Birthday Boy . . .

Oh my sweet, handsome birthday boy.  What a little fireball.  An adorably, sweet ball o' fire.  There is so much emotion bursting from that little four year old body, you don't even know.  But, I'll get in to that later.  First, how we celebrated the day of Ben-Ben's birth:

There was the pirate party with friends the Saturday before his birthday - since the next weekend was Easter.  There was: A gathering activity (pirate stickers and crayons, etc), Games (including pass the pirate rubber ducky - like hot potato - with pirate-y music playing, and hide the golden nugget), Presents (love his excited, happy look in the present picture), Snacks (it was from 2-3:30, so we just did cupcakes and some healthy finger food), and the Treasure Hunt (the most exciting part of the party). 

So, the treasure hunt was the hardest part for Benjamin, even though I tried to prepare him for it.  He always felt like he was left behind from the faster, older kids getting to the clues.  Two different times he went to his room to cry in the corner during the treasure hunt. . . really hurt, sad tears.  This is the first time we had to deal with a crying birthday child, and I felt bad for him.  (But I am glad it wasn't a tantrum-y kind of thing - he found a quite corner to feel sad in :)  He was over it quickly and the treasure hunt - including a spooky ghost giving the final clue - was a success.  In one of the pictures, you can see the treasure box my mom made for the party favors (which the kids and I had put together).  I had asked her if she'd do this part of the party, and she did an awesome job.  She also kind of took over the two inside games we played too, which was nice and helpful.  My mom is great at kid parties . . . so we're pretty lucky.  :)     

Okay, the best part of the party for me:  Right when the kids were finishing up their snack, and I was busy doing something else, Benjamin walked up to me and said, "Thanks for the birthday party mom!"  And hugged me.  Completely unprompted.  What a sweetie.  I love that he (and Anna) are thankful for things like this, and realize it's something kind I'm doing for them . . . as opposed to something that should just happen.

Then there was a birthday dinner at Perkins on his actual birthday.  Courtesy of Grampa Chuck - Thanks! And yum!  Ben had a hard time believing us that it was his birthday on the 4th since he'd already had a party.  But he didn't resist the presents, or dinner, or attention in general.  hehe.   

 

And there was the sleepover.  On Ben's birthday eve, he requested a sleep over at Gramma Susan and Grampa Dewey's house that they were happy to provide for him.  He also requested breakfast in bed, but changed his mind when the time came.  My parent's got him a pillow pet for his birthday that he's been wanting since Anna got hers a year and a half ago.  The Zebra one, as you can see.  They had it waiting on his bed for him when he came over for the sleepover, and he was so surprised and excited.  Cute.  I thought it was kind of a big deal that he slept over there alone.  He's had plenty of sleep overs before, for fun and for babysitting (always with family), but never alone.  It's always been with his big sister Anna.  I think he relished the alone, undivided attention.  And he deserves it . . . he is the middle child after all.  :) 



About My Little Man, Benjamin Bear:

• He's growing up too fast.  Seriously.  Four?!   
• He loves super heroes (especially Spider Man and Captain America).  He also loves to watch He-Man.  Ethan's got him hooked.
• He loves stickers . . . lots and lots of stickers.
• He always, always has to have socks on.  Always. 
• He is very particular and very in to routines.  (see above) 
• His feelings get hurt easily, especially if things don't go just like he wants them, and he'll run away (sometimes crying) and say to me, "I'm not going to be your friend anymore!!"  (see above)
• He often walks up to me out of the blue and tells me he loves me.
• He loves to have "school" with me.  I love it too. 
• He has the prettiest, light blue eyes, squishiest little lips, messy blonde haystack, and an adorable little dimple that just melts my heart. 
• He is smart.  And he is a very good memorizer.  Just like his daddy. 
• He loves to play rough - even when Anna doesn't want to ('cause you can only play rough if everyone wants to).  He gets in trouble for this often.  Thank goodness his daddy (and Caleb too sometimes) makes up for this.  Pillow fights, sword fights, karate fights, etc.    
• He shows his affection in a rough kind of way too.  It's pretty cute.  
• He loves to snuggle in bed with me in the morning.  I love it too.  But he is pretty chatty, and I'm usually still pretty sleepy.   
• He loves to joke around and tell jokes too . . . the same ones over and over.  He has a very silly side to him and a very contagious, goofy laugh.   
• He is still a morning person.  Although he doesn't get up sooo early these days - around 7:30.  And he likes to have breakfast "straight away."  
• He loves books - looking at them himself and being read to.  And do not skip a part of even a word, because he will call you on it. 
• He is also still obsessed with food.  Pretend, real, cooking, eating, books and magazines with pictures of foods.  He loves it all. 
• He is my little man, and I love him.