Happy Birthday to You!

7/24/2010

Well, Xander has survived his 7th birthday. Though he didn’t get much in the way of presents. In fact, the only concrete thing he had to show for the day are two tiny plastic rabbits and a corresponding little hutch. Some kids would be dissatisfied with such a haul but not X-man. He picked out the bunnies himself while at Toys R Us where we were ordering him a bike. Not the 24” monster the “expert” recommended. At 20” wheels, he was barely able to stand up and reaching for the handbrakes was iffy at best. I foresaw many crashes as my son, my heir, furiously tried to apply the non-existent foot brakes. So we went with the smaller bike which needed to be special ordered. A larger bike would have lasted longer but he wouldn’t have.

Earlier in the day, we went to brother-in-law Stuart (and Britt ’s house for a housewarming. It’s a very nice house and he and his new bride will be very happy there. They very kindly bought a small cake for Xander AND had some ponies delivered so all the little kids (including very grown-up 7 year olds) could take pony rides. So, Xander did have both cake and a pony ride on his birthday; just not through any effort from his parents.

As we were leaving, Xander started his long good-bye routine where he’ll go around to EVERYONE at the party to give them a so long, farewell there. Since we knew exactly 7 people out of the 45 or so there, most looked upon this young man with bemusement. However, his no-fun parents hurried him up; eager to be on their way.

The same thing happened at his Great Grandpa Hardy’s Wake. The Viewing was another matter. Xander simply started crying when we got to the funeral home and didn’t stop the whole time. This despite wiping lots of tears/mucus onto my shoulder. He is very sensitive about how people feel around him. Wendi decided he didn’t need to go to the cemetery and so went directly to Grandpa’s house where mounds of food, candy and drink soothed his pain.

And as we were leaving, he made his rounds of the entire house, giving everyone: relative, friends of Grandpa, neighbors, caterer a big, heartfelt hug as he left. No doubt he’ll out grow this habit but not too soon, I hope.

Well, the day ended with Xander crushing both his parents in games of Trouble and Uno. (For like the zillionth time in a row. Good thing I am above caring about that sort of thing…)

Well, it’s time to go read to the little fellow. Thanks for reading this far and I hope to see you soon.

Brian