Xander's Stinky 11th Birthday

 Alexander Blaise turned eleven yesterday!  Eleven years since my *almost* 9 pounder came barrelling out into this world and then had to bake under the lights for five days in the hospital because of his jaundice.  Those were some rough days, but he pulled through and became the most hysterical boy ever, and his siblings all adored him.  He lived for being the center of attention:

 

   And recharged by sucking his thumb while pressing a tag of some sort to his upper lip...even if the tag was on a bag of garlic:

There, that's better.

 

Alexander is also the most quoted child on this blog.  I can still remember when Xander was a toddler, Eamon said "We would be nothing without Xander" and we still feel that way.

The boy brings a lot of laughter to our family.  Just the other day, I was telling one of my sisters that Brendan seemed talented in art.  I said "When I see all of the Kindergartners pictures hung on the wall, I can always tell which one is his." Xander quipped, "Because his name's on it."  He loves jokes, and has hundreds memorized ready to pull out at a moment's notice.  The kids gave him cards and small gifts (candy) and Xander said "All of my birthday cards have jokes.  It's like they get me."

Eamon (age 15) drew him this...complete with a "A quote for 11 year olds: Being eleven stinks because you have to use your toes to show how old you are".  I couldn't stop laughing at that, hence the title of this post.

Andrew (age 17) took Brendan (age 5) to the store to pick out a card and this is what they settled on:

Xander usually complains that nobody ever knows it's his birthday, since it falls during the summer and not during the school year, but this week he had sailing camp, so we picked up some munchkins for his group to share which made him a happy camper indeed. 

For dinner he chose Nick's meatball pizza and a homemade macaroon torte which was as delicious as it was ugly:

Xander didn't ask for anything specific for his birthday because he likes to be surprised and not disappointed (his words) and he was very not disappointed to receive the following gifts...

Fitbit

Vacuum 

(this was supposed to be a joke gift, as his chore is to vacuum the stairs, but he actually was so glad to get it!)

Harry Potter Books

Crocs

Nintendo Switch Sports game

We love you so much Xander B.  You amaze us with your quick wit, brilliant mind, piano-playing prowess, emotional heart, and ambitious ways.  Never stop being true to yourself because you're exactly who God intended you to be.  You are one of a kind and we are lucky to have you as part of our family.

P.S. Fifth children rock!!