Sean's 5th birthday weekend

 As a new 5 year old Sean has declared himself a big boy and wants to be treated as such. He decided that he had outgrown his toddler bed and was ready for a big kid bed like Claire's. He is thrilled with his Avenger's blanket and sheets. This bedroom originally had two toddler beds in it when we moved in. It is strange to see big beds in it. It's hard to believe that we have two kids over the age of 5!

 We decided to have a friends birthday party for Sean. Here he is in his full snow suit including headlamp to go out into the cold and snow to deliver his Avenger invitations. These January birthdays are quirky.

 We invited 4 super nice boys from the neighborhood.

 We kept things simple and calm to help make it a successful party for Sean.
After pin the S on Superman we opened presents and ate chocolate cupcakes.

 The highlight was trying to break open the Spider Man pinata!

 Having a party for Sean was important to me. I was anxious to let him have a social activity for friends to come and see that Sean is a cool kid just like them. I sat and wiped away tears watching him be so happy and interactive with his friends. I am so grateful for our neighbors that support us and help Sean be successful. This party was a huge success for my special guy.

 Crazy Daddy stayed up late on Sunday night making this fun superhero cake for Sean's birthday on Monday the 13th.

 Sean was pleased!

Here he is modeling his new big boy clothes from Grandma and Grandpa Luke.

 A new big boy coat. Seriously the other morning he sat down to eat his cereal with his standard plastic blue spoon. I heard him say to himself, "I'm a big boy! I don't eat with little spoons anymore." He got himself a regular spoon and ate his breakfast.

 Grandma and Grandpa Hamblin came to celebrate Sean and Grandpa's joint birthday. Sean was super silly and interactive with his birthday buddy.

 Grandpa giving Sean a hard time after Sean blew out ALL of the candles on both cakes.

 He will always be my special buddy

 Sean's 4 day birthday extravaganza continued to Tuesday when he had his birthday celebrated at school. Mark made a third set of cupcakes. He crawled into bed Monday night and told me he is never baking again! Sean got to sit in the teachers chair and pass out cupcakes to everyone. They made him a card and played duck, duck goose. Sean was especially excited to have his little brother Luke sitting at the table with him. He made sure Luke was comfortable in his classroom. It was really sweet.

When we began our autism journey almost 3 years ago everyone told us how important early intervention was from ages 3-5. There were a few very long years for our family but it's hard to fully comprehend how far Sean has come. He has exceeded all of our expectations for him. He is happy and social and is one of the best communicators I know! It's hard to believe that my little baby Sean is 5. I am happy to be to this point and excited to see what happens this year as he finishes Giant Steps moves forward with Kindergarten.