Big Boy Birthday Details....

Big Boy’s birthday was pretty laid back, but we had a fun time. I had set up the table the night before with a few gifts we bought for him and one from Granny and Grandpa Taylor. When he woke up in the morning we could hear him talking to Cheeks in their bedroom like it was any other morning. I’m pretty sure he’d forgotten it was his birthday. We heard the door to their room open and I got up to watch him. He peeked his head around the corner and saw the table and said, “GOSH!” Then he ran to the table and stared at the gifts and kept saying, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” Don’t ask me where he got the ‘gosh’ from, but it was funny! I was excited for him to open the presents we got because I was sure he’d love them. First he opened up the little wooden train set from IKEA. My parent’s have one and they love playing with it so I thought for sure it would be a hit. The first words out of his mouth were, “This isn’t the Thomas Train!” I think Thomas is great, but I’m not paying $12.99 for one little engine when I can buy a whole train set for that price! Eventually he set it up and had a great time playing with it later in the day.
Our other gift was a set of Legos. He pretty much ignored this gift and went on to the next. Luckily when his cousin Mr. A showed up and started playing with them, Big Boy realized how fun they could be! The favorite presents of the morning were the cars from Granny and Grandpa Taylor. He’s literally loved them to pieces!
Here's Cheecks having a minor 'it's not my birthday and I want presents' meltdown.Here's Baby M enjoying the wrapping paper.Shafer had to work that night so we had to have all the celebrations before 5. Luckily my parents, Emily and her kids were able to come over for lunch and a little trip to the park. Big boy was especially excited to see them walking in the door with more presents! He got a cool Superman car that makes some ‘lovely, soothing’ sounds that has been played with constantly since. He also got some cute clothes that I was excited about, and a Handy Manny toy with all the tools.
After a lunch of hotdogs cooked in the oven with mashed potatoes and cheese on top, jell-o fruit salad, and baked beans, we went over to the park across the street and let the kids get some energy out running around. Look at that cute baby belly! Can you tell Baby M's got some wood chips in his mouth?Then we came back inside for cake and ice cream.
I had kind of stressed about the whole cake thing since we’re now gluten free. Luckily when we went to the dietitian the other week she had a little care package of mixes to get us started that included a chocolate cake mix. It actually turned out very similar to the regular cake mixes. I used regular frosting and it tasted great! I might add that Big Boy also critiqued my cake for not being big enough and that the train was not Thomas. But, I’m sure he loved it, he’s still working on his social skills! I love that in the above picture Emily is covering her kids mouths so they won't be tempted to blow the candles out!
After the guests left and Shafer went to work the boys and I took a long, much needed nap. For dinner that night I made the same fantastic shredded beef tacos we had in Phoenix. They were almost up to par with Steve and Corinne’s version!
It was a great day and I still can’t believe I have a 4 year old! Big Boy is such a joy in our family. He’s so smart and funny, and he likes to have a good time. I’ll add this picture in the end to show my favorite present for Big Boy this year; he’s gaining weight!!!! I know to the untrained eye he looks the same, but check out that double chin! His face is starting to fill out and his scrawny little arms are quite a bit less scrawny! He’s also gained about 1-2 pounds. This is all after being gluten free for 1 month!! Hopefully this will continue and we’ll have a healthy year to come!