Halfway to Seven

Last week was Ethan's half birthday.  Big deal, you say.  I think the last time I celebrated one of my kids' half birthdays was back in 2009, when Adam turned six months old.  But apparently, six and a half IS a big deal, especially for our master of delayed gratification, who chose to set aside one of the birthday presents he received on his sixth birthday for his six-and-a-halfth birthday.  All wrapped and appropriately labeled (To be opened on July 18th), that present sat on a shelf in Ethan's closet for six months.  I had completely forgotten about it, and I daresay that most kids would have either a.) opened it on January 19th or the first day they looked in their closet thereafter, or b.) completely forgetten about it like I did.  But not our Ethan.  He is nothing if not determined and diligent, and he wouldn't dare forget anything that was owed to him.  So on the eve of his sixth-and-a-halfth birthday (because, god forbid, I made other plans for the actual night), he opened that long awaited present, and so began his six-and-a-halfth birthday celebration.  Ethan awoke on the 18th asking what I was cooking for his half birthday breakfast.  Again, I really hadn't planned any hoopla whatsoever around this "special" day, so I paused, scrambled to come up with something fun and creative, and arrived at, "How about green eggs?  Except I don't have any ham.  So it will just be green eggs.  No ham."  Luckily, he thought this was a fantastic idea, especially if we used all his green garden treasures to make the eggs green (extra bonus!  no food coloring added!).  After breakfast, he asked what we were doing to celebrate his half birthday, and I told him we were going to the beach with the Doyles - yay!  Despite the fact that, had I asked him what he wanted to do on his special day, he would have most likely said something very much like, "Spend the day at the beach with friends.  And oh, wouldn't it be cool if Molly and Jack could come?", the fact that these plans had been made on his half birthday with neither his initiation nor his blessing made them completely unacceptable.  More quick thinking ensued - what if we brought bagels to the beach - your favorite!  YES!  What if we stopped for ice cream on the way home to celebrate your half birthday?  YES!  YES!  OK, so all this kid wanted was a little celebration around turning six and a half.  And I was willing to play along.  We had a great day at the beach, full of "Happy Half Birthday Ethan!"s from humoring friends, and ice cream to boot.  I had to chuckle when I asked the kids if we should go for ice cream and Ethan prompted me to tell them why we were going for ice cream.  I stammered a bit - um, because it's hot?  Because we like ice cream?  Because you ate a good lunch?  Oh right, because it's your half birthday!  Silly Mommy.  From now on, I plan to make half birthdays a whole bunch of fun.  Because why not?  We all like to be celebrated once in awhile, and twelve months is a heckuva long time for a kid to wait.

Green eggs with three candles, because that's half of six of course

I guess six-and-a-half means understanding the concept of a half, and being able to demonstrate it with your fingers!

And six-and-a-half is still delightfully silly.

Although Ethan often seems so big, I love that six-and-a-half is also still so little sometimes.  Here's our little guy loving the carousel at Storyland (more on that fun trip later).  In fact, he still loved every ride at Storyland, even thinking some of them were "kind of scary!".

But yet, at six-and-a-half, Ethan is big and responsible enough to truly care for his very own garden.  Here he is tonight, about to pick his first tomato of the season.  

And at six-and-a-half, Ethan still loves to play pretend - the pretend play just gets more and more real.  He and Adam set up a farm stand on Sunday night, and demanded I actually pay them for the veggies I needed for dinner.  

I am totally 100% in love with six-and-a-half.  I'm excited to see what seven brings, but for now, I'll celebrate six-and-a-halfdom right alongside my biggest little guy.  Because he reminded me just how very special it is.