My baby is 10

Kobe has so much enthusiasm for life and has been over the top excited about his 10th birthday, which was last week.  I'm not a fan of having birthday parties regularly (or at all) but for about 6 months Kobe kept telling me all the ideas he had for his 10th birthday. I reminded him that we don't do parties every year,  but because it's an extra special birthday (being double digits) I agreed that he could have a party with friends this year. 

His birthday was last Monday, so we had his party over the weekend as we knew we would be busy after school on his birthday. He was so happy to invite 9 of his good friends from school to play laser tag.  He loved having Jay, Harri and Erin play with them as well. 

He was very spoilt by his friends and got some lovely gifts. 
 I made the party as easy as possible and was happy that Kobe agreed to have an ice cream cake (definitely not Mother of the Year anymore - I'm finding ways to make life as easy as possible lately).

Kobe actually slept in on the morning of his birthday, and I ended up having to wake him up to open his presents before school.  He had a birthday list of things to do with basketball, such as a bag to carry his basketball gear to games, a new ball and Nike slides (like sandals). 

He was very happy to get a lot of things from his list, and I also surprised him with Taylor Swift concert tickets for later in the year. He was so excited, and sat in shock for a few seconds as it sunk in. He had been asking me for a while if we could go and see her, and I kept saying no (even though I had bought the tickets months ago).

He tried to convince me that he deserved a day off school for his birthday, but that's a bit tricky when I'm a teacher so he went off to school with treats to share with his class.  After school we went to pick up Jay from work and he was excited to choose a  special birthday treat. 

We then had to go and watch Harri play basketball, and then after the game he chose to go to Hogs Breath for tea with Tim and Helene and their kids. 

Kobe and Ardie are so cute together.  Kobe always says how much he loves Ardie because he's so much fun to be around.  It was lovely to spend his birthday with them.

It's actually hard to believe that Kobe is now 10. He's lived more than two thirds of his life without his Dad and last night he said 'I wonder what life would be like if Dad were here'. I have no doubt that Aaron would be proud of him, and that he would also make him laugh and drive him mad at the same time. 

He's the funniest kid and has such an attitude at times.  He's very different to how Jay and Harri were when they were his age, as he always has to have the last word.  It's lucky he's cute! We are so glad decided to take that leap of faith and have one more baby.  Kobe brought so much joy into our lives when he was born, and I'll never forget how excited Aaron was when he was born.  I still treasure the blog post Aaron did on the day he was born.  We love you Kobe.