Turning 4

Who wouldn't love a four-year old who wakes like this on his birthday?

January 31st will always mark the day that our ticket for the crazy train got punched, and, my, what a ride it continues to be!  We like to think that the "4" milestone also marks an embarkment to just a little less drama--but not too much less, for Henry still gets comments on his expressiveness and his orator abilities.  I'm proud of his emotions and his ability to communicate them.  I'm proud of this boy, period. He's, let's face it, very smart, very funny, and still very loving.  He deserves what ended up being a week-long birthday celebration, which also served to cause some frustration and some arguing about whether or not he was really four on the 31st, or if he was only going to turn four when he had his bowling party the following Saturday.

The breakfast decoration:

Specially requested breakfast of Lucky Charms, of which he would know nothing if it weren't for Grandjane.

 Opening his morning present, which caused him to grumble, "Oh, man!  Why is it a shirt?"

 A beautiful afternoon (wearing the new shirt) at the park doing a big kid activity--RC Spiderman motorcycling.

 Actually pausing to let me take a picture of our four-year-old:

 So BIG!

 Big kid playground (although he's been on this playground for a couple of years now)

 Hanging out

 Impressive!

 Sweet little brother:

 Awwww...

 The coolest dudes:

 H requested pepperoni and black olive pizza for his birthday dinner and chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Sprinkles were Daddy's idea:

Up until this year, H's birthday was cause for mixed emotion.  This year, though, I truly reveled in his excitement and tried to soak in the person that Henry is now.  He's a strong willed child--sticking to his beliefs even when facing my sometimes over-bearing personality and convictions.  (He still believes he only turned four at his birthday bowling party.)  He deeply cares for his brother and takes delight in making Elgin laugh.  He can command a room's attention but seems to know when it's not appropriate to do so--his interpretation of social cues is spot on.  He takes pleasure in learning, still, and latches on to knowledge very quickly.  He's balancing between a desire of independence and a sometimes even stronger desire to grab my hand and is becoming increasingly self-aware, which leads to moments of insecurity.  He loves group activities--board games being his current favorite.  His sense of humor is taking the nerdy tones of his Mama and Daddy, which is somehow comforting.  He's very quirky.  Once we get over spit slinging, shirt-eating, nail biting, or some other odd quirk, another strange habit is waiting to take its place and cause me to worry.  Something, though, tells me that a boy this sweet, funny, smart, and all-around cool is going to be OK, despite his parents.

Happy Four Years, Henry.  You are four years of pride and comical facial expressions!

Barrel Birthday

My nearly-four-year-old son started asking about eating at Cracker Barrel a few months ago, so we asked him if he would like to go there for his birthday.  He loved the idea.  When the day got closer, we realized that a mid-point location could allow for most of our family to attend, so a late breakfast off the interstate on the weekend before Henry turned four was planned.  Henry's family traveled from near and far, passing many Cracker Barrels along the way, to join us.  The very lucky selected Cracker Barrel accommodated our "party" of fifteen.  Everyone brought their pancake palate, bacon big eyes, and their syrup stomach to devour the breakfast and celebrate our big boy.

He challenged his Daddy to a friendly game of porch checkers to warm up his appetite:

He also requested mini chocolate, chocolate chip muffins to accompany the breakfast menu and start the party right.

Thank you, family, for being there and for the gifts.  He loves them all, and we love you all!

When we were leaving, H stopped at one of the large barrels on the front porch and said, "Here's the barrel.  Is it full of crackers?"

Five Months!

On the fifth month, the sun shown for the first time in days!  It would seem that Mother Nature knew that TED wouldn't allow for a doughnut filled five month celebration, so she sent the sun and blue skies, instead.  

Things I want to note about EW are that:

• He laughs so easily, and he laughs the hardest at his brother.  Right now, he loves for Henry to jump close to his face and yell, "A GOO!"  No wonder he keeps catching viruses.  
• Like his older brother, his laugh reminds me of my aunt Donna.
• He is enamored with his brother.  
• He no longer threatens to suck his thumb.  He does it.  Yikes.  I can still remember the trials and tribulations of kicking my own habit, but at least I had fuzz picking to fall back on.  
• He got sick a couple of times--really sick--but never let it get him down.  He did let us know that he's tired of the nebulizer.  
• He's loud and gets really, really active.  He rolls off his blanket, onto the carpet, then onto the hardwood in a matter of short minutes.
• He hates when we try to get him to sit.  Still, he tries to pull himself to a sitting position whenever he's placed on his back on the boppy.  Baby crunches.  
• He's the "Drool Master" as dubbed by his Nana.  Henry is all about calling his brother by this name.
• He accomplished bottle drinking and is finally taking more milk at school even when I'm not there to nurse him.
• He and I love sneaking in to observe H's class at school during my lunch break.  EW seems to watch closely.
• He no longer sleeps through the night and wakes around 2 and 4 in the morning, both times with high spirits but a willingness to go back to sleep.
• Did I mention that he loves his brother?  He luuuuuuuuuuvs him.  
• He grabs everything but prefers to yank my hair.
• He completed his first month of school, and he and I have a nice rhythm set for our 11'ish meetings.
• He reserves his smile for everyone with a face.  

Thanks to the sun, we were able to hold our monthly picture session.  I promise you that these images are not photoshopped.  He really is this cute.

Look at the length!

Taxi Cab Confession

Henry from the backseat: Daddy, did you see what I just did?
Daddy:  No, I didn't.
Henry:  It's a secret.  It's something with a nose, a mouth, and a booger.

Sugar

Elgin is almost out of diapers, so Cory headed to Costco with Henry who agreed to tag along after being enticed with pizza and a churro.  The originally reluctant to shop Henry was excited to report that he got 24 stickers from a side trip to Trader Joes.  When I went to kiss him goodnight at bedtime, he licked my nose.  It's almost 9 o'clock, and I can still hear him talking to himself.  I don't know the topic, but it is warranting some speedy chatter.  Now, he's out of bed to go to the potty again.

Cory regrets topping off their oh so nutritious meal with a giant lemonade.