Holy 5 years old, Batman!

Five years ago on Saturday, we welcomed Jacob Paul Stuart into our family. He was such a good baby and has turned into quite the little man. Jake was always mellow as a baby and toddler but that is completely gone now. He is definitely our wild one and fits the third child stereotype. He is the funniest kid I know. He says the most hilarious things and his mind is always turning. When I talk to him, I can see his little brain going as he stares at me while sucking his thumb (yeah, that's another thing we are going to work on). He'll come back with some retort and I can't help but laugh.

Jacob has had the most injuries in our family. Besides his plastic surgery for his lip when he was 3 months old, he has had stitches twice on his cute little face and will probably have to have oral surgery within the next year or so. It wouldn't be as bad if he didn't have the loudest wail/cry/scream I have ever heard. Every time he cries, he sounds like he is dying. I don't even run anymore to see what is going on. I just wait for him to calm down and then tell me what happened. He also loves Band-Aids. Every little sore or red spot has to have a Band-Aid. We go through those about as much as we go through toilet paper. It is ridiculous!

I think Jake still wants to be the baby of the family. When he is asked to do things his reply is always that he is too little. He loves to snuggle with me on the couch after we take Clark and Kate to school. We always get a blanket and snuggle while he watches The Backyardigans. I love that time that I just get to hold him. It means my day doesn't get started until about 9:30 but I'm glad that he still wants me to hold him. Jacob is also very imaginative. He is always playing with action figures and talking back and forth with them. I love that he will play with his toys for hours. He doesn't like to read and write on a regular basis but he does love to play. He also likes to do poses and make funny faces. He'll do something and then ask me, "Is that cool, Mom?" And his favorite word is "AWESOME!" Everything is AWESOME!

Since his birthday fell on Saturday, he got to plan the whole day. Jake had asked for waffles for breakfast but when I started to make them Saturday morning, he told me, "Not homemade waffles, Mom, Eggo waffles!" What kid wants Eggo waffles on their birthday when they eat them about every other day during the week? Oh . . . I guess my kid. So I fixed French Toast (my favorite) and Eggo Waffles (Jake's favorite) for his birthday breakfast.

After getting ready for the day, Jake opened his gifts. He got Lego Batman for the Wii, a Batmobile, a Playmobil Skate Park, Kung Fu Panda, and a build-a-bear penguin he named Flippy. He was pretty excited about everything. He then requested that we go to lunch at Panda Express. Steph and Jim had stayed with us during the week so they enjoyed lunch with us before heading back home. After eating, he declared that he just wanted to go back home and play Lego Batman and check out his new toys. All of us were throwing out suggestions of things to do but that was what he wanted so that's what we did. I put Carlee down for a nap, Joe helped a family move into our neighborhood, Katelyn and I read, and the boys played Wii and "skater boys". He got tired of playing around 5:00 so bowling was next on his agenda.

Heavy, Heavy, Hang, Over Jake's poor head . . .

We headed out to Santa Fe Station for Cosmic Bowling. It was fun with the lights out and all the neon lights flashing. The bowling alley was big and clean and there were a lot of families there. You actually walked into the smoke when you left the bowling alley so it was nice. The kids had a great time although I think they should do mini-games for kids. They are done bowling by about the 6th frame. Carlee enjoyed the air blowing out from the vent and dancing in the lights. Clark was insistent on not having bumpers but after he had about 5 gutter balls and everyone's score was ahead of him, he caved and asked for the bumpers. When the last pin fell, we piled back into the car and headed home for cake and ice cream. I made a simple cake--the Batman calling sign. It was so easy and I am not a cake decorator by any means (they turn out 10 times better in my head) but Jake thought it was "so awesome, Mom!" and as we were tucking him into bed, he said it was the best day ever!

I agree. It was a pretty awesome day and you are a pretty awesome boy. Happy Birthday, Jakey! We love you so much and are grateful for that sweet personality. Thanks for being you.