FIVE Years of Wells.

Wells turns 5 today. We did cake and presents last night since we never know what time Scott will be home on a weekday.

First a reflection: When Wells turned one, it was just a celebration. Two was a bit more confusing. We had two parties in Pennsylvania and Wells and I were on our own in Kansas on his actual birthday. Three was harder for me because he clearly wasn't a baby anymore and he was getting ready to go to preschool. The only thing that got me through four was having a 3 month old baby, so it was okay if Wells was getting bigger because we still had a baby around. Five is different because he's a big kid now and she's not a baby anymore. Ugh. 

All that to say, my feelings surrounding Wells' birthday are so completely and entirely different than Sutton's. I expect it will always be this way. The 4th of July even feels different now. That whole summer in Wyoming is imprinted into my head, with him having a dead-center summer birthday. I remember the summer before so clearly too. "Summer" has a whole different feel to me now. 

In true big kid fashion, he wanted a Pokemon party. I did my best. (I swear I'm never messing with a balloon arch again. I will just pay $30 for two bunches of balloons from here on out because they love balloons. It's worth it.)

Wells is a noticer. He notices everything. He currently is obsessed with snakes and, well, I don't like snakes. He always thinks everything dies by "venomous snakes" eventually. He saw a dead deer on the road last week. 

Hey, there's a dead deer. 

Yep, Wells, there is. 

...venomous snake. 

Or...a car hit it, Wells. 

Wells is enjoying his little life here in Missouri. I have no idea how long we'll be here, but he's making friends and getting involved. He played soccer in the spring, finished preschool in May, went to summer school in June, he goes to Kids' Kingdom at church, VBS is coming up, and then he'll start kindergarten. He likes to be busy! He is always disappointed if I say it's a day where he doesn't have anywhere to be. He legitimately doesn't love Saturdays. 

This, again, was a year where Wells didn't have to move to a new state/house but we did make one trip to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving and he had a visit from pap, a visit from pap and nanny, and then a visit from nanny, his aunt, and his little cousin this week for his birthday. 

He's at the age where he has thoughts and opinions, so I just asked him where he wanted to eat lunch for his birthday. He said Panda Express. He loves the honey walnut shrimp there. I ate a lot of Panda Express while I was pregnant with him and after he was born because we happened to have one right there in Laramie on the UW campus. Nice, right? 

He loves digging in the dirt. He will play in the backyard for an hour or more, just digging, building piles, and covering himself in dust. 

He is very into Pokemon, Sonic, and ninjas. Still loves TV. As of this week, he prefers Wild Kratts, but he will still happily watch CocoMelon and Daniel Tiger and Bubble Guppies with Sutton. (Nothing beats those nature documentaries on Disney+ that Scott puts on for him, though.)

Wells is a true first child: he is neat and orderly in his own way. He likes rules. He loves expectations. He needs to know. He does not go with the flow. If you saw my Instagram story yesterday of Sutton digging into a banana split with two hands and laughing maniacally, Wells was sitting next to her, upset that he'd dripped ice cream on his shirt. He is my child for sure. 

Something cute and worth remembering: Wells calls my mom and dad Bridge Nanny and Bridge Pap because they live next to a bridge. He literally came up with this all on his own like a year and a half ago. He calls, then, Scott's mom and stepdad Tunnel Nanny and Tunnel Pap. Because in their neighborhood for Christmas, someone puts up a tunnel of lights that you can walk through. That's how his little three year old mind made sense of the places and people we visit in Pennsylvania. 

This is the cake recipe. I've been using it since 2020 for all birthday cakes. I added in a chocolate layer. The cake was tasty but not all that artistic. I did add some gold sprinkles into the yellow cake batter too because Wells loves sprinkles in and on everything.