celebrating my sweet ethan

he's four.  oh. my. lord.  he is four.

what a blessing.  four years with the sweetest boy i could imagine.  but how is he four?  the years move too quickly.  sometimes i cry. 

birthday celebration at school.

he simply is such a wonderful son.  inquisitive and creative.  cute.  funny.  witty.

he delighted in "blowing out" the candles.  i held it together and didn't cry. 

it wasn't easy.

he also challenges me.  has already developed the male-selective-hearing thing.  and likes to pretend things are guns and shoots them at things  {i initially was appalled by the violence... but have learned, this is a boy thing}

the orange trash truck.  i've only heard him talk about wanting this everyday for the last 4 months.

you can't make him sit down for very long and craft.  or color.  but he can build a fantastic block house.  or use his little mighty world people for hours-on-end of pretend.

the airport.  

it was same thing as the trash truck.  

on the "wish list."  he wanted this so bad that the day before he was trying to replicate it with his race track, making his cars "take off" and "land"

he probably watches too much t.v {insert mom guilt here} ... but lately he's been really into caillou.  who i personally think is sweet but a tad too whiny.  although, caillou doesn't pick up every blessed stick and pretend it is a gun. and that's nice... and caillou is polite.  and likes being a good big brother.  good lessons from the t.v.   :)

the nano bugs... entertainment from our two bugs, Zank and Zarnarsh.  ethan named them.  with no prompting from us...

he wakes up at 7:15 or so {dry! and has been for a loooong time} and keeps me on my toes all day... we might get lucky and he has a easy time taking a couple hour nap around 2:30... or we might get not-so-lucky, and have a struggle for the nap.  or it might just not happen.  but that is okay... because it's bed time somewhere in the neighborhood of 7:30, although i have been known to push it up or back by a half hour.

he's a decent eater... he has a major sweet tooth.  he says his favorite foods are pizza, french fries and chicken nuggets.  he loves milk.  and thinks juice is a majorly wonderful treat.

my big boy is 37 lbs. and almost 44 inches tall.  that puts him at the 50th and 95th percentiles... so tall.  he is in 4t clothes and has a closet full thanks to generous friends and wears a size 11 shoe.  which just about kills me.  he has boy feet.  not little boy feet.  big boy feet.

my son is sensitive.  he wants to make me happy.  he has taught me about patience, forgiveness, grace, and a child's delight. 

major entertainment for sister.  and the rest of us watched them for quite awhile too. 

he has the most vivid memory.  he gets that from his father.  tonight, while looking through a book he saw a picture of a dragonfly and he said, "remember yesterday a long time ago {i.e. past tense} i saw a dragonfly at the farm and i named him Power??"  folks, yesterday a long time ago must have been back in september.  or perhaps even the summer.

cake.  unbelievably excited.

for his birthday there were additions to his bruder armada:  a crane and a trash truck.  and i do not lie, my mother and i built a shelf to house the aforementioned armada.  pretty much in the thick of all the christmas/birthday hubbub of the end of the week.

word to the wise... homegoods has these ridiculously overpriced trucks for a bargain.  

shop early... i bet they get picked over quickly. 

thanks, jenn, for saving us an arm and a leg.

for his little birthday celebration - just us and grandparents.  easy peasy.  and a store bought cake that ethan decorated.  with an iron man action figure stuck in the frosting.  he couldn't have been any happier.  i think it is just the adults that truly delight in the art of the fondant.  not four year olds.  it was cake.  ice cream.  and a iron man that he has slept with every night since.  we'll save the more elaborate cake for the bigger bash.

we'll have a "friends" birthday party in january.  after this holiday madness.

best moment of the evening.  ethan.  on a stool in the kitchen all alone.  looking at the cake and singing happy birthday to himself.  hardly able to contain his excitement.  

my sweet ethan, it is a privilege to be your mommy.  i am so blessed.