It always feels weird to me to send Daniel to school on his birthday because it's so different from the type of day Edward has on his. But off he went with a bowl full of pineapple cut into star shapes to share with his Kindergarten class.

By quirk of calendar, an all-school fun night sponsored by the PTO at our community gym fell on Daniel's birthday this year. On the one hand--the whole school is having a party on your birthday, yea! On the other hand, there's not much time between the end of the school day and the start of the fun night and you still have to fit in presents and a pizza dinner with Grandma and Grandpa. Thankfully, they were gracious about our lightning speed celebration and dash out the door.

I wish I had video of Daniel opening gifts because even these smiles don't capture his pure joy in shouting, "Oh, wow, this is great! THANK YOU!!" as each present emerged from its wrapping.

 

 No more squabbles over taking turns on Edward's Razor scooter!

This is our attempt to indulge Daniel's rhythmic and musical interests while somewhat preserving our sanity (and hearing.)

Even with a box full of Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, we didn't have any planes! I never even realized this, but Grandma always seems to find just the item to fill a gap in our collection.

Edward was much more restrained about Daniel's birthday this year--sign of maturity? Whatever it is, we'll take it if it just means a scooter cruise around the living room rather than a full body meltdown!

Just after Christmas, John received a reminder of a Groupon for Coldstone Creamery that was about to expire. Daniel, who is still very susceptible to any suggestion made in a breathless "you won't believe how lucky you are" tone, helpfully agreed to an ice cream cake for his 6th birthday.

When it looked like he was ready to plant his face in his plate so as not to leave any remnants, I handed him a spatula. I mean, a boy only has a 6th-birthday ice cream cake once, right?

Well, actually, this cake was so rich (and not gluten-free--sorry, Grandpa!) that half of it was stashed in the freezer so he ended up enjoying it twice.

So then on to the school party--bounce house, roller skating, and running around like maniacs with his friends for two hours. A very happy birthday indeed. Actual birthday party with friends forthcoming in the summer, when we can celebrate 6 1/2 in the best possible way--OUTSIDE!