I think I must start these birthday posts the same way every time. WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE? Is it really possible that my littlest is already seven years old? Maybe its me just not wanting to admit that. And maybe I’m a tad bit relieved that Connor is a little smaller than others his size (~15-17% for his age), it means I can still pick him up without breaking my back. The doctor claims he’ll be a late bloomer – so I’m recording it here now to see if that’s actually what happens a few years down the road – but I’m quite content to keep him as my cuddlebug for as long as I can (and he will comply).

So back to the big day – ever since we left Great Wolf Lodge in Virgina Beach a few months ago, Connor has been focused on going back and its what he decided he wanted for his birthday – in lieu of a party even – which I was ok with 🙂 So our little foursome headed to Concord and we ordered the party package for the occassion which gave us signage on the door, a cake, even some points to use in the arcade (which this alone, was worth the extra bucks). We did it all – the water park (and no, he’s still not big enough for the Tornado but he gets measured every time in the hopes this has changed), the arcade (Connor won a Lava lamp – his choice ?!?!), the GWL Build-a-bear + scavenger hunt and of course we put our magic quest wands to the test – this was, of course, what Connor had been looking forward to the most and he and I did a little competition with Cailee and JJ – convinced they would beat us – but we ended up giving them a run for their money (or points or whatever it was that we were colllecting).

It was a busy weekend, but a lot of fun – I know Connor would concur, Cailee even, as she’s looking to do the same thing for her birthday now! For Connor’s birthday – the big gift was the hoverboard – that he got a few days early, and then we just picked up a few more things he said he wanted – which is getting tougher and tougher to identify since he’s all about his video games and ipod these days – so I tried to find things that kept him less connected – like magnitiles, a car kit (RacerZ car designer), a new Nerf gun, and yes, I caved, a Legos World video game for his PS4.

Connor was always an easy baby, and I just kept expecting that he would turn 4, 5, 6 and we’d hit a new stage – where he’d turn on all the sterotypical bad boy behaviors, but he hasn’t – he’s such a good kid (He and Cailee both are, really, even though they have completely different personalities). He’s got such an accommodating personality – he wants to make people happy. He constantly assures me that he loves me over and over and you can tell that any kind of stressful situation or discipline really bothers him and he’s anxious to make everything better/make everyone happy. He doesn’t get easily stressed out – he just goes with the flow (biggest difference between him and his sister), alhough he can get pretty fixated on things that he wants – he won’t let you forget it. He does play his ipad far too much, but he is also following in his daddy’s footprints with a real passion for dirt bikes, monster trucks and mountain biking. This year he’s also started taking tumbling classes simply because he spends far too much time in the gym. One thing that really unique to Connor, because I’m not this way, Cailee’s not this way – we really don’t know where he gets it from – but he will make friends with anyone. If there are kids congregated, anyone, anywhere – he will go right up and join in whatever they are doing – case in point, recently, we were outside waiting at Outback for our table (one of his favorites places to go – he just LOVES the brown bread) and he walked right up to some other kids waiting for their table and in minutes was playing tag right along with them.

Connor has grown quite a bit this year (in maturity), he’s constantly surprising me with what he knows. He soaks up what he learns at school like a sponge – he loves topics like the weather, dinosaurs, sharks and more recently he’s been obsessed with the Titanic. I’m pretty certain, he can tell you more about the Titanic than most adults could. He tells me he’s still intent on being a Monster Truck driver when he grows up – although in his book for school he drew himself as a Dirt Bike rider (he told me later he thought it would be easier to drawer than a monster truck driver). He’s reading and writing – I can’t believe how much he’s learned this year. Bottom line, in case it’s not obvious to you yet – we just love us some Connor and so proud of the big boy he’s becoming.

 

https://photos.amidewar.com/2018/April-6-2018/