The Birthday Boy

Happy birthday to Tyler! Can you believe he's 12?!

Wasn't he just that happy little baby toddling around and discovering the world?!

He started his birthday celebration on Thursday with a trip out with Mamaw. We went to Mellow Mushroom where Mamaw allowed him to overindulge.

We had a very nice time. One of Tyler's gifts from Mamaw & Papaw was this shirt, which he loved & wore to school the next day. I think there should be rules about going to school before the sun rises!

On Friday he took in cupcakes to share with his class. This will probably be the last year he gets to take in a birthday treat. :'( I made creeper cupcakes. In case you don't know, a creeper is a character in the popular video game Minecraft. I don't get the attraction, but Tyler enjoys it and he thought most of his classmates would enjoy the Minecraft themed cupcakes. It was quite labor intensive, but he was pleased with how they turned out. I guess they tasted good, too, although I never got to try one.

Friday evening Grandma & Grandpa & Uncle Ron came over to celebrate. Grandma brought him a Minecraft themed cake, too. Tyler said the drawing was a little off, but he thought it was still pretty cool. We had a nice evening visiting together and celebrating 12 years of Tyler.

Today Tyler had his friend over to play video games. Unfortunately the game's server was offline the entire time he was here so things didn't go quite as they had planned, but they still had a nice time together. There has only been one other time that Tyler has asked to have someone over for his birthday, so this was actually pretty special.

Tonight we went out for dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant where Tyler got to wear the "lice hat" as we so lovingly call it. We go there often enough that they know us and one waiter always enjoys talking to Tyler. He had fun leading the singing and plopping the hat on Tyler's head. It was a fun dinner. Afterward we came home for presents and cake.

Opening his gift from Danielle this morning.

He was totally surprised by his gift - an iPod Touch.

 

I had big plans for Tyler's birthday cake this year but fizzled out after those tedious cupcakes. Instead I quickly cut the edges off a round layer cake and made another creeper face. Based on all the baked goods represented here, it may seem as though Tyler is addicted to this game. He does like to play it a lot, but he didn't ask for this to be his "theme". It is just so difficult to find anything he really likes, so when we do, we tend to cling to it with gusto!

Ron is taking the day off work next Friday so he and Tyler can visit the Airforce Museum as part of his birthday celebration, too. We just couldn't fit it in this week. He said this was his best birthday ever, which makes all the effort worth it. Tyler is such a special kid. ("Kid" doesn't really seem to fit so much any more.) I'm glad we could take a day to make him feel special.