Happy 5th Birthday Ethan!

5 years ago on January 27th I was rudely awoken by Challene who said, "Uh, William... I think my water just broke!"

Turns out, it had!

We called our Nurse Practitioner and rushed to Lakeview Hospital (where ironically both Challene and I were born). Challene had previously decided that she wanted Ethan to be born Au' Naturale; a decision I supported. The contractions became increasingly painful for her. She ended up asking for an epidural, but was told that it was way too late for that. They gave her some Fentanyl to "take the edge off." Having been invovled with Fentanyl in my Pharmaceutical Manufacturing days, I knew that Fentanyl was a drug mostly reserved for cancer patients undergoing painful radiation therapy. A very powerful, very controlled substance. It didn't even touch her as far as taking pain away.

It was one of the hardest things in my life to see my wife go through that. But she did it.

Lots of pushing, a vacuum, a panicked call to an OB, and a pair of forceps later, Ethan was born.

A healthy 7lbs 6oz bald boy. We were scared out of our minds as to how to take care of this little person, but knew he was meant to be with us. We'd been trying for 2.5 years to become pregnant.

We had Ethan's 5 year birthday party on Jan. 30th. As with all birthday parties, Challene asks the birthday boy what kind of cake he would like and the party just develops around that. Ethan wanted a castle cake and so the midieval theme blossomed around that.

The boys in their knight costuems. The costumes turned out pretty sweet, but the sword design concept was flawed from the get-go. That's ok. While not practical in the pretend sword fighting arena, they were quick to be sheathed. And really, what more is there when playing swords beyond making that cool metal-on-metal sound when unsheathing your sword. Something the boys learned quickly.

That, plus the shot-gun pumping sound (you know the one). Two staple sound effects for any boy 3 and up.

Ethan with the castle cake. He absolutely loved the cake. Challene did awesome! Sadly, this picture does not do it justice, but Challene did amazing.

The trick candles were a hit. I just love this picture.

Of course, present time was afterward. All the kids gathered round closely and intently watched as Ethan opened the gifts. He got spoiled, once again, but he loves all his gifts equally...

All... but one...

On Wednesday, Grandma Colleen brought Ethan his gifts. Here, you can see him fresh from opening his new Super Mario Bros. Wii game. Ever since my brother brought it over he had wanted to play. Now... now that he has it. All he wants to do is play.

Seriously.

All day, everyday, "Daddy (or Mommy), can I play Super Mario Brothers Wee-hee?"

Constantly.

We've had to try to limit his time because he will literally spend hours playing. He never tires of it. He's gotten quite good at it. Josh too.

I got home from work today and saw that they weren't playing the game. "Well," I thought, "every kid losses interest in his toys eventually."

"Where are the boys?" I ask my beloved.

"Upstairs playing, "she replied kissing my cheek softly.

"Boys?"

"Yeah daddy?"

"What are you doing?"
"playing..."

"What are you playing?"

"We're pretending we're the Super Mario Brothers Wee-Hee!"

There's just no getting away from it.

All in all, a terrific party. I can't believe my little boy is 5! That means... gasp.... school!