We're pretty confident that the reason Oliver finds the body very interesting is because of his experience with Cystic Fibrosis.  From the moment Bennett was born, we have been talking to Oliver about how bodies work - how some work correctly and some do not.  We regularly talk about Bennett's medicines work in his body to combat damage in Bennett's lungs and his pancreas.  Oliver, our science-lover, seems to particularly embrace opportunities to learn about the body.  We think this helps him feel more confident about the uncertainty that CF brings.



Jello petri-dishes with sprinkle "bacteria".


 Oliver's X-ray cake (found here: http://maxandellie.blogspot.com/2011/11/body-birthday-party.html)
  
Since Oliver's birthday was around Halloween, it was easy to find body-themed candy.

Edible Mouths with teeth made out of apples, peanut butter and marshmellows (found here: http://kidtimes.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/turn-that-frown-upside-down/)



DNA pasta





This is one of the sweetest little skeletons I could find!  I was careful not to get gruesome, for Bennett's sake.  Oliver is beginning to enjoy things that are pretend scary.  But Bennett still gets scared of shadows.  So I was glad to find this sweet little skeleton guy (or, as Bennett calls it, "skell-i-on" guy). :)


I found this skull head at CVS in the Halloween section.  It was black and lit up for Halloween so I spray painted it white to look more like one you'd find in the lab.


The upside to having a body birthday party around Halloween was it was easy to find body-themed candy and toys.  The downside to having a party right after Halloween was they sold out of dry ice throughout the entire city right before our party. So, my intention to put dry ice in the beakers for the party ended up not happening.  Kids didn't seem to care.  He liked the food coloring just as well.


I found this neat little website that helps you spell out your name with the elements: http://www.lmntology.com/.








DNA made out of streamers - Oliver is fascinated by DNA, especially because we have talked about how Bennett's CF comes from mutated genes in his DNA.


White chocolate and pretzel bones (found here: http://www.frogsandsnailsandpuppydogtail.com/2012/10/fun-candy-bone-snack-for-kids.html)



Fruit molecules (found here: http://mrsmouthy.wordpress.com/2011/09/27/mad-scientist-birthday-party/)  Literally, Brian was over in the kitchen cutting up fruit and making serious molecule models out of fruit.  I had no idea one could have such fun with fruit, toothpicks and their knowledge of microbiology.


Make a wish!



Oliver's party favors were bone candy, gummi brains and some kind of Halloween gooey thing inside a beaker candy.  



Happy Birthday to our firstborn snaggled-toothed first-grade 7 year old!  We love you, Ollie-Bear!!