happy birthday, alex

Today my Alex turned eight (8!!). I can hardly believe it's been so long. I can remember going to my OB appointment eight years ago today, and finding out I'd be induced in a couple hours (low amniotic fluid and very high blood pressure). I clearly remember the butterflies, anticipation and excitement driving home from the OB's office to pack...hardly believing I'd return home with a baby in my arms. At 9:34pm, we greeted our son. So tiny and so perfect.

A lot has happened in those 8 years, that's for sure! More than any of us bargained for, but I'd not trade him for anything. He has taught us so much (I'm still working on learning the whole patience thing....heh). Unconditional love is the main one. It's amazing that you can love someone so incredibly much even immediately after being bitten, scratched, pinched and hit. He's so full of charm. And that smile.....melts me every time!

Today for brunch (was going to be for breakfast, but I couldn't get out of the house in time), we had donuts. Alex was in heaven! His favorite was the the bar frosted with chocolate, though he didn't seem to mind the apple fritter, regular glazed, or filled ones either. After that, we got ready and headed out to the track. Alex was surprisingly fussy, so we left after about 10 minutes. We headed over to his school's playground and the boys had a blast there for awhile. It wasn't until Alex noticed that the doors to the school were locked, that he got all freaked out. He really wanted to go inside, and was ticked right off that he couldn't. We headed home and got out the pool...first time this season! They were excited! Alex probably still would be in there in we'd let him. After a good two hours or so (and a couple sunscreen reapplications), we headed back inside. We had BBQ cheesburgers, potato salad, potato chips and 7-up for dinner. The plan was to have ice cream sandwiches for dessert, but we chickened out on giving Alex so much sugar right before bed. He'd had plenty earlier with the donuts, and his mood was very up and down today. He got a bumble ball, a CD of new music, and a couple musical toys.



Behavior-wise....bit Jeremy on the leg, bit me on the wrist and pulled Ben's hair with both hands. Had one big meltdown starting in his bath, and ending downstairs with some Tylenol. His mood turns around right after eating it, so I don't believe he's calming down due to pain relief. The taste might be just enough to take his mind off things. Got to find something to take the place of that. Maybe some tic tacs or a couple smarties? Not sure he'd like those as much...but I really don't want to be medicating him when he doesn't need to be.