Another year, another birthday

What will we get him?

Would he play with that?

What kind of cake would he like?

What would he like to do to mark his special day?

These are the same questions that are asked every year & every year the answer is : we dont know.

We end up just buying something that has lights & sounds as they keep his interest a bit more. Previous years we have bought several different things but after last year where he got overwhelmed and refused to open his presents we decided this year that we would just buy one toy , a new light and a book. Sounds mean but I've learned my lesson as no matter how hard I try he isn't like other children, he has a very short attention span, only plays for a few mins then wanders off to do something like flick the light switches, climb on table,  throwing stuff around and just loses interest in his toys...last year his birthday toys remained untouched for weeks as he just wasn't interested.

We noticed that he likes cars so we decided to buy a garage that is aimed at toddlers as it has variety of sounds, cars have lights that flash which Roo likes. We decided that we would just get the garage and a couple of cars to go with it and see how he goes with it. He smiled at the flashing lights & sounds, then saw the garage had a lift with a turn handle...he then spent 10 mins just spinning this handle over and over watching the lift go up and down. I love how he gets so fixated on something that its nice to see him "playing" even if the noise gets annoying cos its repeated over and over! We definately did the right thing in only getting him one type of toy than a variety as he definately coped much better this year, he even ripped open the paper himself! I was so happy to see him rip into the paper to see what was in it!

He got excited at his cake, because he loves anything with a flame and candles have them! Since he learned to blow he likes it when I light my candles so that he can blow them out again! He understands that we sing happy birthday to him and that he then gets to blow the candles out but he doesnt understand the reasoning behind it...we ask him what age he will be but he doesnt answer, but if you say "you are 6" he will repeat...but the meaning behind his birthday, that he is a year older, that its his day : he doesn't understand that. While that gives me a pang of sadness I also feel proud that he has coped so much better this year, that he was willing to rip the paper himself, that he took an interest in his garage even though it was to move the lift up and down constantly & ignore the rest of it! But most of all I loved seeing his face at the new wall lights we got him...he sat on the sofa in awe of the lights dancing on the ceiling and walls, he just became so calm and chilled that he soon fell asleep watching them!

Happy 6th birthday to my Roo .....