James Turns 4

James was a boy with a plan. A birthday plan, that is. He has been talking about his birthday for months and adding things that he wanted to do and presents he wanted. At one time the day included going to all our regular stores, both grandparents' houses, a park, three restaurants and a movie. He wanted everything he saw (all the cookies at the store)nor the other kids got (a bike lock at one point). "Can you put that on my birthday list?" was a daily refrain. His cake was getting bigger, taller, with more elements than parade float. As we got closer, I knew we needed to boil down the plan to the feasible and possible. Here's what he came up with with very little guidance from myself:

Yes he planned to a surprise for himself and insisted we let him win at any games played that day. His car shaped cake with cookies, doughnuts, with a big number 4, and 3 different kinds of sprinkles was simplified as well.

Saturday before his birthday we went bowling. He liked it but got pretty bored half-way through and didn't even bowl his last frame.

This was his first or second turn. After this he would bowl the ball and run back to his seat to watch it knock down the pins than go again. He bowled so slowly there was plenty of time for him to make it back to his seat.

Have you ever watched slow bowling? It's probably the most suspenseful way to bowl. Is it going to make it all the way or are we going to have to get a worker? Is it going to knock any pins down? Whoa is it going left after hugging the right bumper for so long? Whaaaat?

My whole crew and literally all the bowlers at BYU bowling from 10am to 12pm. 

This is how I bowl too. Let it go and then just stand there and watch.

And get super excited if I knock down 9 pins. I've been bowling with bumpers for so long--it's going to be a rude awakening when I bowl with only adults.

And then we went home. It was nice to get out and campus is always fun. It's changed a lot.

Sunday we celebrated with Justin's family with a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies (his favorite dessert ever). Corey and Nadine gave him Gogurts and superhero Legos.

Tuesday morning after his as-requested surprise, Justin made pancakes and bacon for breakfast while he opened his presents. He got lots of treats (gummies, chips, peanuts, cookies, Apple Jacks) and a PJ Masks car, sunglasses, a book, and his first year photo album that I finally got around to putting together. Now he's not the only child without a photo album on the shelf.

(It was a cold birthday)

After the kids went to school we went to Daylight Doughnuts in Springville and he picked out all 12. Then we took the box to may parents where he got a birthday card. He played with a couple of new puzzles.

Then we took his birthday money from my mom and went to the toy store where he picked out this monster firetruck. He wouldn't even consider anything else after he saw it.

After that we went home for lunch and got started on frosting his cake. Orange cake with orange frosting (the color, not the flavor). Here he is dumping on the sprinkles to make the big 4.

And then he handed me doughnuts to cut in half and place on the sides.

He liked how it turned out so much that he kind of forgot about the Lego guys and monster trucks he was going to add.

It turned out pretty cute and is totally James.

After school I remembered a present that didn't get wrapped so he opened it then. It was a Bluey card game. Then we played games at the table for awhile.

For dinner I picked up Chick-fil-a and it was good. Then it was cake time.

Erica's face. 

It was strange celebrating just us. Thus is pandemic life. I texted a few neighbors and told them to send their kids over for cake because James really wanted to have a house full of friends but that wasn't to be. We had 5 kids show up, kind of like trick or treating. James loved it and it made his day. We listed to AJR's birthday song changing the lyrics to "I'm 4 years old today."

Then the kids played downstairs while Justin and I listened to classic Pearl Jam until putting them all to bed.

I love this guy. He drives me less crazy than he used to. He's my bud all day long. I don't even want to think about him going to school.

Here are some things about him that I don't want to forget. 

He's crazy smart and clever. His favorite joke is to say, "1-2-3 quiet game. You lose! Wait, I lose!" and laughs and laughs. We watched Pirates of the Caribbean a few weeks ago and he totally followed the plot.

He'll put himself down for a nap if he gets tired. Most of the time he won't even tell me beforehand.

He wants to be home. He can't handle running more than 2 errands at a time. "Is our next stop our house?"

He's very attached to Tigey and his blue blanket. I can usually talk him into leaving them at home by telling him Tigey wants a nap so go tuck him in with blankie. (That may be part of the reason he doesn't like to be away from home.)

He can do simple addition problems like 2+2 and 4+4. I'm 4/4 for math nerds for kids. 

His favorite meals are pancakes or Apple Jacks for breakfast, a homemade lunchable or melted cheese on tortilla chips for lunch, and he doesn't really eat dinner but he'd tell you homemade mac n cheese. He loves all candy, especially suckers, soda, marshmallows, and all crackers and chips. He loves almost all fruit. He does not like boiled eggs or string cheese. Even if he asks for one, don't give it to him. He'll give up halfway through and waste it. Don't fall for it.

He loves to say the prayer and gets mad if he's not called on. Even in sacrament meeting.

Lately he eats one bite of dinner then says he's full and spends the remainder of the meal wandering around the table, standing on other people's chair rungs and being obnoxious. After we get after him, he runs around in the other room. We need to work on this.

He wants to be policeman when he grows up. 

He is very outgoing. He reminds me of Sarah--not intimidated by adults and thinks everyone is as friendly as he is.

He does front flips on the trampoline and lands on his back. He doesn't get much height so I think he's going to land on his head every time but he never does. It's actually pretty funny to watch.

He is 41 1/2 inches tall. That's 2 inches taller than Henry at this age. He's 33 pounds heavy. (Why don't we say that? We say inches tall but not pounds heavy.)

He asks all day long if it's time for the kids to come home. The record was at 9:10 am.

He's obsessed with all the Lego things. He builds things all day long. I don't mind unless it's time to do something else or, heaven forbid, clean them up.