March 2, 2010. I don’t know who was more excited for this day to come, Graham, the kids, or ME! In the days leading up he and I talked ALL about it. I had a certificate to Build-A-Bear so I described to him how he would get to make his own bear. We talked about the cupcakes and the presents and on and on and on and ON! He never tired of this birthday talk. Since he doesn’t go to bed until he can see that everyone else is asleep he was still up as Matt was hanging streamers the night before and I was icing cupcakes. He didn’t know what I was going to do with the cupcakes though and so it was a surprise to him the next day to see them arranged like balloons carrying the house from “UP.” That seems an easy enough name to call the movie but he insists on calling it by the old man’s name so instead of calling the movie “UP” he calls it “Mr. Fredrickson.” As soon as he saw the house under the cupcakes he pointed, “Mr. Fredrickson!” I had seen this on Family Fun’s website the day before and knew it was exactly what I wanted to do. The following Friday night Mallerie had a birthday party to go to where all the girls had pitched in to buy a rip stick for her friend Maddy. Mallerie still wanted to bring something to the party though so we made another one of these houses with cupcakes since they would be watching “UP” at the party!
Back to Graham, the day Matt and I went to the Temple I had run into Kid-to-Kid and found a huge Lego set for $12. It wasn’t “Lego” brand so I feared it wouldn’t fit with the Lego’s we have but to my relief it does. I was planning on having him open it after the kids got home from school but as soon as I finished waving good-bye to them on the driveway I could hear paper tearing in the dining room. So we spent the day using the directions to build the tractors and jeeps. Graham would point, “Make that!” and I’d begin. I got three of the vehicles made, which took me all day while the kids were at school. A lady came over to deliver her daughters Girl Scout cookies and I still had wrapping paper strewn all over the floor cause I was building! I am tempted to glue the vehicles together because while he’s playing with them I’m afraid he’ll drop them and they’ll fall apart. When pieces do come off you can bet I know exactly where they go.
As soon as Matt came home that evening we loaded the rest of the gifts and the cupcakes into the van to take to Pirate Island in Orem. I’ve sure heard a lot about that place and thought this the perfect occasion to try it out. For a pretty plain looking building on the outside, it sure is decked out on the inside. We enjoyed the arcade. That basketball game is more fun than I remember it being. The kids bought prizes with their tickets. Matt brought Callie to me afterwards and she was holding a tiny bouncy ball the exact size of her esophagus. I took it, “She can’t have that, she’ll choke. Who gave it to her?” Matt’s sheepish reply, “I did.” Oops. From Pirate Island we went across the parking lot to the mall for Build-A-Bear. Once inside the store he was wowed by everything and had a hard time focusing on anything like picking a bear. This made it easy to select the cheapest one. The girls loved helping him get it stuffed and washed while Katrina made the birth certificate on the computer. The name he chose for the bear is “Jammies.” Matt took the kids out to sit down while I paid and they dressed Jammies (I had brought the clothes from home.) As I sat down Matt commented that Graham didn’t really seem too into the bear and wondered if it was worth it. I told him it was since I had the certificate I only had to pay tax, which was .69 cents. Since that day Jammies has gotten about .69 cents worth of attention.
Grayson gave Graham a bag of pennies for his birthday. These proved useful at the fountail for Graham to make a wish. Though after such a fun day I doubt he had anything left to wish for.
More on Graham:
Graham don’t do what Graham don’t want to do! The next day at his three-year check up he got up and left while the doctor was talking to me. He politely shut the door behind him. I went out to find him in the waiting room playing happily.
More recently he had to get his first cavity filled. I could forget a bout crocheting in the waiting room since I again had to pin him down while they drilled. I thought he would do fine since he had the laughing gas and was very loopy as he waited for the doctor. He didn’t.
