ANOTHER, I repeat, ANOTHER Bocanegra Birthday

Over here at Casa De Bocanegra we like to pile those birthdays up right on top of each other. We like to gorge ourselves on cake.

It's how we roll.

Mark turned 41 today. That just seems weird. We're getting old. I didn't even try to pack 41 candles on his "cherry bars". I decided as over 40 seems to be considered by most as a new era in life, why not start over with one candle and go from there.

Birthdays sure change when you get older don't they? No trip to Nickelcade with Dad or out for ice cream with mom for this guy. He had to go to work so he could pay the mortgage. He even had time to stop by the dentist this morning between jobs to support me in the arduous task that is Mason + sedation dentistry. Anyone remember my last humbling experiences? You can read about them here and here. Oddly enough one of those visits was on August 19th 2008. Strange that I would be spending Mark's birthday in the dentist office 2 years in a row with Mason's cavities. We're doing better though. Last year he had 6 cavities. This year only one!

woo hoo! I am feeling victorious as a mother. Our experience this year was MUCH better. He took his medicine without too much trouble (The Verced this time). I had to bribe him with the promise of a package of fruit snacks and a graham cracker with leftover frosting.

20 minutes after imbibing the Verced, he got sleepy and wobbly but not belligerent like last time. He apologized to the dental assistant for spitting on her last time. We were laughing about it (Bless her! she can laugh about it) and he said "I spit on you???" She confirmed "yes you did" He said "I so sorry for spitting on you"

When she asked him what flavor "nose" he wanted, (That's what they call the little masks they put over their noses that hook up to the nitrous oxide) he lamented loudly "I wanted a bubblegum nose on the day I was born but they didnt' give it to me" She assured him she had one for him and hoped it would make up for lost time. He kept waving his hands around as if they were the most fascinating things on the planet and asked me a couple of times in his drunk slurring voice "Mom, Do you think this is a good idea?" I assured him it was. The Dr. came and did his thing. It was over quick and we were on our way home. He was leaning over so far out of his seat clawing at the door of the van claiming there was fire but he wasn't panicked, just informing me. I was worried about him getting out of his seat-belt but we made it home safely. He slept it off the next couple of hours and he was good as new. He didn't remember much (The verced's gift is amnesia so they don't remember the shot or anything bad about being at the dentist)

Tonight we went to dinner with some friends and neighbors of ours. We found out last week that Todd and Mark have the same birthday so we decided to celebrate together. It was fun. Lilly made cupcakes for both of them and Mark blew out 2 candles this time! :) Our big girls were sweet to babysit all our kids and their kids for us so we could celebrate.

Happy Birthday Baby!

Just a little taste...