Dane turns 9

 (I'm ashamed to say a technician came to the house on Wednesday to tell me the phone cord wasn't plugged in all the way. What, no working internet for 5 days because of that?! Owen.... I laughed a nervous laugh to hide my shame, he laughed and said he always welcomes easy work. Yay for internet after 5 days offline!)

 Dane turned 9 on Monday, the Labor Day holiday. Which is a double bonus for him when that happens, no school. It's not his year for a friend party (whew) so we kept it very low key with a small family party.

We started the day with his favorite breakfast. A jalapeno bagel. I made an early morning run to Yoke's only to find they were already out of (or didn't make any) his favorite treat. I dug through the day old basked and yahoo, they had one. It was completely stale but he was none the wiser and at it proudly.

 I love this photo of him opening a few presents from his older brother. Nathan came to me last week about spending some of his own money to buy Dane a couple presents. He was even willing to withdraw some from the bank! He bought him a couple 'cool' matchbox cars and this water bottle Dane had seen at the store and liked. Most of all I love the look on Nathan's face here. Real, true brotherly love.

 Yeah, money! At the last minute I couldn't decide what to get him so part of his present was turned into cash. He was happy. He did have a birthday meltdown when he realized we weren't making it to the store Monday night. He. was. crushed. I told him we'd go the next day after school.

 We all went outside to watch Dane ride his new bike and I was smitten with Owen (again). Cheese!

He almost looks like a different baby to me when his eyes are big and he's not smiling. He's adorable either way, I know that! I believe these blue eyes are going to be lady killers one day.

 I started to panic Monday night. Tuesday is our packed day with two soccer practices and scouts and I knew the store was the last place I wanted to shop with kids. Especially Dane, his money burns a hole in his pocket but he cannot decide where to spend it. You can see his brain wrest with the possibilities. After the kids had gone to school in the morning it hit me, I could check Dane out at his lunch time and take him to Target to spend his moola. While I was waiting for him to get up to the office, a friend came into the office for something else and offered to keep Reed so we weren't shopping with a 4 year old. So nice!

Your baby doesn't sit in the cart like this?? Mr. Owen does and he gets plenty of stares/comments about his squishy, flexible legs. He looks so comfy, I think?

Dane picked out a set of walkie talkies and a Skylander for his Wii game. He was 'gently' persuaded to buy these talkies from Nathan. There is no one Dane would rather play with than Nate so it was a pretty easy job to convince his this is where his money should go. They've had fun with them already so I guess it's a win-win purchase.

Dane is one funny, energetic, adorable, messy, snuggly, smart boy. He tries and tests my patience but in the end he always makes me laugh. Just tonight he was stalling to get in bed (pet peeve) and he quoted a whole conversations from Little Rascals (voices and all). I tried not to laugh and be stern but I couldn't do it. He's too funny. I'm blessed to be this little boy's mother. Love you so much buddy!