Celebrating Kip

For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you likely saw the stories recap of Kip's birthday celebration so this post is redundant. But I like to double document it here for tradition's sake. 

Kip opted out of a friend birthday party again this year and instead picked a day at Legoland. As for our family party on his actual birthday, it was hard to settle on a theme for decorations. Kip loves dragons right now but there just wasn't any cool dragon helium balloons that I could find. So it's a mix of blue and galaxy, and the ever adorable Grogu. And of course, the number balloon. It's always a bit of a chore to set-up the birthday spread the night before but I know it is something the kids really look forward to, a tradition they actually expect year after year without realizing it. And despite the effort, us adults enjoy it too.

 

This year Kip's BIG gifts were a new full-sized desk from Grandma and a two-wheeler bike from Mom and Dad. Kip got a bike for his 5th birthday and I honestly expected it to last longer but he outgrew it this past spring, never quite getting to the stage of removing the training wheels. I did a TON of research this summer on what the best next bike would be and I settled on Guardian bikes. It was pricey but the frame of the bike is built for learning to ride in mind and the company's customer service was outstanding.

Bright and early the kids were up and ready to get the day started. Fortunately it was a Saturday so us adults didn't have to rush the celebration for the sake of work. Kip was really showing his maturity with the slower and savored gift opening. He wanted to "save" many of the gifts to open and was happy to stop and watch Ivy open her gifts. 

Ivy tried her best for about the first 30 minutes and then something set her off into disappointed hysterics and we never regained her contentment. She had a REALLY hard day emotionally. Hard that it wasn't her birthday. Hard that Kip had more gifts. Hard that he was getting all the attention. We all did our best to cheer and comfort her but it was just too much. She cried and whined 75% of the day. She was miserable which made it hard for the rest of us to enjoy the day fully. I really praised Kip for how well he handled it because it's no fun to have to deal with your little sister constantly crying when you just want to celebrate and play with your gifts without having to share or accommodate her. I know it's a normal thing for her age and I am looking forward to her maturity developing in the years ahead. 

 

 

Thank you to the family that sent her gifts. She did love them and has played with them happily since, but nothing was enough in the moment. 

But, back to Kip. We had french toast and eggs for breakfast and then called family to open more gifts. First we talked to Aunt Jess and then Kansas family. 

Kip got several Lego sets including Star Wars and Ninjago, a few different remote control toys including a robot, a lot of Mandalorian cosplay items and knight attire, science kits, puzzles, a new set of chapter books, stuffed toys, and many other wonderful and thoughtful gifts. I know American birthdays are a mega display of consumerism but you're only a kids once and let's face it, kids like gifts! I am grateful we have the privilege to spoil them during this time of their lives and the generosity of family as well. Thank you, all.

After gifts, Kip got started helping Mimi decorate his birthday cake. He had a design in mind and she helped him execute it to perfection. Thanks Mimi!

For lunch Kip picked Shake Shack. That seems to be a tradition now too...

In the afternoon we set-up his new desk in his room. SO exciting. It really inspired a lot of creating.

In the afternoon we tried out the new wheels! The concept for this bike is to start with the pedals off and have the child ride it like a balance bike, getting comfortable with coasting and balancing. Kip did awesome. He had a balance bike when he was four and returned to that skill very easily. Once he is comfortable with that we will add the pedals into the equation and supposedly the child learns to master the two-wheeler skill in just one day. We'll report back on that when we give it a try.

He looks SO big!!

After the bike riding we returned home and everyone was exhausted...mostly from the four-year old drama. Kip was disappointed with the idea of eating leftovers so Dan ran and got his pick for take-out. I felt like Kip deserved that considering how much he sacrificed during the day for Ivy's sake. 

After dinner we had the epic cake!

He is our King Kip and we absolutely love him to bits.

On Sunday, Kip and Dan headed into the city to meet-up with Uncle Joey (Dan's boss). This is the second year they've done this adventure with the express purpose of going to the Midtown Lego store. Joe got Kip the mega Ninjago temple that he had his heart set on and he came home happy.

It was a long weekend and frankly too much birthday but our sweet neighbors invited us over for burgers on the patio and surprised all the August birthday celebrants with cake.

And with that, the Birthday bonanza is complete. We have a family birthday (or days) every month from May-August so our pocketbooks are happy to have a break for a bit.