Tony P.'s Big Day

As promised, here is more about the big birthday of our little man.

We were leaving for Mexico the day after his actual birthday, so we had the party that day as well. It was a pretty big day - out for breakfast with dad (as is the tradition at our house), Tiger birthday party all morning, nap in the afternoon, then out to dinner with Grandpa. As soon as he went to sleep, PWL and I started packing frantically for our trip (I had the kids all packed two days earlier - a testament to the fact that even when given the opportunity to prepare in advance, I still procrastinate when it comes to myself!). It was a big day, but I have never been so happy to be celebrating a birthday. It was 6 months on February 2 since his heart surgery, and even though we were in Mexico, we both thought about him a lot and were so thankful that he is happy and healthy now.

On their way out for breakfast. I think it was -27, and snowing like crazy, but we went ahead with the party anyway, and all but one of the boys invited were still able to come. I was so glad!

The boys at the party. We played a game where PWL threw a squishy ball across the room, and then told the boys who was allowed to run over and get it. That's it - that's the whole game, but they had a blast. We probably could have just played that the whole time and they wouldn't have cared at all.

I wanted to include this picture because it was taken the day before his surgery, 6 months ago. He has gained 10 pounds since then and is really thriving, but I will never forget this day, with all of the apprehension and fear surrounding it, but being able to have a good time in spite of everything that was looming ahead of us.

I'm sure I'm not the only parent who feels like time is going by too fast when my kids are growing up. I often tell them that they need to stop growing, but they continue to laugh at me and think that growing up is such a great thing. The only thing that is different with Tony P. is that even though I am nostalgic about his baby and toddler years, I am continually amazed and grateful that he is growing up. He has come so far is such a short amount of time, and unless I'm looking at his scar, it is easy for me to forget that we were in such a different place not even a year ago. He is a delight and we are blessed to have him in our family. The other day we went to visit a friend who just had a baby, and on the way there he informed me that he had thought of the name for our next baby (and to dispel any rumors that may arise from that sentence, let me just say that we are not having another baby, it was just his thought process). He told me the name was "Bulon" (he had just made it up), and it would be a "pretty cool name" for the baby. When I asked him if we should have another one, he said "Yeah mom. Moms always have another baby when their other kid gets to be bigger." I didn't have a rational argument against that, so I just told him it was a really cool name, and am hoping he'll forget the conversation. When we got to the friends' house, he got to hold the baby, must to his delight, and then jumped down to play. A little while later he came back in the room to tell the baby's mom "Hey. I like your baby. He's pretty cool." To Tony P., everything is pretty cool, or else is worthy of a ninja chop and a good punch from whatever Justice League super hero he is pretending to be at that moment. He is all boy, a bundle of energy, a hilarious conversationalist, and altogether a delight in our family. I'm thankful for him every day, (even when he is running full tilt away from me in public and I am chasing him) and am glad we got to celebrate his big day...tiger party and all.