Rocking Number Nine

Yesterday, Cole turned nine. I'm pretty sure he was just born yesterday so I am not sure how that happened... 

[I posted this on social media, but I am saying it again here because it encompasses everything this this kid is.]

Happy birthday to our independent, hard-working, intelligent, active, kind, musical, talkative, first-born with a contagious smile an an unmatched joyful spirit for life.

So, yesterday was his birthday. But it was a Monday.  I had to drive back and forth to Bullard THREE times, squeeze in work in between, and pick up shreds of a pair of pants that Maggie chewed that I had worn only once before.  Oh, and Tate dropped my phone and shattered the screen when he was talking on my phone to his Baca [Mike had borrowed my case]. Mike was really late coming home, which threw off our entire dinner [grilled hamburgers and fries per request of the birthday boy]. We were tired, frazzled.

Cole was happy.

New book light and Star Wars book were gifts from Little Brother, and Cole LOVED them!

Remote-controlled car, clothes, and UNO game from Mimi & Papa Jim were also big hits

Little Engineer also LOVED the Star Wars Lego from Uncle Jason, Aunt Jodi, and Quinn :)

Little Brother also got a small gift - a new book about Jackie Robinson. Don't you know we've read it multiple times already. #ObsessedWithSports

We opened gifts before dinner, finally got to eat dinner, and sang Happy Birthday over homemade chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting.  The other three dozen I had taken to school to share with the Third Graders for lunch :)

I also notice now that those chocolate sprinkles sort of look like rat poo.  That just about sums up the Monday I had.

The biggest surprise was when we let Cole open his last gift --

a Lego Architecture set of the White House. And we told him we were taking him with us to Washington, D.C.! We have been planning this for months and keeping it mum around here. Except when he opened the gift, he said he knew we were going to DC.  Ugh. No surprising the very intuitive, very intelligent, very curious Cole.  I was disappointed that he wasn't truly surprised, but he is ecstatic about going!

Finally, last night as I tucked my NINE year old into bed, he said, "My birthday was great! Just GREAT! All I wanted was to spend it with all of you, and that's all I could ask for."

Cole-Man: rocking the number nine and rocking life.  I love him.