Krauss Haus: 2-24, Nikolas' 9th birthday

Monday, March 7, 2011

2-24, Nikolas' 9th birthday

Year after year, we can't believe our eyes as we watch Nikolas grow. This year, he turned 9! He spent most of the day in school, but we did our best to have a special evening for him afterwards. He was a little dismayed that he didn't have a big party with his friends, but this transition was a perfect time to corral his ambitious birthday wishes and spend his birthday just like Sven and I did growing up--with family.

I laugh thinking of how fast Nikolas could be on his smaller bikes. He's definitely going to beat me down the trail on this new, big one!

He's been wanting a new bike for so long. I think he's happy!

Whose new bike IS it?! =)

We surprised Nikolas with a sushi dinner-- his favorite. That boy loves the salmon. I can't remember what I wanted to eat for my 9th birthday, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't sushi!

He can be sweet when he wants to..... =)

So, for those of you who may not know, Nikolas has been diagnosed with a wheat allergy. So not only did the poor kid have to leave behind everything he knew (house, school, friends, etc), but he's also had to endure a drastic change in his diet. The boy whose favorite foods include cheerios, ramen noodles and pizza now has to learn to live without these items or tolerate the substitutes. He has been such a trooper about all of it. On the plus side, it may be a blessing in disguise to rid our diets of the many processed foods we had been eating. On the negative side, many of the substitutes for the staple items like bread and pasta.....aren't tasty. Intimidated by the thought of baking him something for his birthday that was gluten-free and a high-altitude conversion (I'd already baked him a loaf of stone earlier in the week.....), I went to the local health food store and bought him these gluten-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, egg-free......taste-free?????.....brownies. Here's hoping......