The Piano Man Turns Twelve

We have a new 12 year old in the casa!  Alexander Blaise turned the big 1-2 this week and had "the second best birthday in my life" (the first best was when we took him to Great Wolf Lodge when he turned ten, in case you were wondering).

There are MAJOR perks to having older siblings who can drive and have money burning holes in their pockets, like when it's your birthday and they decide to give you gifts of quality time.  Maggie and Andrew took Xander out to breakfast where he ate the world's largest chocolate chip pancake and coffee milk:

Then JP took him to see the Spiderman movie in the theater, which has been on Xander's wish list this summer:

Eamon was working but bought him an Xbox gift card so that he could buy a game, along with a slightly inappropriate birthday card that X found hilarious.  Brothers FTW.

Then we had a pizza party with a lot of the cousins/aunts/uncles who happened to be in the area:

Plain Ruffles are his favorite chip!

Brendan asked why I was holding Xander like that.  I guess I'm trying to keep him little forever?

Then we walked down to the village to get dessert:

Xander could get anything he wanted at The Cottage, and he picked a small chocolate soft serve with jimmies.  "I just don't like huge desserts because they taste good at first but then you get sick of them".  Same, kid, same.  I will always choose an ice cream cone over a sundae.  Fifth children are practical :)

Of course, what is a birthday without presents?

Just a really depressing birthday, I suppose.

Xander is the hardest to shop for because he never wants to tell us what he wants in case he's disappointed.  So there's a lot of thinking required, but we usually nail it.  This year he got a headset for playing Xbox, the first two books of a series where the main character is named Alexander (which I didn't even realize when I bought the books, so that was a fun surprise!) and Koosh Flix Stix that he saw on his favorite show, Dude Perfect.

Phil wrapped up the last present with lots of tape and in a big box to try and throw Xander off:

When inside was a slip of paper saying that he could bring a friend to the trampoline park!  He was so excited!

To top it all off, he went to sleepover with cousins that night.  What a great 12th birthday for this great kid of ours.  Next up, braces!  His last baby tooth fell out and once it grows in, the orthodontist will put on his braces...which he's been dying to get since 3rd grade...and he desperately needs them, he has his mother's teeth!  We love you so much Alexander B, you hilarious joke-telling, piano prodigy.