Happy 5th Birthday, Eddison Wilde!

Happy 5th Birthday, Eddison Justin Wilde! 

Dear Eddison,

Hold the phone - you're FIVE years old now?!  Where have the past five years gone, little Eddie-O?  You are growing like a weed and even though you are very quickly becoming more energetic by the day (if that's possible!), you are still a cuddle-bug who will surprise me with random hugs and reassurances that you love me (and Daddy).  You are quick to tell me when, "This is the best day ever!"  But you are just as quick to inform us when, "This is the worst day ever!"  I love your expressions, Eddie-O... You make the best happy face with a smile so big that your eyes almost disappear and when we tickle you your laugh is still one of the greatest sounds in the world.  

Some of your current favorite things are the iPad, Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, the Wii (are we seeing a trend here?), but you still love to play on the trampoline with Jack.  Especially now that you can, "Take Jack down."  You'll also happily (most of the time) tag along with Jack as he digs for worms and makes "stew pie" outside.  Just the other day you ran in covered in dirt to inform me, "Mom, we're digging to the center of the earth!  We may hit some ice."  It was so funny and cute!  

Eddie - you are SO smart!  You love to sit with Jack while he does his homework and there have been quite a few times where you have actually helped him complete it.  Sometimes your intelligence catches us off guard as you'll casually say or do something so unexpected and impressive that Daddy and I are left looking at each other saying, "Did you teach him that?"  You retain SO much and have an amazing long-term memory.  I just wish your mental acuity would rub off on your physical coordination a little more. . . Yep, you are still our accident prone kid!  Along with walking into walls (which you still do from time to time when you're not paying attention) you have had a couple of recent injuries that leave me scared for what the future will bring!  Just a couple of months ago you were "flying" off of my bed after bath time and you somehow managed to land with your tongue sticking out and to the left - causing you to bite a large hole through your tongue.  I quickly grabbed a towel to stop the bleeding and took you downstairs to call daddy (who was working late).  After you calmed down (which you did in no time once I turned SpongeBob on) I took the towel out and got a good look at the wound and decided that you needed to go to Urgent Care.  So daddy raced home and away we went!  Even the doctor was impressed (and confused) at your injury!  Little did he know that if anyone was going to find a way to defy injury-logic it would be my Eddie!  

Luckily, he decided not to do stitches that night, but instead opted to give you a couple of days to see if it would start to heal on it's own.  If it were to start looking infected I would have had to take you back for stitches.  I was also told you would probably be in too much pain to sleep or eat for a couple of days since a tongue injury is hard to ignore (what with it being in your mouth and all), but wouldn't you know that you were already half-asleep by the time we got home and totally out by the time daddy got back from the pharmacy with your prescription grade lidocane.  The next day you wanted to go to preschool, had chocolate milk, and seemed almost completely un-phased by the huge hole in your swollen tongue.  But that's my Eddie.  My hypothesis is that you've had so many random injuries throughout your accident prone life that you've just naturally learned to 'shake it off'.  And while that's a good thing, little bug, it also scares me about what to expect next!  I can only hope this year will bring more coordination (and luck!) to your self-preservation skills. :)  

Another quick story... Just last week we were at Wal-Mart looking for a pair of pliers.  You and Norah were busy picking up various tools when you picked up a hammer and looked up to show me.  Right at that second you unexpectedly swung the hammer backwards hitting the sharp side (the side you use to remove nails with) right next to your eye.  I know it hurt and left quite mark, but as I was comforting you (and thanking Heavenly Father that you didn't hit your eyeball) I couldn't help but wonder how that even happened?!  How does one hit himself in the face with a hammer?!  Only my Eddie.  

There are still a few words that are classically Eddie in style (Grandma Wilde dubbed it a Jersey sounding accent)... On of our favorites is, "Dinosayo."  

This year we decided to let you have a big party since it has been a while (since your first birthday!) since you've had one.  Besides - five is a big milestone!  We rented Monkey Joe's and invited your preschool class and some friends from church... And everyone showed up to celebrate with you, Eddie.      Here are some of the pictures from your big day at MJ's:

Eddie and his best friend, Tyler ready to get their jump on at Monkey Joe's!

The birthday boy gets the enormous (inflatable) seat of honor at the lunch table!  He was gracious enough to share with Jack while they ate their pepperoni pizza.  

Brothers and buddies. :)

The whole crew!  Eddie had friends from church, preschool and the neighborhood.  In the end we agreed that the party coordinator definitely earned every penny of what we had originally considered to be an overpriced fee.  Just watching her wrangle the kids and keep the party moving along was exhausting, lol!  I won't lie, though - it was so nice to not be the one in charge!  I got to chat with the other mom's and just enjoy watching Eddie enjoying his party.

After almost two hours of bouncing Beckett was ready to chill in his stroller for a while.  Bouncing is hard work!

Eddie's dino-sayo (dinosaur) cake from Costco.  It was so yummy!  Vanilla with a vanilla cheesecake cream filling.  I was surprised when he requested this instead of chocolate, but it ended up being a great choice! 

Beckett had a blast on the bounce equipment, but by the end of the two hours he was ready to head out with his juice box and pizza.

Then a couple of days later on your actual birthday we did a little celebration at home with your MUCH anticipated mint ice-cream cake. :)

Mint-chocolate ice cream came... A.k.a. "The gween ice cweam." 

Thank you for all of the love, energy, kindness, humor, and sweetness that you bring to our family, Eddison!  This year has some big things in store for you (Kindergarten!) and I'm so excited to see the new things you will do, say and learn.  Stay sweet, Eddie-O.  

Love,

Mommy, Daddy, Jack, Norah, Beckett & Baby Sister