Tyler's 5th Birthday!

Tyler's birthday, June 4th, fell on a Saturday this year, so that worked out nicely. We kept our celebration plans simple, but still tried to make it special for our big birthday boy.

We started the day with a sibling class and tour at the hospital where I will be delivering the baby. I delivered Tyler and Nathan at a different hospital, so I thought the tour would be beneficial for both Tim and I. When crunch time arrives in a few weeks, it will be very helpful to know where to park and check-in.

The class for the boys was just a bonus. The class leader talked about the proper way to hold a baby and the different things the big siblings can do to help Mommy and Daddy take care of the baby. Then they each got to make a craft to welcome the baby.

While I helped Nathan make a sign that said "Happy Birthday", Tyler chose to spell out "Batman" on his. Funny boy. I'm not sure what that has to do with the baby, but he thinks the baby will like it.

Lunch was a special treat for Tyler. He chose to go to McDonald's (or "Old McDonald's" as his brother calls it every single time he sees the golden arches anywhere) because he wanted to get a Kung Fu Panda 2 toy in his happy meal. He also raves about the sliced apples as if we don't have sliced apples all the time at home. He doesn't even like the caramel dipping sauce that comes with them, so I'm not sure what makes them so special. In any case, it was his birthday, so he got to pick where we ate.

That afternoon we met Nana, Papa, Uncle Jon, Coop and Gabe at the movie theater so we could watch Kung Fu Panda 2. My boys are big fans of the first Kung Fu Panda, so they'd been talking about watching the sequel for months. Tyler wanted to sit between Uncle Jon and Cooper during the movie, but before they arrived I snapped a photo of Tyler and Nathan looking so happy.

According to my brother, Tyler had a huge smile on his face for most of the movie. He just loved it, especially all the fight scenes. Nathan sat by me, so I could see for myself that his eyes only left the screen a couple times, and that was just to get more popcorn.

After the movie, we paused in front of these 2 movie displays. How could we pass up the opportunity to take a picture with Green Lantern and Optimus Prime? Superheroes and Transformers are 2 of my boys' favorite toys, even though they've never seen any of the live action movies.

Cooper has held a special place in Tyler's heart from the time Tyler was just 1 year old. Four years later and they're still good buddies.

Right after the movie we all headed back to our house to have dinner, cake and ice cream! Auntie Becki and Eliza met us there, too. Tyler picked out a Star Wars cake from SuperTarget, which Uncle Jon referred to as a "big boy cake". It's true--any cake that has prominently displayed weapons has to be a big boy cake. The light sabers even lit up by the touch of a button. Tyler also picked out his own balloons from Party City. I just told him how many he could pick and he took it from there.

After cake it was time for presents. Since Tyler and Nathan's birthdays are exactly 5 weeks apart, I felt like we had just been through all of this by the time we got to Tyler's birthday. The guests probably felt the same way, but Cooper, Gabe and Eliza were still so excited to see their cousin's presents. Nathan was more interested in the Luke and Darth Vader figurines that had decorated the cake.

Tyler received several Lego Star Wars gifts because that's what he wanted. He LOVES Legos, especially the Star Wars sets. He's really good at putting the sets together, even though most of them are for 7 years+, and he and Nathan both love playing with the little Lego men.

One of his favorite gifts was the Lego Star Wars C3-PO watch that his cousins gave him. He can't tell time yet, but having this watch just might help him learn.

Other gifts included a construction worker costume that I got at TJMaxx on clearance after Halloween last year (hence the bright orange vest in the photos above and below) and foam sabers that the boys can pretend are light sabers. I originally got them so the boys could use those in their pretend play in place of the plastic baseball bats they normally use, but we found out that they much prefer to team up against their unarmed dad. At the end of the day, it's the best game for squeezing out the last bit of energy they might have (and by "they", I mean all 3 of them). Can you guess what Tim wants for Father's Day? If you guessed his very own foam saber, you'd be correct. He has taken quite a beating lately because his boys don't hold anything back when they're going up against Dad.

And one more picture of our big 5-year-old. I already know I'll be able to count on him to help me when the baby arrives. He already looks after Nathan and does so much to help his little brother. I'm always hearing Tyler tell Nathan, "I can help you," whether it's turning on a light, helping him with a toy, or drawing a picture of Star Wars characters just so that Nathan can draw their light sabers. What a good big brother!