Riding the Waves

I don't know how it happened, but somehow, my nephew turned 7 today. It surely can't have been 7 years since that hot June day when my brother in law called to tell us that "things were happening today!". And it surely can't have been 7 years since I walked into the lovely back bedroom with the garden view of their house to see Honore lying in bed with a brand new baby fast asleep next to her. A baby! My first thought was 'where did she a baby from?' and then I googled at how perfect he was for a few hours. True story. At the time I was six months pregnant with Miss E and had yet to fully comprehend the fact that at the end of this whole thing I was going to have an actual real, live baby. But there he was, our Felix.

He is the oldest grandchild in the family and yet it boggles my mind that he is 7. It sounds so old. Don't even get me started on the fact that Miss E will be following him in a couple of months. Felix has become a boy who is quiet and studious and crazy and athletic. He is loud and fun and has a lot of "creative" ideas, many of which eventually get him in trouble but leave me shaking my head wondering 'where the heck does he come up with stuff?' with a smile on my face. He is also quiet and smart and will read and do legos and puzzles for hours. He asks questions and is interested in life and the world around him. All around, in every possible way, he's a great kid.

We celebrated his birthday with a trip to Eugene and a party at an indoor wave pool. This place was awesome. I was Mr. T's swim buddy (which meant I didn't see any water deeper than my knees) but everyone else looked like they were having fun. In the picture, my nephew is the shirtless (no life jacket!) kid in the red trunks -front and center. You can see my niece sitting on a tube with my brother in law spinning her and in the back Miss E is perched on a tube with Peter spinning her. After the party we had a family dinner, then Peter headed home so he could work tomorrow and I stayed with my sister and family. To cap off Felix's day he lost* a tooth right at bedtime! I told him it was extra special good luck to loose a tooth on your birthday - unless you are over 12. Then it's bad luck.

*or yanked it out himself - you can never be sure with that kid