Last week we celebrated Isaiah’s 5th birthday! We started out the celebration about three weeks ago with his birthday countdown calendar. Some of the special things he got to do included: new books, an audio recording of the original Peter Pan (I think they’ve listened to it 3 times already!), treats, a camp-out on the front porch with Josh, and making a cake.
Isaiah woke up before 5:30 the morning of his birthday and promptly woke up his siblings because he was so excited about the balloons that decorated his bunk-bed. We had Cheerios for breakfast, apple muffins for snacks, and he went on a errands run with Josh. At 3 we had a birthday party for Isaiah with all our neighborhood kids. First we played games, then continued with our Bible Club lesson, and then we had cake.
Supper included hot-dogs, mac & cheese, potato salad, and chips. After supper Isaiah got some gifts from our family (a favorite has been his real garden shovel – he goes all over the place digging with it). After gifts we finished the evening watching the 1960 Broadway version of Peter Pan starring Mary Martin. The kids loved it. They’ve spend hours acting like pirates.
This year Isaiah wanted a zebra cake. I was thankful to find an idea on the internet using cupcakes. The night I frosted the cake I had some trouble keeping bugs from flying onto the frosting and a mouse ran across my foot!
One of our goals for Isaiah this year was for him to ride a bike without training wheels. I was expecting to focus on that the second half of this year, but Isaiah was ready and started riding training-wheels-free a few months ago. (Which inspired Anna to actually start pedaling her tricycle). It was a community effort to teach him. Becca helped him a lot and a few of the neighbor children helped him out too. It is so fun to watch him ride. We love it.
Learning: Last month Isaiah finished the Pre-Level All About Reading. He’s been so excited to “do school.” Isaiah seems to have a good mind for math. He catches on to math concepts very quickly. He surprised me one day by counting to 100. On a recent sleep-over I had with him when Josh was away, Isaiah typed up a number chart from 1-100.
Books: This year Isaiah has enjoyed listening to audio versions of: the original Pinocchio, the original Peter Pan, The Princess and the Goblins, Briar Rabbit Stories, Kiplings’ Just So Stories, and several Focus on the Family Radio Theater productions. Currently Josh is reading through the Chronicles of Narnia to Isaiah for the first time. I’ve been reading several books by Eleanor Estes: Ginger Pye, The Moffats, and Rufus M.
Isaiah is a sweet, fun-loving boy who loves to help and is a good leader to his younger sisters (who love picking on him). We’re so thankful for the many ways we’ve seen Isaiah mature this year and learn to love more like Jesus. Happy Birthday to our little man. So thankful you’re our son.
