Nine

Today was a big day at our house - Colton turned nine! The youngest of the brood, he's definitely growing up and, although I relish the thought of him being "my baby," it's great to see that he's quickly growing into an independent boy. Colton is self-confident, happy, outgoing, fun, strong-willed and an extreme type A.  Wade often refers to him as his "fun son," which he very much is.

Leading up to his big day, I've been trying to figure out what to get him as a gift. He's been asking for a puppy or a kitten, to which I say, "No, we already have those." Of all our kids, he probably has the biggest heart for animals and his siblings keep reminding me that he's the only one without his very own pet.  

So, a couple days ago I set out looking for the perfect pet for The Birthday Boy, which really means another pet for me, so the key was finding something low maintenance.  I looked at fish, no. Hamsters, gerbils, rats and guinea pigs, no. Birds, definitely no. Snakes, lizards, hermit crabs and spiders, no. 

Hunkered down at the pet store, looking in the bottom row of tanks, I spied an unexpected possibility. Hmmm...a little red-bellied toad. At $4.98, it was beyond cheap and after losing a snake in the house last year, we now had a vacant aquarium which left only the bedding, water dish and food that needed to be purchased. He would be thrilled!  I checked out with all of the necessary accessories for Mr. Toad and packed it all home, where I assembled everything and hid it in my closet. (I've been feeding Mr. Toad live crickets every day since Monday.)

This morning, all five of us woke The Birthday Boy at 6 am with an early morning rendition of the Happy Birthday song, complete with 9 birthday spankings. He jumped up and hurried down the hall to see what was waiting for him.  "My own pet! Now I've got my own pet," he screamed and after spending some time with his new friend before he left for school, announced its new name...Fred Pettit. 

It's been a great day!  The girls had early release, so we brought Chick Fil A in to school and had lunch with him. We also brought Krispy Kreme donughts in for his whole class and went to dinner (with his Nana) at one of his favorite restaurants. As I tucked him into bed tonight, he jumped up and said, "Wait, I've got to say goodnight to Fred" and off he ran to his new little friend. 

Happy 9th birthday, Colton, we love you!