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On the second day of August, T turned 8 years old! I can hardly wrap my mind around it. He had a really fun day and enjoyed his friends, presents, and goodies. He had two friends join him this year for a party at our house. We definitely credit the internet and Pinterest for most of the themed ideas. He opted for a Plants vs. Zombies party and it was so much fun putting it all together. I made food name tags for a lot of the items so for example, the cupcakes were Potato Mine Cakes and the mini chimis were Zombie Fingers, lemonade was Brain Juice, etc. I tend to talk and T was itching to open his presents. We let him open two small ones first thing in the morning, but made him wait to open the rest. He was anxious to get the party going and was offering to scoot our chairs in and everything! The moms thought he was being such a gentleman, but really, he just wanted us all to hurry up and eat. I made a little agenda for him too, so he knew what was supposed to happen next in order to understand the flow of the party. It worked out really well. Friends ended up staying for a few extra hours as it turned into a pool party.

He didn't want us to sing Happy Birthday to him when it was time for dessert, but wanted to wait until he actually turned 8 a few hours later. When the time came, he blew out his green 8 candle on a smaller round chocolate cake. He was very pleased. Two days before his party, I did receive an email from the grandparents letting me know that they were not coming. I wasn't surprised. I appreciate the support you all gave me on my previous post. In this case, I do need to stop hoping here and just let go (insert Frozen song). The situation is what it is. I can't let it affect me anymore or I'll go nutz. 

It just so happened that later on in the week, it was Zombie Night again down at the ballpark. We attended last year's and the boys liked it, so we thought we'd try again. We did not do the haunted house though. There were some people dressed up like Zombies at the entrance and that was enough for them. T got his frozen yogurt and small drink while D sat happily with his standard red rope and popcorn. We got to Chase Field about 2 hours before game time, so by the third inning, the kids were ready to go. The tickets were gratis thanks to all of the blood donations hubby gives, so it didn't really matter to us if we left early. It was kind of a nice way to end that first week. We also snuck in an evening movie all four of us and saw Pixels. It was so much fun! It was good to enjoy some nightlife for a change.

We had two appointments this past Friday: wellness and orthotics. So, for the third straight year, T has been deemed at-risk for obesity! Yeah, I can't believe it either! He is slightly taller than D now. I think T is going to be a very tall person. When eyebrows were raised last year, we held off for a few months, but ultimately had some blood work done to check his thyroid. It was normal. I have been limiting his dairy intake for the past few years too. He doesn't eat bread and the cheeseburger interest just started a few months ago. He doesn't have any gut issues that we know of and we are sneaking veggies into smoothies all the time. It's interesting to me that a child who has weekly feeding therapy appointments and food sensitivities is overweight?! He's more muscle than anything! He swims 4 days/wk on the swim team, like laps, and he's super active. His physician wants more labs to check his cholesterol, liver, thyroid again, etc. I told her to add testing for my lovely blood clotting gene as well. He does not like doing labs, but trying to explain that it's something we all do to make sure we know what's happening in our bodies. There is a social story I show him online to help prepare and that helps.

Later on that afternoon, we went to our usual place to pick up his new custom orthotic inserts. He's comfortable with the doctor there and everything. He tried out his shoes with the new inserts in the room and walked a bit in the middle area. The door leading out to the lobby opened, some biker dudes were coming in through the front door into the lobby, and T bolted! He hasn't made a move like that in a very long time and before I knew it, he had run out of there. He ran into the parking lot to my car which was not parked in front of the office at all. It just happened so fast. It's terrible, but as I was running out I was just waiting to hear tires and screams. He was at my car, but had gone around the back and was on D's usual side. You have to know your kid to know what move to make here. Had I ran after him, he would have kept running thinking we were playing chase. So, I ran outside, but stood at the door and told him that I was not done. I still needed to sign papers and told him that he did not have my permission to leave. His group was not ready and he needed to wait. I used a stern voice, but did not do a usual freak out. He walked back slowly to me and knew that he was in trouble. Does he understand the safety concern here? No, I don't think he does at all. It's another reason why we haven't marked that goal as met and we've left it as a continued hab goal. That's probably one of the hardest things is that just when you think you're okay, you think he knows better, this is a behavior he's outgrown now, it happens. We still have elopement issues and it's scary! The doctor had a horrified look on his face as he held the door open. Unsure if he was horrified that I did not react with more concern or just in general because it was a first for him. I think I just need to stay calm and hunt zombies.

Put some cut and paste skills to work, but really fun to make for him:)

He had both chocolate and vanilla cupcakes.

Zombie Night at Chase Field

One last picture before leaving the ballpark.