Justin, our youngest, turns 11 today and it’s kind of hard to wrap my head around the fact that he’s just a step or two away from teenager status.  It’s also hard to believe that he’s less than a month away from ending his elementary school days, which means we as a family will be done with elementary school.  Yikes.

We actually kicked off his birthday celebration last night with a party for him and about 15 classmates at Bounce U, an indoor facility that contains lots of the blow up "moon bounce"-type slides, obstacle courses, dodge ball arenas, tug-of-war, etc. activities.  The kids spent 1 1/2 hours in the activity area and then retired to a private room for pizza, soda and cake.  Bounce U assigned two assistants (two girls from West Forsyth High School) to our party and they monitored the kids during their play time, served up all the food and drink, lit the candles on the birthday cake , led the singing of "Happy Birthday" and coordinated the gift opening for Justin.  They even made a gift list for us so we could do thank you notes afterwards.  If you’re going to give a party for over a dozen 5th grade boys Bounce U offers a great place/way to do it.

What made last night particularly great was that for some reason we can’t put our finger on we haven’t had a "party-party" for Justin in years.  We’ve always seemed to end up doing a little something for him, but we haven’t had a big blowout in years and, bless his heart, Justin has not once complained. Watching him go nuts with his buddies was a real thrill for me and Celeste.

Justin is a great kid, a voracious reader and possessor of a quiet and subtle wit.  Whenever we visit other homes, or go to large parties people always ask "Where’s Justin" because he’s so quiet and he tends to disappear into a corner so he can read his latest book of choice.  He can be the same way at home, but just as often he’s the source of the most surprising comments and comedy in our household.  It seems that every day he says something that causes his parents and older siblings to say, "How does he know that?" or "Where did he learn that?"

To give you an idea of what kind of kid we’re talking about I can share a couple of details from the party last night that says it all: two of the boys gave him gift cards to Barnes & Noble.  They know how much he loves to read and he was thrilled to get them since in his mind they’re as good as cash.  On the other hand Justin looked just a tad uncomfortable when he was opening gifts.  He doesn’t like being the focus of attention  and if he had his druthers he’d have retired to a corner to open his gifts while everyone else partied.  That’s just the kind of kid he is.

Part of me is sad that we’re quickly saying goodbye to the "little kid" phase of our parenthood (I know Celeste is really hating it), but the other part is really enjoying the view as our kids blossom into pre-adults.  Yeah, they drive me nuts sometimes but nights like last night really drive home how special the kids are.  If Justin is half the man that he is a boy then he’s going to set the world on fire in his own quiet way, but I’m in no hurry to see it. For now I’m looking forward to enjoying his 11th year.

Happy birthday J.