We had a delightful afternoon celebrating my son Oliver turning 10 yesterday. We invited 10 of his friends from his class. The party started with a visit to a local park to play “Hunger Games” dressed as ninja fighters. Everyone got a Daiso (the famous 100 Yen store) plastic kendo sword and Japanese headband. We also played soccer and some games and gave away prizes. We then walked over to the house for grilled hamburgers and chocolate cake. The kids also popped a lot of balloons and drank ice cold Sprite soda pop.
Nadia and I can’t believe Oliver is 10 years old! It only seems like yesterday (being a parent turns cliches into dogma) that he was born. I will never forget that night! Nadia wasn’t due for another month and she had just finished working at the school on the Friday April 29, 2005 to start her maternity leave the next week. That night however, she started bleeding and she needed to undergo an emergency cesarean. Our regular doctor was in a conference in Caracas and the hospital we planned to use was a 90 minute drive north to the coast, too far to travel in the state Nadia was in. We ended up staying in the small town of Anaco, Venezuela and met a colleague of our doctor. It was a stressful night of uncertainty, but Oliver did arrive, a bit blue, but healthy. I remember holding him in my hand and placing him in the warm incubator so I could sleep with Nadia. What a night!
Oliver has brought so much joy to our lives! He is a fun-loving, crazy little guy that uses his charm to connect with people of all ages. He is the most even-keeled of our children emotionally and many of his personality traits are similar to Nadia’s. Ollie likes to move and school is always going to be a challenge for him. He really likes legos, fantasy and the typical boy adventure things, like playing war with nerf guns, etc. Oliver also looks up to his brother Owen and plays with his sister Ocean all the time.
Happy 10th birthday Ollie – We love you!
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