Magnus Turns 10

On October 1st we celebrated Magnus' 10th birthday and Fabiola's 6th birthday. Following family tradition we woke both of them up with presents and a special breakfast-- for Fabiola it was the fishiest wet food we can find, mackerel.

The second pandemic birthday in the family, the day followed our normal routine of walking Theo up to Corona Heights and a day of virtual school. Magnus' one birthday request was to see his two best buds for an outdoor playdate. We met up at the school with a few outdoor toys and the kids enjoyed discussing video games, silly talk, and being themselves IRL.

On the following weekend we had a small outdoor party in Milpitas. Doing everything poolside we went with a tropical theme and I even managed to make a pufferfish piñata.

For the first time in many years I baked a homemade birthday cake, coconut cake with vanilla buttercream.  Not only did I have the time because of the pandemic, we also had much fewer people at the party a homemade cake was just enough. When it came time around for blowing candles I think Theo believed he was the one we were celebrating.

After cake the boys made easy work out of beating up the pufferfish. Every kid got a chance to hit it, and no one cried about loot inequity.

As the sun set it became dark enough for the party finale, a pool-side movie on the new outdoor projector and screen.  Kerstin & Magnus put a lot of work into researching and setting up our COVID safe movie theater, so we could all spend time together safely.  The night's showing was a classic horror movie and totes pool-side appropriate: "Jaws". Despite having a much smaller party, Magnus felt celebrated and special to have such a memorable and unique party.

Magnus' 10th year brought a massive growth spurt, both in height and girth, that also translated into growth in his facial structure.  It's been 2-3 years since he needed a new ocular prosthesis and we needed to revisit the process all over again. The ocularist has maintained full operation and it was comforting to return to a place and process that have become somewhat routine. The first step of the fitting was to examine his little eye and surrounding structures, then take an impression mold of the socket. This is to get the most comfortable fit and maximize movement of the prosthesis.

On the second visit the ocularist has a model made from the mold, which he uses to check "fit".  He estimates the proper pupil and iris size and location and checks the orientation of both when Magnus is wearing the eye.  After a few more marks with a Sharpie and some notes in his record, the ocularist gets to work on hand painting the real fake eye (that will eventually be worn by Magnus).

The third visit is when we get to see the final product-- a custom molded and painted prosthesis, completely color matched from sclera to iris. Tada!

When asked what is the one thing he looks forward to once the pandemic is over Magnus said, " I never thought that I'd say this, but I can't wait to go back to school."  His tenth year has been weird and isolating, both memorable and a blur. One of a few blessings was seeing growth in his agency, how he cares about his schedules and appointments, and makes time and effort to take care of his chores and responsibilities.