The Things We Do for Our children

I spent a good 8 hours baking and decorating a Lightning McQueen cake for Grant. It might not have taken so long if I hadn't had to stop so many times for potty breaks, a nap, and "give my back a break because my belly is getting in the way of leaning over this cake" breaks.

Grant absolutely loved it although he would've been just as happy with plain old cupcakes.

Maybe I should change the title to "The Things We Do for Ourselves."

It looks good though if I do say so myself.

KA-CHOW!

Birthday Party

The birthday celebration at school was sweet and all, but no 4 year old can go without having a party at Chuck E. Cheese's.

They pack you in there. They rush you in and out. But it is oh so worth it.

It's kind of odd though, having a party at Chuck E Cheese's and having more adults than kids. Oh well.

Everyone had fun, and even Grant was dancing in the aisle and clapping to the show.

He said his favorite part was blowing out his candle and giving Chuck E. a high five.

My favorite part was watching Grant blow out his candle and give Chuck E. a high five.

Birthday Celebration

January 14th. Today Grant is four years old.

I came to his birthday celebration at school. In a Montessori classroom the birthday child holds the earth or a globe and walks around the sun/candle. The walk represents the earth revolving around the sun. The child walks around the sun one time for each year of his life.



He now knows the months of the year and was able to tell each one to his teacher as she put each one down to represent the sun.

I brought a picture of him as an infant, 1, 2, and 3 years old to share with the class as well as cupcakes with no icing. We finished off his special day by eating lunch together.

It is wonderful to see him maturing and gaining confidence as he was telling younger ones what to do. "No, Winston, your cup is supposed to go right here!" "I'm going to be the line leader. Everyone needs to line up behind me."

It was a special day to say the least.

Last Christmas...

of a family of three that is.

We had a wonderfully uneventful holiday with events and get-togethers expanding over several days.

Christmas morning was filled with magic as Santa left Grant all his favorites: Lightning McQueen Race Track, Monster Trucks, and the Screamin' Banshee. He didn't even worry about Santa coming to the house this time. And the words straight from his mouth could not describe it any better--

"This is the best Christmas ever!!!"

(Like he could remember all three of them).





Grant is at the perfect age right now. Every age has is ups and downs, warm fuzzies and frustrating moments. But just as Grant is turning 4 years old, the positive moments far exceed the negative ones by about 20:1. EASILY.

I have dreamed about this day for several years now.

No more tantrums and sudden mood swings.

He can now carry on an conversation and can describe his feelings.

No more time outs.

He can now understand reasoning and consequences. Only occasionally do we have to threaten a time out.

No more doing EVERYTHING for him.

He can now put on his clothes, shoes and jacket and get himself a snack.

No more diapers and potty training issues.

He now goes to the potty without even telling me.

We are constantly amazed at his learning ability. He knows most of his letter sounds and is becoming very interested in the words on the page as we read books. He is a little sponge absorbing whatever information you give him. His never ending questions are a testimony to that fact.

So now, realizing he will be FOUR years old in two weeks, I just want to slam on the brakes and keep him my little boy forever. How can he be four years old? It seems so old. Age 1 to 3 is toddler/preschool age. But FOUR? Four is a big boy. School age. Independent. Opinionated.

He'll be 13 in a blink of an eye.

And just as we've gotten one independent little guy, in about two more months we get to start all over again.



Is it worth it? --




A million times, YES.