Kid explosion

Thanks to all of you who came to help celebrate Colin's 5th birthday. As I mentioned during the party, I'm not sure whether I'm more surprised that Colin is 5 or that we have 3 kids already! Where has the time gone? It felt like just yesterday that we were waking up at 3 am and changing diapers in the dark. Oh, wait a minute -- that's what we were doing last night. :-)

Naomi and Isaac were patiently waiting to go home after a long hard day of eating, partying, and bouncing in the Biggy Purple Diny (as Naomi referred to the bouncy house).

Hmmm...which piece do I want?

Colin and Kaitlyn carefully examine the birthday cake to figure out which piece they would want. We had quite a diversity: some wanted maximum frosting, others wanted color. Johanna decided she wanted the wheel.

In case it's hard to tell, that's supposed to be a race car even though it looks a little more like a potato or shoe. Maybe the regular cake decorator got sick? :-)

Time to go home

Ryan and Marissa carefully make their way down the stairs. We had a few kids go up and down the stairs barefoot or in their socks. But it was ok because I had just power-washed them. It's amazing how dirty the stairs and driveway were. I'll have to see if I can dig up a "before" picture.

(Thanks, John and Amy, for lending us the power washer -- amusingly, Colin called it the "power ranger").

The purple bouncy house

The kids had a fabulous time romping, bumping, jumping, singing, story-telling, and just sitting in the big purple bouncy house. Colin hand-picked this model and was particularly proud that he picked a version that Katie would like as well. Both kids are big fans of dinosaurs (though have not quite reached the encyclopedic stage of their fascination -- I'm sure that's coming), and Katie's favorite color is purple.

We don't permit the kids to watch Barney, so we just called this the "Purple Dino Bouncy House." When we finally pulled the plug on the air blower, Katie burst into tears. I had to explain that the purple dino was tired and wanted to take a nap, which is exactly what the deflation process looked like. This seemed to satisfy her. Thankfully, she did exactly the same afterwards.

Divine secrets of the FBC sisterhood

Here's a gaggle (quartet?) of girls sitting at the entrance to the bouncy house of a long afternoon of bouncing, jumping, story-telling, and singing. Everyone played very nicely together, and the older girls were especially careful to make sure the littler kids weren't trampled underfoot. Ah, thoughtfulness: one of the benefits FBC's bumper crop of girls. Not to say that our boys are bad; it's just nice for them to be in a nurturing environment at this age. :-)

Bouncy house fun

The last couple of times Katie has played in bouncy houses at other people's parties, I've gone with her. This was her first solo effort, and she was quite proud of being able to jump around herself. (Not that she didn't enjoy going tandem with daddy too...)

Happy birthday, Colin!

Here are the 5 of us at Colin's birthday bash. Colin had a wonderful time celebrating with his friends, so thanks to everyone who came out.

If we look a little drained, it's not really the party's fault. More Cameron's um, pre-party jitters the night before. Normally, he's been an ok sleeper (for a baby, that is) -- up about every 3 hours but not generally fussy in between feedings. Except for yesterday, when he wanted to be cuddled about about 3 and 5 am.

Overall, though, we're pleased at our transition from a family of 4 to a family of 5. The kids love having di di (little brother in Mandarin) around, and always want to shower affection on him . These days, their favorite ways of expressing their affection is kissing him on the head -- which is better than something they used to do more often, which was to deposit a big stuffed animal or construction vehicle on his chest.)