Charlton had a wonderful time for his birthday. He kept counting the days till his birthday, and getting his brothers excited about it by asking them to show his birthday date on the calendar. This sweet boy of mine is way too adorable, and none of us unfortunately can say no to him.
We started his birthday by eating a special birthday breakfast, and then letting him open his birthday gifts from his family. Elijah was working from home, so having dad home made his day. Each child had chosen something that they thought Charlton would like, and of course he did like them all. My heart was touched when James, among the other gifts he had chosen for him, gave Charlton his own Ninja Turtle that was given to him for his birthday. I love it when my children give of their own accord, especially something that is valuable to them.
Elijah said that we should take a picture of Charlton with all of his siblings, this little girl inside me included. Elijah and I are so blessed to have these amazing children as our own. We can't wait to see #5 entering this family, and we are looking forward to how she is going to fit in this already incredibly fantastic dynamic.
After food and gifts, we took off to Charlton's favorite spot to play with his siblings, the Zoo. We started by having Mami Lili take Charlton and James up the lift, and let them have a stunning look of all the animals in the Zoo from above. While waiting for them, Gillian became a bit concerned about them taking so long, and she started wondering if they had fallen in one of the animal habitats. I told her that if they had, it wouldn't be the kids suffering out there, but the animal. Mami Lili would fight fiercely for her darling grandchildren.
When Mami Lili's group returned, we looked at some awesome birds, baboons, and of course had to check back with the tiger to see if he had escaped Mami Lili's protective instincts. We had a good laugh at that. The tiger was okay by the way; his languorous attitude had saved him ;)
After checking out most of the animals, I let Charlton and his siblings ride every ride they wanted, with breaks of cotton candy in between. For lunch time, we went out to eat hot dogs and ice cream. Charlton loved how his birthday celebration was going so far.
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| Gillian riding on the eagle, a common symbol between Albania and America. In fact, the word Shqiperi means the land of eagles. |
This year is family birthday celebration, but since Charlton was turning a special 5, I told him we could have over a couple of friends as playdates (I'm never good with following rules!). Jefferson and James took over entertaining the boys, and I worked on the cupcakes and got some pizza. It was very low key celebration, but Charlton thought it was the best!
Five best attributes we love about Charlton:
- He has the sweetest smile and eyes; just looking at them makes us happy.
- He has an amazing memory; if you told him something he will never forget it.
- He loves his siblings, and although he is much younger than them, he can hold his own. He has a special connection with each of his brothers and sister.
- He has a versatile personality; he loves for me to read to him for hours and he will stay calm and very attentive the whole time. He also loves playing by himself, or doing any arts and crafts that he fancies at the moment. On the other hand, he enjoys playing with his siblings tremendously, will rise up to the challenge of his older brothers (that's how he learned how to swim; forget paid private lessons), and his imagination makes him a strong leader with his peers.
- He cracks us up on a daily basis with his funny personality and precise way of thinking:
- He loves playing with my mother in her computer, and when she doesn't let him he either makes a pouty face or pretends crying. She totally knows he is throwing a subtle fit and shouldn't give in, but he's got her around his finger. When he did the same thing to me, I completely ignored him of course, and after crying for a few minutes he pulls his head out of the pillow to see where I was. When he noticed that I was still there, he said: "Why aren't you loving me? I've been crying for a while." I couldn't stop laughing, and I was very close to giving in as well. Almost.
- When I took him to school on the first day, we passed by this lady who was greeting each student saying" Welcome back!" Charlton stopped, looked at the lady, and then said: "I'm new in this school. I've been here before but not as a student. I'm in kindergarten now." The lady was speechless.
- When he went back to church on Sunday, after his birthday, he went straight to Primary President and said: "I'm five now; what class do I move in to?" When the Primary President told him that they stay in the same class till the end of the year, Charlton said: "I'm too big for that class. They are all babies." The funny thing is he is the youngest in that class!
- Yesterday when we went to the swimming pool, he was showing off his diving skills. At one point, he said: "Mom, look at me. I am a man." Well, that got my attention really quickly. I said "What do you mean?" Charlton with a very yearning face answered:"Jefferson told me if I dive in the deep end, I get to be a man. And James told me that if I swam from one end of the deep end to the other, I get to be the highest ranking of the man. I did both mom. Look at me." Oh my darling Charlton. You are such a gem!
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