Caleb turns FOUR

We had so much fun last weekend celebrating Caleb's 4th birthday! Mom came up on Friday (4/30) to spend the whole weekend with us. We spent Saturday being lazy and enjoying the day together. Mom did ALL of our laundry, which was much appreciated!!!

I decided this year to go a different route for Caleb's birthday party and reserved a party time at Gymboree Play & Music. For about the same amount of money that I usually spend on putting together a birthday party on my own, we were treated to an hour and a half of play time at "Gymbo's House" and all we had to do was show up. It was worth every single penny! We brought the cake and a cooler of cokes and water. Really...that was ALL we did. Ms. Tobie ran the party and even served the cake. We greeted guests and took pictures and actually got to enjoy Caleb's party stress-free. It was awesome!

We had almost 15 kids and each kid had at least one adult with them. The kids had a musical parade, played with the parachute, took Caleb for a birthday ride on the parachute (photo below), sang, danced, played with hula hoops and just had fun! I took 150 pictures, so I'm not posting them all, but you can see all of them on Shutterfly.
From 4:00-5:00, we watched the kids have a blast on the play equipment, then we went into the art class and celebrated the birthday boy with cake. He had 2 cakes...a parental compromise. I chose a St. Louis Cardinals cake, but he really wanted Transformers cupcakes. I got a small cake of each and the Transformers cake was surrounded by cupcakes. His friends from daycare came and some of them decided to give him hugs to welcome him to the "four club."

After the party, we went to Whole Hog BBQ for a family dinner. We always go out for BBQ on May 1st, because that's what we had the night before Caleb was born. Mom, Rudy, Jan, Kathy, Nana, Nola and I enjoyed Caleb's pre-birthday dinner and he got to open a few gifts, including this Phineas & Ferb guitar ("kih-tar") from Grandma & Nana. He also got a kid-sized tent from Bill and a Transformer and some Dragon toys from Kathy. We made the decision not to have gifts at the birthday party because, quite honestly, Caleb doesn't need any more toys! His playroom is full! I put a "no gifts please" note on the party invitations and almost everyone complied. We put the few gifts that he did get in the car and he opened them at home. LaLa & Pops gave him a goodie bag with some trinkets in it and they went in with us on his big gift, a Power Wheels 4-wheeler that looks like the real one that Pops has. It goes either 2.5 mph or 5 mph and he LOVES it. It even goes in reverse, which he quickly learned to use.

Below is the video of him coming out to find his birthday present waiting for him in the front yard. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fact that the first thing he says is "thank you." That makes me so proud! He has ridden his 4 wheeler almost every day since he got it, but still likes to ride his bike too. We were thinking we might have to put a time limit on the 4 wheeler this summer to make sure he still rides his bike and gets plenty of exercise, but it doesn't look like that's going to be necessary.

So, my 4-year old is a happy, well-mannered (usually) big kid. He makes me laugh and cringe every day. He's an awesome big brother who loves his little sister like I never imagined he would. He is caring and empathetic and wants to do the right thing, even though sometimes he doesn't. He talks ALL THE TIME and is inquisitive, funny and thoughtful. Sometimes I think he never pays attention and sometimes I think he never listens, but then he turns around and does something so phenomenal that I forget about all of that. He's learning letters and the sounds that they make and he amazes me with his thirst for knowledge. He enjoys watching what he calls "my movies" - Phineas & Ferb, Sid the Science Kid, SuperWhy and Martha Speaks are his favorites. He really likes Super Heroes and Transformers, but doesn't know much about them. Sometimes I think he would live outside if he could. He loves to be outside - especially with his Daddy. He's still a little whiny sometimes and is starting to get a little attitude that has to be worked on now and then, but usually a stern look from us or a 4 minute time-out works wonders on both of those. Unfortunately, being 4 has brought us the challenge of lying, which all kids go through. Caleb is old enough now to realize that if he doesn't tell the truth about something he might get away with having done it (though usually it's the other way around - he's telling us he did something that he didn't do). Unfortunately for him, we usually know when he's lying and we bust him every time. It's something we're learning to work through and really the first (of many) moral lessons we're teaching as parents. He is really starting to show more interest and is putting some thought into God and Jesus. He asks us awesome questions about them that we sometimes have a hard time answering on his level - and sometimes we have a hard time answering them at all. He loves to go to church, but usually gets very shy and clingy when we're there. I think he senses the emotion of worship in the sanctuary and isn't really sure what to do with it, so he pours it out in love towards us - usually me. He's just an awesome kid. I couldn't ever dream of having a better little boy in my life.

Happy fourth birthday, Caleb-bug. I love you!