Understanding birthdays

Happy Birthday!

"Oh man!"  "What's taking so long?"  "It's so hard to wait!"

"Now that's more like it!"  We get a kick out of watching him eat, because he always opens his mouth this wide, no matter the size of the bite.

"I can do that, too!"

"What'd you get?  What'd you get?"

"Mom!  What are you up to?"

"I don't see a problem;  do you?"

Like father, like son.  Just kidding;  this child is the most laid-back and mellow of all of our kids, which makes him the least like his dad. 

I know she won't be happy, since this isn't the most flattering, but hey, we have to have a pic of everyone!  Well, there are no pics of me, since I was behind the camera.

L. celebrated his 18th birthday, and the little kids got to see yet another birthday, so that they can start to understand the concept.  They all had their birthdays right after we got them last fall, but we didn't celebrate them, partly because they didn't seem to understand the idea of any kind of celebration, but mostly because we were completely overwhelmed by having them.  I won't say that we're in any kind of a workable routine yet, or even a version of "normal," but we are moving forward, a little more each day.  Anyway, we've been modeling birthdays for the kids, and since we have such a big family, we get lots of chances to practice.  We go around, saying loudly, "Happy birthday, _______!"  Then we sing, blow out candles, and they open presents.  Hopefully, by the time we come back around to their birthdays, they'll be excited about it, and understand.  I think they'll start to figure it out.