Zephaniah is five!
My sweet, daredevil boy who loves to laugh all of the time and give me hugs nonstop is five-years-old now.
Just like I say on all of my kids’ birthdays: I can’t believe it!
Zephaniah is our rainbow baby. After suffering a heartbreaking miscarriage in 2016, we were blessed a couple of months later with getting pregnant again. So celebrating Zephaniah’s birthday is always extra special for me. (Of course, that doesn’t mean I think my other children’s birthdays aren’t special.)
Zephaniah is an easy-going little guy. Just like his dad, the simplest things make him happy.
A couple of weeks before his birthday, I asked him what he wanted to do for his special day. He told me he wanted to celebrate at home and play outside on the playground.
“Wow, really! And what do you want for your birthday dinner?” I asked him.
Pondering my question, he tapped his finger on his mouth and started to think. “Cereal!” he exclaimed.
“Cereal? You want cereal for your birthday dinner?”
“Yeah! And hot dogs! Cereal and hot dogs!” he replied.
STRESSING MYSELF OUT OVER THE PERFECT BIRTHDAY
But despite this simple request, I still stressed myself out about having the perfect birthday for him.
I don’t know why I worried so much about the perfect birthday theme, the perfect birthday cake, and the perfect birthday gifts.
I had wanted to bake him a homemade birthday cake with dinosaur toppers and a small molten cake shaped like a volcano. But we didn’t have enough time to make the cake because Travis and I had a busy work week.
I’ll be honest– I was a little hard on myself about it. I even hid in my bedroom for a bit and cried. So much so that I got a migraine.
But Zephaniah doesn’t care about perfection, and he didn’t even know what I had planned for his birthday cake.
“THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!”
So after having a good cry, I thought to myself: “When your kid just wants cereal and hot dogs for his birthday, why stress yourself out about perfection?! Chill, Jenn.”
Well, we didn’t’ have cereal and hot dogs for Zephaniah’s birthday dinner. Haha! But we did have his number one favorite food in the whole wide world: PIZZA!
And instead of baking that homemade cake, I picked up a cake at Kroger (turned out it was the same type of cake I got for him on his second birthday! Ha!) and I decorated the house with balloons and big dinosaur cut-outs from the Dollar Tree.
(Besides, I can always make the kids a dino-themed cake on a different day. Who says it has to be on someone’s birthday?)
And you know what?
Zephaniah LOVED his birthday celebration!
He loved his birthday cake, the balloons, and the dinosaurs. He even told me, “This is the best birthday ever!”
I also let him have a pajama day the next day, which was a Monday.
He’s always asking me if we can have a pajama day so I told him on Monday he can wear his pajamas ALL DAY!
He was pretty excited about that. He wore his navy tank top and Santa Claus Christmas pajama pants.
“Today’s Pajama Day because it’s my birthday,” he told his brothers and sisters very matter-of-factly.
He even kept his pjs on when we went for our afternoon walk in the neighborhood.
Wearing a straw hat on his head, he kept waving his hat around saying, “Yeehaw!”
A FEW FUN THINGS ABOUT ZEPHANIAH (now that he’s five)
He loves playing dress-up and wearing tutus, superhero costumes, and cowboy hats. Sometimes all in that order!
Old school Nintendo games are his favorite, especially Donkey Kong, Kirby, and Super Mario Bros.
His favorite tv show right now is Blaze and the Monster Machines and Numberblocks (such a great show for learning about counting, addition, subtraction, and multiplication!).
He loves painting pictures and rock painting. Sometimes Michala (20) likes to sit outside under the tree and paint. Zephaniah likes to sit with her and paint, too.
Zephaniah loves to help us cook, especially if we’re making chocolate chip cookies.
Whenever I finish reading a book to him, he asks me to read it again and again. He never gets tired of Travis or I reading books to him.
His favorite color is green…he loves playing with his dinosaur toys…and his favorite food is PIZZA (of course)!
At bedtime or whenever I have to leave the house, Zephaniah insists on giving me what he calls a “double-kiss.” That’s two kisses on the cheek.
“Me love you, Mama.” (Yes, he refers to himself in the third person sometimes.) He even tells our neighbor he loves her whenever he sees her.
He has such a big heart!
The funniest moment of all, though, was when I asked Zephaniah after his birthday celebration how he felt now that he was five-years-old.
“Well, how does it feel to be five now?!” I asked him.
Zephaniah said to me, “Feels great! Now I’m almost six!”
Has a kid in your life (your child, niece, nephew, family friend, etc.) recently celebrated a birthday? How did they celebrate their special day?
