Eli is 6!

We had another birthday amidst all the Christmas celebrating. Our littlest one turned 6! It was a pretty calm birthday after the big party last year when he turned 5. They don't let you bring treats to school anymore here and he didn't want to bring little gifts or anything so we skipped it. I didn't mind. He did love getting to wear the birthday hat. I like this series of smiles--fake to real:

Eli had a specific idea in mind for his cake--Zane from Ninjago fighting Yellow Toad. This was the best I could do:

He wrote his name and added the sprinkles.

He had his birthday breakfast of donuts in the morning before school. After school he let me snuggle up and read some Christmas books with him, which made my day. We don't do enough of that. He requested chicken and stuffing for his dinner and then he opened presents. I let him get an early present when we were at IKEA earlier in the week. He saw a tent he wanted and I caved and bought it for him, remembering how much the girls loved an IKEA tent they had when they were younger. He's growing up too fast and I guess I just wanted him to make believe in a little tent for a little bit longer.

He also got some legos and a Wii game:

Lizzie got him this stuffed yellow toad he really wanted:

He also got a monthly subscription to do Brain Chase which he has been dying to do for years. Of course the novelty has already worn off... Another gift was ninja lessons! He was so excited for that. There is a gym here we've been wanting to try that does a mix of parkour and martial arts so he got an intro class there.

He loved it:

He got to climb and jump off stuff and practice rolls. He and Nate both want to join but now we have to figure out if we have time since baseball starts soon. 

It's been an important year for Eli with starting kindergarten. He has been doing really well, for the most part. He went through a stretch where he didn't want to go and started saying he threw up in the bathroom at school when he didn't. But, he's doing fine now. He loves that his teacher lets him pick from a treasure box if he "tutors" other kids so he does it every day and has quite a collection of stamps and trinkets. He doesn't put much effort into coloring, writing or craft things usually, but his writing is improving quickly. He's still a whiz at math. He loves to get Elephant and Piggie books from the school library, even if we already have them at home. He has made some friends at school and seems to get along pretty well with the other kids, but he doesn't have any best friends yet. He loves to hula hoop and calls himself a master at it. He is really good! 

Eli still loves legos, Ninjago, Star Wars, and Avatar: the Last Airbender. He loves a computer game called Prodigy. He loves the color teal, blueberries, and marshmallows. He enjoys running around the neighborhood playing with his friends. He's gotten into Wings of Fire along with Nate and wanted me to read chapters of it to him. He's even started writing his own Wings of Fire story.

Eli's still really good at playing independently by himself, especially with his legos, when he gets home from kindergarten. I love listening to him act out all sorts of things with them. He has the best smile that lights up his face. He loves music and learns it quickly. He even wanted me to make him a playlist on my Amazon music. He loves the song "Smooth Criminal", all Imagine Dragons songs, "Goodbye Earl" and others. He brings so much laughter and fun to our family and we don't know what we'd do without him. We love you, Eli!