Solomon is 8!

I can hardly believe it, but Solomon turned 8 yesterday.  Where has the time gone?!?!?!  Last night when I was kissing him goodnight he asked if I liked 2-year-old or 8-year-old Solomon better.  Gah, kid.  Tough question.  I defaulted to liking them both equally and throwing out fun things about both the 2 and 8-year-old Solomon that I enjoy/ed.  Then he told me I had to choose…when push came to shove I chose the 8-year-old Solomon to which he replied, “I knew it.”  Our big kids are just at such fun ages and we’ve got a two-year-old who is currently losing her mind and throwing massive fits every dang day all day long.  Give me all the big kids of the world.

Solomon planned his day to a tee.  Josh Kelley kicked his day off with a killer Pokemon birthday door.  The tradition lives on.  He chose fun cereals for breakfast…which one was chocolate shredded wheat…it still makes me laugh.  Hudson has been feeling pretty yuck lately so he stayed home from school and Solomon had a doctor’s visit right in the middle of his lunchtime, so I let him pick a quick lunch spot.  McDonalds for the win.

Since he missed lunchtime at school on his birthday, today Amon and our littlest ate lunch with him and he shared ice-cream cups with all his classmates.  By the way, I love 2nd graders.  We had so much fun chatting and I loved hearing all their little thoughts.

Hudson can’t do dairy anymore so we hardly ever have pizza.  Wah wah.  When I asked Sol what he wanted to eat for his birthday dinner he said, “I want that good pizza over by where we get jelly beans.”  I totally thought he was referring to a little local pizza shop that is delicious, but when I said the name he said, “No the other pizza place across from there.  You know, it has the little cave man holding a stick with a pizza box stuck to it?!?!”  Uhhhhh, Little Caesars?!?!?!?!  Is that really the good pizza he is referring too?!?!?!  Why yes, yes it was, but he made sure to add an order of bread sticks to his order as well.  So we dropped $15 on his birthday dinner.

We don’t do parties every year, so when we don’t we let the birthday kid pick something fun for us to do as a family.  Solomon chose Jumpstreet…aka giant building full of trampolines.  After dinner we headed out and they had so much fun jumping their hearts out.  And there was even a mechanical bull they all got to ride.  I laughed SOOOOO hard.

Then we headed home to enjoy homemade brownies, Reeces peanut butter ice-cream, homemade chocolate sauce, whip cream, sprinkles and cherries.  Hudson ate jelly beans.  Poor kid.

This morning Solomon walked in our room and met me as I just had crawled out of bed.  He wrapped me up in one of his good hugs he always gives and said, “Thanks for making my day so great yesterday.”  This kid you guys.  He has suffered so much loss is his little life and it has not been easy on his heart.  He has questions and sadness and rightly so.  We are all working towards healing and helping him work out all those massively big and hard and straight up unfair feelings an 8-year-old should never have to feel, but his little heart is strong and kind and brave.  He absolutely amazes us.  He makes us laugh so hard and he is such a helper.  We are seriously the luckiest parents on the planet.

Solomon James Altaseb, you are a joy!!!!  God has been so good to our family by adding you to it.  We wouldn’t be us without you!  Love you to pieces and happiest 8th birthday.