The Baby Is A Whole Hand

for a whole five years, he has graced my life. after three, you would think you've been there, done that, seen it all, but he kept giving me things to learn, things to wonder, things to ponder upon. from his bird's chest and small airway and milk dripping for six months to his need to read and count and dance everyday.

not that i'm choosing one over another but akmal is just pure joy. he is lovely to have, wonderful to talk to, excellent to have around. he has his bad points, seriously he does - he's whiny, he's cries quite a bit, he can be an irritating shadow, he has some strong lazy bones in him - but he is just wonderful. ok, i don't actually know if that is true or its just that 'youngest child' syndrome i seem to suffer from but let's just entertain the blogger and go with the former.

akmal's been looking forward to his birthday. its been quietly tucked away because he had his school trip the week before but once that was over he became excited again asking about his birthday. he's pretty easy to entertain, they all are actually, he doesn't ask for much. he just said he'd love to have a jake and the neverland pirates party and hinted strongly he would love the jake lego set that's been airing on telly.

i got a friend to bake his jake cuppies for school. then i got another friend to do a simple jake thank you stickers for his party packs. his party packs were pretty easy to do, just a box of milo, a pack of cookies, a party toy and a pirate tattoo. i did 30 sets within an hour. unfortunately the thank you stickers did not arrive on time and i put a pictured sellotape instead.

on the way to school, he asked if i was coming to school to celebrate his birthday. i gave him a hard time, asking who is doing a party, who is getting a cake, what about his party packs. he got a bit upset and i said, let's see if i have time this morning. when i came to school bearing cuppies, party packs and a tub of fries for his friends, he was absolutely excited.

he went around giving out the pirate party hats and the party packs, smiling widely when his classmates sang the birthday song. it was a short and sweet party for him but he was so happy, repeating 'i love my party' throughout the day.

we opted not to go out for dinner like other birthdays. instead, we got food delivered from our favourite birthday dinner outlet. while the boys bathed, i set up the table with the food, cuppies of his favourite colours - red and purple, his birthday gift and leftover party packs for the four boys.

his brothers of course we excited beyond words to surprise him. when they led him to the dinner table, akmal was glowing and laughing and smiling. and he didn't stop saying 'i love my birthday and my party'. ah so easy to please, all the more reason to adore him.