Five.

My baby boy turned five this month.  How can that be?

He counted down to his birthday for about three months, he was so excited.  When the day finally came, he was one happy kid.

We told him he could pick where we went for dinner, and of all the options out there, he chose McDonald's.  Go figure.  The boy really wanted a Happy Meal.  At least it was easy on the pocket book!

We came home after dinner and had cupcakes and opened presents.  Daniel was thrilled with his rain boots and his lightsaber.  In fact, he was so excited about his rain boots that he wore them to school all that week, although it wasn't raining.  He was wearing them with his jammies when I found him the next morning.  So cute!

We had his party the following Saturday.  Since our life is a little crazy right now, we decided to have his party somewhere else.  I wasn't prepared to have that many little ones over to our house, and honestly didn't feel up to the preparation and execution.  We ended up having his party at a gymnasium for little kids, and it worked out perfectly.  A leader led the kids (14 of them!) in a fun class for about an hour, and then the last half hour we had cake and ice cream and opened presents.

Daniel loves Angry Birds, so I tried my hand at making an Angry Birds cake this year.  In a flash of brilliance, I decided to buy the actual cake from Costco - a chocolate sheet cake - and then just decorate it myself.  It worked out great!  I made the birds and pigs out of Rice Krispy Treats, covered in fondant, which I colored myself.  It was time consuming, but sort of fun.  Like edible play dough!  We thought it turned out pretty cool:

I worked so hard on those birds, I almost hated to cut the cake!  They were technically completely edible, but even I didn't want to eat them, knowing how much they were handled.  :-)

Dan was pleased with his cake and generally had a great day.  In lieu of the dreaded Goodie Bag (can I get an Amen, mamas?), we handed out cans of Play-Doh to the party guests, with a custom label thanking them for coming.  Hey, if you ever need a custom label template for a regular Play-Doh can, let me know.  I made one.  Break free from the tyranny of the Goodie Bag!  This was so easy and pretty cheap, too.

What can I say about Daniel?  Danny is such a little light in our family - he really is an entertainer.  He is so loving with all of us and tells me he loves me every day, usually right out of the blue. (For example, today we were driving in the car and out of nowhere he said, "Mom?  I love you."  It doesn't get any better than that.)  He gives wonderful big hugs.  He loves his baby sister so much and is always gentle and helpful with her.  Daniel can also be rather stubborn and is not easily swayed when he sets his mind to something.  We hope his stubbornness will parley into determination and be an asset to him someday! Daniel is fun and enthusiastic and we love having him in our family.  Happy birthday, Danny Boy!