Four Years

It's so fun to celebrate birthdays with my kids, but this year was a little different for our little Bubba (who is not so little anymore) because Andy had his annual AECOM conference and wasn't going to be home all weekend.  We still managed to have a good time and make it a special day for Bubs.  I think 4 is the age when my boys have both come to realize it is their birthday and that they can celebrate themselves all day.  Last year, we were in DC for Bubba's third birthday and after birthday donuts, we headed off to Philadelphia to see family.  It was still a great day, but he barely realized it was his birthday besides blowing a candle off of a cupcake at night.  The difference a year makes, because this year he was so excited about the fact that it was "my birthday!"  He woke up, ran into my room, and told me he was "four years old now!"  He doesn't quite understand that height restrictions are what held him back from riding certain rides at Universal, he thinks it's turning 4, so he then exclaimed, "I can go on the Transformer ride now!"

Throughout the day, he would exclaim, "It's MY birthday!" and then when we went to Andy's parents house for dinner and family members started to show up, he ran around screaming, "Say hello to the birthday boy!" It was so funny.

We had been watching an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Mickey had a Mickey shaped cake.  He turned to me, and told me (this was a few weeks ago) that he also wanted a Mickey cake.  The boy are having a combined birthday party after both of their actual birthdays at Jump Around Utah with a Captain America (Bubba) and Spiderman (Jordan) theme, so I figured why not - we can do some Mickey Mouse stuff now.

But buying two cakes over the course of a week seems a bit overkill.  I decided I better make him a cake, and then another for Jordan next week.  So last minute, I went with a box cake and tried to imitate a Mickey Mouse cake I saw on Pinterest that was much like the one he wanted from the show.  Cooper was not having it.  So May was nice enough to come over and hold Cooper while I worked on the cake.  I also left the three big kids with my in-laws on Saturday afternoon and went off to get balloons for Bubba.  I had to sneak them into the house downstairs below the stairs and then retrieve them after the kids had gone to sleep, because I can't blow balloons.  I'm not kidding, every year - we have done balloons on the floor for the kids, but Andy has always blown them up.  So without him around, I had to go buy helium ones.  HEHE.

Dear Bubba,

My sweet dear four year old!  You are such a stubborn little boy.  You know exactly what you want, you are hard to persuade, but you seem to eventually come around and want to help mom out.  You love your big brother so much, in fact, you idolize him, he is your best friend, and you always want to know where he is, and you can't wait until he gets back from school.  Even on days when you have school, you are back before him, and eager to play with him again.  You love your sister, but you also find it amusing to bug her from time to time.  You love Mommy and Bubba time, and any one on one time you can get from anyone, but you also are always thinking of your brother and sister.  At gymnastics, if you get a treat after, you'll always ask if you can also get one for Jordan and Dagny.  If given the option to only get two things, you'll of course pick Jordan over Dagny, but he is your BFF for now.  One day, it'll be him and Dagny and Cooper.  Speaking of Cooper, you think he is the cutest baby in the world and you tell everyone he looks just like you and shower him with kisses, about 25 a day, at least.  You take care of him the way Jordan took care of Dagny, and you love being near him when Mom is nursing because "he is soooo cute!"  

You love sweets, more than any of our kids, and you will eat cake and ice cream for dinner if we let you (you did tonight, but then you had some carrots with ranch).  You also love ketchup and ranch, and will eat carrots with ranch, and eggs and chicken nuggets with kethcup.  You love grilled cheese sandwiches, in n out burgers and milkshakes, McDonald's nuggets and burgers and breakfast sandwiches, and pizza pie cafe's oreo dessert pizza.  

You sometimes cry in anguish when mom asks you to do something and you feel you need "help" from Jordan who is coincidentally at school.  You cry for a bit before coming around and telling me you did it all by yourself!  You are also stubborn.  But sometimes, in a good way.  You can buckle yourself in the carseat and always do it correctly, pulling the buckle to your armpit as instructed by mom and refusing to wear a jacket in the carseat because Mom told you it's dangerous.  You even once yelled at Grandma and OGO to let you take off your jacket before putting it on, and then started to cry when they tried to convince you it was okay.  

You are deathly afraid of elevators after getting stuck in the 15 floor elevator at the Hilton in Florida when we lived there for the month of May last year.  You were returned to us by a security guard, but those few minutes have scarred you for life, and you are super duper careful everytime you enter an elevator now, and also cautious about everyone else in the family, because you know how quickly you could get separated.  You take walking with Mom in the parking lot VERY seriously as well, and you never joke around when Mom says something is dangerous.  

You love drawing, doing "homework," cutting, running around, being Captain America, jumping off of our couch, and being outside.  You know so many letters and have already begun writing them without much instruction from us, you just seem to recall them from all the endless alphabet games you have played.  You don't care what anyone thinks, you pick out your own clothes, and on occasion, you decide that you want to wear jeans and a nice sweater because you do.  You love playing pretend, pretend cooking, pretend family, pretend ninjas, pretend superheros, pretend dinosaurs, and you have learned how to chew gum and spit it out.  

You have surprisingly turned into our best stay in your own bed at night sleeper, a huge change from when you used to crawl into bed secretly with us, every single day.  You are independent and full of ideas, and the only one of my kids who came out through a knife cutting me open.  It's as if you knew four years ago, that you didn't want to be upside down, so you stuck to it.  I love you so much, even if sometimes you're too cuddly for me and Dad, but we know your love language is presently physical affection and we try to remember to give you that attention whenever we can.  Happy Birthday my dear Bubba.  I cannot believe you are four years old already.   

Love, Mom