Happy 6th Birthday Sweet Boy

Six years old. 

Wow.

In many ways, I can't believe we are here.  Can't believe this baby boy of mine is 6 years old. 

On the other hand, we have the reality of us still reaching, still looking, still trying to recover this baby boy.

At every birthday milestone, I look back over the year and reminisce on the fun times, the struggles, and most importantly, the victories.

This year trumps all the past by far.  We have found a physician who believed in our son, in our story, and in us.  We have made it through three months of school unassisted.  We have won insurance battles that have allowed Hunter to receive his much needed IVIG.  We have made leaps and bounds of progress in his social skills- one of the hardest obstacles for a child with Autism to overcome. 

Maybe we have had these struggles the last couple of weeks to remind us how far we have come, but yet still how far we have to go.

This year, for the first time in three years, we did NOT have a Lightning McQueen cake.  He chose Ninja Turtles- and was excited about it!  He allowed us to sing again (last year was the first time since his second birthday), and interacted with several of the kids who came to celebrate with Hunter. Thank you, sweet friends, for attending- your support and your friendship means more than you know!

early morning presents...

 

daddy stayed up till 12:30 building this present for hunter

daddy the night before...12:30 he finished!

 Hunter wanted to go to a certain play park that is located in an old renovated church...we got there early and were a few of the 125 people they let in- for only a dollar each!

 After playing for an hour, we went to Starbucks to get lemonades...and even though I don't normally drink caffeine, after Hunter was up from 2-5 AM, I needed coffee to make it through the day!

 Our sweet neighbor invited us to swim in her pool that afternoon, so we had a chance to cool off before dinner.

We bathed, got dressed, and had cupcakes- before dinner!  Now it's a party!

we sang and had cupcakes before dinner at the restaurant of his choice

look at this smile

 

these sweet friends were tired!

and here he is...the birthday boy!

The next day, it was 

 POOL PARTY time! 

sweet friends reunited!

 

started off covering his ears,  but slowly took them off and smiled...

 

 

 We have a fun-filled, optimistic year ahead of us.  Can't wait to recount all of the greatness at seven.