Happy Birthday Sean!

Everyone knows how much Sean LOVES Thomas. So it wasn’t hard to figure out what to use as a theme for his birthday this year. We actually celebrated Sean’s birthday twice this year-once on Friday and then again on Saturday. I don’t think he minded too much. He actually walked around the house singing “Happy Birthday” to himself for almost an entire week. It was really sweet. On Friday, we did a lunch pizza party for Sean’s class at school. We decorated the tables with Thomas covers, used Thomas plates and napkins, and topped it all off with a Thomas cake and Thomas goody bags. It was three-year-old heaven. But before we could get started, we had a little bit of clean-up to do. You see, Sean loves to play in dirt. Sean also sweats a lot. So when Sean found a pile of dirt on the playground after he had been running around getting sweaty, this is what happened:

Kind of reminds me of a chimney sweep from Mary Poppins. I don’t know why we bothered to clean him off, he just ended up replacing the dirt with pizza sauce and cake frosting, but he had fun doing it. He was so excited to have everyone singing to him.

On Saturday, we celebrated by taking Sean for a special birthday dinner at Chevy’s (a Mexican restaurant). The Mays (our neighbors) came with us. Once the waiter found out it was Sean’s birthday, you can guess what happened next. The entire wait staff came out to clap and sing to Sean, and they gave him a sombrero to wear. He loved it!

Then we came back home for more cake and ice cream, and of course, presents!

When Sean isn’t playing with Thomas, he spends his time playing with the Geo Trax system that has taken over our basement. So in honor of his birthday, the Geo Trax family welcomed several new members. Sean had a smile from ear to ear all evening as he played with them. My goodness, how that smile warms your heart.

Sean has made a lot of progress over the past year. He went from hardly being able to tolerate solid foods to loving crunchy carrots and potato chips. He went from barely being able to communicate, to stringing together three and four-word sentences. His speech still has a long way to go, but where he was tip-toeing with baby steps, he is now jumping with leaps and bounds.

One of Sean’s favorite games to play with me is “Hang On.” Basically, Sean wraps his arms around my neck and his legs around my waist as I spin him around without holding on to him. (Thus the only way to avoid being flung up against a wall is to “hang on”. Not that I would actually let him fall, but you get the point). Every time he wraps me in one of those big bear hugs, I think to myself, someday, he won’t want to hug me anymore. He will be “too big” and it won’t be “cool”. So while I am so proud and pleased with the progress he has made, I’m not ready for him to grow up just yet. I’m hoping he’ll ‘hang on’ just a little longer. So Happy Birthday Sean-Sean. As your supply of energy is endless, so is my love for you. You are small, but mighty, tough, but oh so loving, and everyone who meets you wants to take you home for their own. But you are mine, and even when you don’t realize it, I’ll always be hanging on.