Cannon's Birthday

Cannon turned six this year and he had three birthday parties! The first one was a family party when we were in Austin. And I am so sad that I forgot to take pictures!

The second "party" was on his actual birthday. He went to school that day and I had made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for his class birthday snack. He also got a birthday crown from his teacher. For dinner that night we said he could pick a restaurant and he picked Torchy's for dinner and Sonic for dessert. He got to open his present from us, which was Magna Tiles. He loves to build and create things and they have been played with everyday since then!

The third party we had was with his friends. He pretty much planned the whole thing himself. He really just wanted to have all his friends come over and play, so that's what we did! He wanted to set up an obstacle course in the backyard, do face painting, play outside, and have food. It was so simple, but so much fun! It really turned out perfect. The kids played in the backyard most of the time and we had fruit kabobs and juice boxes for snacks. Then Ryan picked up pizza for lunch and then we had his cake (a homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream cake - by his request). They had so much fun running and playing and inventing their own games.

Cheetahs, Hello Kitty, and a Ninja Turtle

They made their own  obstacle course and lined themselves up. Kids are so competent!

The kids that were able to come were: Treyson, Jay, Luke, Kai, Rorey, Jonathan, Hunter, Eli, Nathan, and Ryker. All the kids seemed to have fun and Cannon did not want anyone to go home.

Every year I say this, but I can't believe how old Cannon is! I can't believe I have a six year old! He has so many wonderful qualities and his personality seems to manifest itself more and more each year. Here are some things that describe Cannon:

• He is athletic (not a quality that come from me or Ryan); he loves sports, particularly swimming, biking, and running.
• He has his own ideas about things and it's very hard to persuade him otherwise.
• He likes to be a leader and likes to make decisions about things. His school teacher said that he became a leader in the classroom.
• He loves his friends and he thrives on being with other children. His best friend is Treyson, who lives on our street. They like to ride bikes together, play in the woods across the street, and make up new ways to play.
• He likes to invent and create things. He spends hours each day building with Legos. He likes to buy sets, but he also likes to use those pieces to make his own creations.
• He is obsessed with the Broadway version of Lion King. He loves to watch videos of how they make the costumes and he loves to listen to the songs. He's actually never seen the Disney movie, but became interested in it because of a play book that I kept from when Ryan and I saw the Broadway play a long time ago.
• He is intense and sensitive. He is such a deep thinker and feels emotions so deeply, so much so that it's hard for him to transition or to come up with a new solution when things aren't going the way they want. His feelings can get hurt easily and it's very easy for him to get nightmares from movies (which is why he doesn't watch much TV or movies). He also asks very deep and spiritual questions and we have had very deep conversations.
• He is really into telling "tall tales" maybe because he doesn't want to get in trouble or maybe because he enjoys making up stories to get reactions out of people.
• Family is so important to him and he loves to spend time with relatives.
• He loves animals and seems to create special bonds with dogs, like Dyson.
• He likes to travel and visit new places.
• He is very independent. He likes to play in the front yard by himself and ride his bike with Treyson. He decided that he is old enough to fly on an airplane alone. In his mind, he has been planning a trip in which he flies to Ohio, alone, to see Cole. After thinking about it, he decided it would be better to fly from NYC instead of from Austin, because (in his own words) "if I fly from Austin I might have to take two planes and if I fly from New York I will only have to take one and I think one plane is better for me."

We love Cannon so much! In many ways, he is so different from Ryan and me, but because of that he is able to teach us so much about life.