Happy 5th birthday Duke

September 16^th: Today Duke turns 5. When I woke him up this morning he said he was 5 and then spelled his name “D-U-K-E Duke Williams.”

This is a milestone birthday in that Duke is no longer a toddler, but a little boy. Shortly he will be a pre-teen and I will lock myself in the closet and will cry while Steve talks me off the ledge probably for the 10^th time that week. As he is getting older he is getting bigger and with the Prader-Willie Syndrome I have to be careful with his celebration, for example when he would get cake 3 times today, it is just once and fruit for the rest of the events. This weekend he celebrates his birthday with a Star Wars theme, and his Hannah (i.e. Stephany’s best friend) will be there and I’m sure he will be falling over her all day.

At age 5 this is what Duke is into: 

·         Doctor Who: This is no joke, he loves Doctor Who and will watch a full episode of the show. When watching it he now likes to put on his angry caterpillar hat because it’s the closest thing he has to a fez and likes to spike his hair like Doctor Who. When he gets hurt he first says he wants a Band-Aid then he wants to see Doctor Who.

·         Star Wars: His favorite characters are Darth Vader and Chewbacca which could not be any further of an extreme. He recognizes the characters and will sit through most of the movie. The new Star Wars has him 100% geeking out when anything comes on the TV with Star Wars. I love this!

·         Transformer Rescue bots: He has them all…and even today as he got the final one (the Blades character…not as a plane but the ‘copter’) he has a complete collection and plays with them so feverously. 

·         Emotions: Duke likes to tell you emotions or a singer and you are to act them out. In exchange you get to do the same with him, the funny thing is when you say something is funny…he does my terrible laugh.

·         Hot Dog, Nana and Yogurt: This is what Duke wants to eat for dinner…every night. We do make the 3^rd item a berry and sometimes switch the hot dog for grilled cheese. The exception to this is on Friday’s when we go to the diner by our house and he will have a waffle.

·         Lip Syncing: We all know this…they boy is obsessed with music and knows all the song before I have even heard of it. 

·         Monkeys: He loves monkeys. His favorite shirt is a yellow shirt with a monkey sticking out his tongue with a crown and every time he wears it he points to it at random times and says “Funny Monkey!”