HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY, ALEC!!!

Today my little Alec turns SIX! It's so hard to believe. Well, it always is. He was such a little peanut when he was born and I used to call him "Little Face" because he looked so small. Now he's my bright-eyed, smart 6-year-old who ranks in the 98th percentile among kindergarteners nationally, and I couldn't be more proud.



He definitely has his own distinct personality that ranges from frustrating to absolutely endearing all at the same time. When Shaun's mom was in town and asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he told her he wanted a goldfish. With our approval, she decided to get it for him. So after school last Friday, Mom and Jim took him to the pet store to pick out a fish. They directed him towards the Bettas, though, because they are easy to care for and don't require a pump. I had a couple of those growing up and they are very pretty fish. But Alec had it in his head that he wanted a GOLD fish. And so it was. Despite efforts to get him to pick one of the more colorful and pretty Bettas, Alec came home with a rather plain, gold one. But he knew what he wanted and by golly, that's what he got ;) It doesn't surprise me in the least and Dave (that's his name) is the perfect fish for our Alec.

Unfortunately, this morning Alec got a most UN-happy birthday present. My skin is still crawling at the thought of it. After breakfast, he went to the bathroom to potty and brush just like every morning before school. A minute or two later, I heard him in there crying. I had NO idea what could be wrong, he had seemed fine. So I went into the bathroom to find out what the trouble was and he said, "There's a spider crawling on me and it won't come off!" I had a feeling what it was. Ewww. You see, now we're living in an area that's a little bit country in the city. We have wooded areas, you can hear tree frogs chirp and turkeys gobble, and you might see the occasional deer. Oh, and a dead baby copperhead in the road. (Yikes!) The other night, I saw a mouse scurry through the garage. Our neighbor mentioned a little while back about doing tick checks. And so, as I looked at where Alec was pointing, I knew right then what it was....a TICK.

Oh, this is SO not my thing, but Shaun was at work. I like the country, but I'm just a city girl, which makes this area perfect for me. Well, except for things like ticks and snakes and mice. I had a tick once when I was growing up, after I had come home from a stay in the country at my aunt and uncle's house. I had no idea what it was and was trying to pull it off. When I got it off, I had set it on the sink to see what it was, thinking it was some kind of scab or something, and it started CRAWLING! NOT cool for an 11 or 12 year old girl, I gotta tell ya. FREAKED me out! And so, there I was thinking back to that little piece of horror as I tried to get the blood-sucking tick off of poor Alec's belly. I made the mistake of mentioning the blood-sucking part to Alec and he wailed and said, "Oh no, I'm gonna die!" Oops. I said, "No you're not, I'm going to get it off you." I had to call Shaun to ask him the best way to pry the disgusting thing off. So I prayed while I used a hot pin to get it to come out a little bit and pulled, and thankfully, I got it off. Yep, still giving me the heebie-jeebies to write about it. It's just not right. Apparently, Alec had gone into the woods without asking, and against Joey's advice. I'm thinking he might think twice about that next time!

So, happy birthday to my sweet Alec! Sorry about the tick ;)