And Then He Was Four

My darling little boy turned 4 last month. For some reason, and this has been with both of my boys, 4 seems so BIG! For me, 4 is harder to deal with than the first, second, or third birthday. There is something about 4... He's no longer a toddler. I can't call him a baby. You can get away with calling a 3 year old a baby, but not a 4 year old. My little Nathan is a preschooler now and well on his way to being a big kid.

We had two little parties to celebrate his big day. The first party was with 2 dear families from church. It was very simple and low-key, which is just what I needed as a busy and tired Mom.

Although, we did have the issue of Jonah telling Nathan he needed to decide what kind of party he wanted.

Jonah: Do you want a home party or a movie party like I had?
Nathan: I think... a movie party!
Me: Wait a minute, no, Nathan doesn't get to decide! Mommy and Daddy decided he would have a party at home. Going to the movies is not an option!
Nathan:(sad and disappointed)
Jonah: Don't worry, Nathan. I didn't even want a movie party, I actually wanted a home party but Mommy said no, I had to have a movie party.
Me:(cringing and feeling like a terrible mom, but he was telling the truth, that is exactly what happened.) Nathan, maybe when you turn 6 you can have a movie party like Jonah did when he turned 6.
Nathan: OK!

Whew! Crisis averted!

We didn't take very many pictures during the party. We had friends over for a pizza lunch and then Nathan opened presents. There were no games or goody bags. Yeah, I went all out. :S I had been feeling so stressed and the last thing I wanted to do was plan a party. Four year olds are very aware of their birthdays and look forward to them all year so you can't get away with not doing anything to celebrate. You can get away with that when they're younger. Not so much anymore.

But the party was still, in my opinion, really fun. The kids just played and had fun together and the grown ups got to sit down and visit with little interruption or distraction. I didn't have to rush around and play hostess and try to entertain anyone. It was just what I wanted, simple and casual. It might not have been what Nathan thought he wanted, but in the end, he enjoyed himself very much.

His friends made him some really cute cards.

He got lots of movies and super heroes and clothes with pictures of super heroes plastered across the front that he very much wanted.




We had cupcakes to devour.

And then the party was over! Absolutely perfect.

The following week, on a Sunday afternoon, we had a small party after church with some of our family members. It was the same sort of thing, a casual lunch and another fresh batch of cupcakes. Raymond barbecued burgers and hot dogs for everyone and we just spent time together visiting and relaxing.

Grandpa and Jonah

Nathan got to open more presents.





Nathan got a cool Iron Man mask.




Raymond's sister Angela and her family couldn't make it but his brother Joseph and the kids came over for a little while. They had to leave before Nathan finished opening presents and before the cupcakes were served so I don't have pictures of them there. I guess the party was mostly grandparents and great grandparents. :)

I love my cuddly Nathan and I can hardly believe he is 4! So much has happened in the last 4 years and I'm excited to see how he continues to grow and change, even though I wish it could slow down. I love you, Boo!