Can it really be? Our firstborn is FOUR years old.
It was so fun to plan his birthday party this year because he actually had things to say about what kind of party he wanted and who should be invited. :) He said he wanted a birthday party at the park so he could play with all his friends for a little while. He had a specific guest list in mind, and we smiled when he included a 20ish year old friend from church (who Jack idolizes because he plays electric guitar with the worship team), a 70ish year old man from church (who greets and seats our family every week and is SO sweet with our kids... oh, and he drives a cool red pick up truck), and a 40ish year old couple from our small group (who are very attentive and sweet to our kids as well). We followed through with inviting those folks, to honor Jack's request, but made sure that they felt no obligation to come to a preschooler's party at the park. Well, they ALL wanted to come. It was so sweet of them to take time out of their schedules to come celebrate Jack. He had a great time!!!
It was a beautiful day in March, but the wind picked up quite a bit in the evening, which kinda of ruined the balloons and made the candles a little tricky (thanks for the wind shield, and ALL of your incredible help, Auntie Laura!). One of the first things I did when planning the party was to ask Jack what type of decoration he wanted on his cake (Actually, I sent Ben a text from Costco and gave him 2-3 options to offer Jack). He picked "a rainbow", so we took that and ran with it, in regards to a lose theme for the party. It made things really easy in terms of finding matching decorations and party favors (water color paint pallets). :) When it was time to sing Happy Birthday and blow out his candles, we called him over and as he was running he tripped and fell... poor buddy. His face is a little blotchy from crying, but he managed a smile eventually.
HUGE bites of his lovely RAINBOW cake. :)
Jack's cousin, Jonathan, was very kind to spend HIS birthday with us, too! After the park party, we headed to our house to do a little family celebration of our two sweet boys. Exactly eight years may separate them in age, but they are so sweet together. Jack just adores Jonathan, and Jonathan is a very sweet big cousin and friend to Jack.
Jack, we love you SO much!!! When you were born four years ago, you made us parents, and we are so grateful for you and all we've learned from you. At four years old you are SMART! It's been so fun to see all of the things you are learning this year in pre-school and we are often surprised by the facts you remember and tell us at home. You know all your numbers and lots of your letters. You can write your name better and better all the time. You can count to 100 with a little help! You can ride your trike and plasma car up and down our sidewalks super fast! You also have just started being able to shoot hoops on our BIG hoop with the new little basketball you got. AND you now routinely hit pitched wiffle balls over our fence and into our neighbors yards... you are quite the little athlete!
At your four year physical (during which you completely freaked out about your immunizations), you were 42 inches tall and 37.6 lbs. (75th%).
In the morning you are slow to wake up, but you always want cereal and juice for breakfast. When it's time to get ready for the day, you pitch a fit and give us a really hard time with getting dressed and ready to go. It requires a LOT of patience from us, and we aren't always too good at giving you that, but we've seen little improvements on certain days when you have gotten dressed completely by yourself without any help! You are totally capable, just not always motivated or willing. :) You are strong willed and stubborn (and mommy often sees a little too much of her own personal traits in you). You really still need a nap everyday. You fight it hard some days, and even succeed at avoiding it occasionally, but we KNOW that, on those nights after a missed nap, you will most likely wake up sometime before (or shortly after) mommy and daddy go to sleep, screaming that your legs hurt or something else dramatic. We think your little body and brain just really still needs that daily rest. You go to sleep pretty well at night, though when you feel like stalling you are pretty good at asking to go potty, for more water, or just loudly declaring random funny phrases through the crack at the bottom of your door. You don't know it now, but mommy and daddy usually get a few good laughs out of the way before scolding you and putting you back to bed with a stern face. ;)
We are most certainly learning what it's like to experience frustrations and joys of parenting with you, Jack, as you bring us high highs and low lows almost every day. But that sweet smile, laugh, and your arms around our necks are enough to melt our hearts and keep us ever grateful for you, our darling blue eyed blond preemie. We love you more than words can say!!!
Love, Mommy and Daddy
