Celebrating 4 years!

We had such a nice time with Henry celebrating his 4th birthday.  After weeks (months) of counting down, he was so excited to finally have his special day.  The first thing I heard from his room yesterday morning was “It’s my birthday!”  We started the day with some blueberry pancakes and a special birthday t-shirt from Grandma and Grandpa Panning, then sent Henry outside to check out the new members of his “team.”  He had a great time introducing all the new trucks to the old ones and they seem to be settling in nicely to their new home. 

Henry requested tacos for lunch, then he opened another present, and we got ready for Mass.  (Incidentally, this was our LAST Mass in the parish center…  new church dedication is this week!  Henry even managed to injure himself on the makeshift kneelers one last time.)  Don’t miss the “I’m dressed like a priest outfit” in the pictures below. 

When we got home, it was cake time!  We made truck cakes last year, so when Henry asked for another construction-themed cake, I wasn’t super excited.  We had a set of toy trucks to give him, though, so Matt and I worked together to make a cake using the toy trucks.  We had fun, I found a new kind of frosting to love, and the kids played with the cake for a long time.  We finally had to take it away after an hour or so just so we could move on with our day.  The cake didn’t get a great glamour shot beforehand, but it was a cake made to be played with and it definitely served its purpose.  And was delicious. 

I should have gotten an “after” shot.  The demolition job accomplished by the trucks was pretty impressive.  They’ve all gotten a good bath and are happily playing with the other toys in the house. 

Henry opened a few more presents from his grandparents and Aunt Katie, then ran outside to play with the bubble machine and rocket launcher for the rest of the day.  We finished up with a few minutes of his new Bob the Builder movie, a round of Superhero Chutes and Ladders, and a much-needed soak in the bathtub. 

Crazies

Just a couple days until we have a four year old in the house.  How about some kid updates? 

Charlie

…is 8 months old.  He crawls and cruises all around the house and loves nothing more than climbing as fast as he can up the stairs.  If I come after him, he gives me a big grin and climbs faster.  Today he got all the way up the stairs while I was in the kitchen getting a glass of water.  He currently has 6 teeth, but always seems to be working on more.  Nicknames around here are plentiful, but a recent one that seems appropriate is Chuckles (or Mr. Chuckles).  He has two moods: crazy happy or desperately unhappy.  I prefer the former.  Fortunately, he has two entertainers in the house who think it’s great fun to make him laugh. 

One of the best things Mr. Chuckles does to entertain us is what we have dubbed the “banana dance.”  Here’s a video of an early version of it.  Now that he knows how much it makes us laugh, we can expect it at just about every meal and with great enthusiasm.  But not always with a banana.

Lucy

…is 2, potty-trained, and more than a little crazy.  She’s capable of being sweet and helpful, loud and whiny, silly, stubborn, and SO cute (all within a few seconds).  One of her favorite tricks is to get up in the middle of the night, cry loudly (right next to Charlie’s bed) that she needs to go potty (sure way to get me up quickly), and then sit on the toilet looking at me with an irresistibly sweet smile.  She loves to play with her brothers, read library books, and make up silly words to songs.  Some of her favorite characters: Dora, Ponies (any of the My Little Ponies), and the Wendy's: Wendy the Pooh and Wendy the Queen (you might know this one as Lightning McQueen).  And Curie the George.  She also calls giraffes bo-jraffes, asks Mary to “pray for us dinners,” and insists on praying for “going to mountains” every night at bedtime.  *edit: A couple more Lucy-isms from this morning: She chose to wear her “orbi-alls” (overalls) and asked for “key-butter and jelly” for breakfast. 

A conversation I had recently with Lucy while I was washing dishes:
Lucy: Mommy, I have a question.
Me: Ok, what’s your question?
Lucy: It’s about a joke.
Me: Oh? What’s your joke?
Lucy: It’s about dancing.
(dances off into the next room)

Henry

…is almost 4!  He still loves trucks and anything that involves dirt and digging.  He has what I like to call “selective hearing,” in that he listens carefully to everything we say, but only pays attention to a particular word or phrase that sounds interesting to him… not always heard correctly and not usually important.  But we can always count on him asking bizarre questions about what he thinks he’s heard.  He is excited about going back to school so that he can play with his friends, talks often about going to Disney World (and prays for it every night), and loves being a big brother.  Henry is my go-to babysitter when I need to run to the bathroom, kitchen, garden, or laundry room. He can keep Charlie entertained and off the stairs, which is my primary concern.  He pays a lot of attention to the world around him and we spend lots of time in the car talking about what street we’re on and where we’ll be turning next.  He’s also very interested in putting together his outfits each day.  His favorite outfits to dress in are: all black on Sunday (to look like a priest), all red (to look like Spiderman), or all blue.  Another fun(?) thing about Henry is that he is very interested in learning procedures.  Some time ago, I showed him how to count out 4 squares of toilet paper, fold it, and use it to wipe his bottom.  He is very meticulous about this (even at 4:30am this morning when he woke up “needing” to poop).  We have also had more than one *major incident* when he cried about his teeth turning yellow because we told him he couldn’t brush his teeth right at that moment.