle Monster that came with a mini doodle dino. Maxwell had a hard time with the giving and said, "This is mines." After Xander opened it. I don't think he gets the concept of for and from even though Jared and I explained it several times. Elijah and Xander hurried and ate minimal amounts of cake and ice cream to get to playing with the presents. Maxwell on the other hand took his time slowly savoring the dual treats. We rarely have cake and ice cream together on birthdays and usually have one or the other. We played a game of Hot and Cold for Xander to find his main present: a Superman bicycle from Jared and I. When he found it he exclaimed, "This is what I always wanted!" Xander, Maxwell and I also went to McDonald's for lunch where Xander was even allowed to get a Happy Meal. Other highlights of his day included: playing Playstation without cleaning up, drawing with a special pen from his friends, and his very special birthday sign. I write bubble letters on several pages and whoevers birthday it isn't has to help decorate the pages. Maxwell drew balloons and hearts on his pages and Elijah put 5s and people on his pages. Xander's friend birthday party had to be postponed because he was sick all last week. Hopefully we will successfully have that this Saturday. This was written in true blog form. Have an excellent week.