4! (And 3*)

(It's not that she's all ashamed of her age, it's just not my place to go splashing it around online and such.  I also realize I did something similar last year.  How old even are we?)

Quick, before it's June!  Um... before it's July?...

We had two more birthdays!  It's tricky how the kids' birthdays fall within just days of our own, but it does simplify things when you get behind on blogging about it, which, let's face it, is the most important thing (it is 2008, right?  People still blog?  Well, I do, now and then anyway).

So this year it was all a big to-do to get things sorted out because The Boy's birthday was actually on Sunday and The Wife's birthday was on Saturday but we wanted to have his party on Saturday, so then do we just switch completely this year?  But then when he goes to church will he be confused when we're like SHOUT HOORAY! and he's like, but it was yesterday??  And then does Julie not get presents on her actual day but then has to wait until HIS birthday and then HE doesn't get any on HIS actual day???  As you can see, it was a web of confusion.  So we ended up just kind of mashing them together -- fun cousins party on Saturday afternoon with delicious car cake, saved a few of his presents for the actual day and did our best to explain, then longsuffering Mommy was just patient and opened hers and had her amazing Lucky Charms marshmallows cake the next day.  It was a fun and busy weekend, but it might make things easier next year when the days are different, but who knows?  Anyway, here are some pictures!  Again in mashed-up style:

So much fun at his (first?) official birthday party!  The KSL sandbox was a huge hit, and the slide from Auntie Jellyfish was even bigger.

Leeeeeet's just get a better look at that amazing cake.

He bought Blaze with his very own birthday money!  I think he was pleased with his purchase.

Cute birthday girl.  I kind of dropped the ball this year, but I will make it up to you!

Leeeeet's just get a better look at that cake too...

And so, just like that our boy is 4.  For some reason this is an age I always remember my younger sisters being, so maybe there's something about this age.  Anyway, he's a great kid and amazes me all the time with how much he knows and retains and grows and loves and shouts.  Here's the Insta slideshow:

One day, Boy... One day.

Having so much fun at the carnival!  He's getting more fearless as time goes by, but he's still pretty cautious about certain things.

He loves Cousin Jack (and not just because of the cars he often so nicely brings) 

His faces!!!  So fun to visit Great-Grandma in Logan.

I kept these Atlantis figures in their boxes for yeeeeears after buying them cheap at the WDW Cast Member store, only to open them up so this guy could enjoy them.  Worth it.

Did I say he's still cautious?

Anything with wheels!

With wheels and lights?  Even better.

He often says cousin Link is his best friend.

Potty training was kind of a fiasco but The Wife (with help from Daniel Tiger) prevailed!  She is amazing, because thiiiiiis was pretty bad at first.

Going to work!

Dressing his friends for nap (which he only very occasionally takes anymore).

Super Boy!  Love those sidekicks.

This might have been the best thing ever for him so far.

Where did our baby boy go???

We wondered how he would do in Primary... and he did perfectly fine.  I wonder if it helps that I'm in there with him?  Or maybe hinders... Anyway, Kitty is the Primary mascot and usually sits on the piano, and he finally was "ready" and started singing a couple months ago...  Maybe one of these days he'll sing around the house or at bedtime with us.

Helping Mommy with her knitting.

Helping Daddy with the painting!  He's a good helper.

Life changed forever after experiencing Chuck E. Cheese's.

All tucked in for movie night!  We needed to rewatch the original Beauty and the Beast for reasons, and he's loved the books for months so it was time.

Neighbor Renner gave him a turn of his very own!  Again, the best thing ever... until it was time to get off.

A year later and his teeth are looking just great.  Amazing.

Taking a turn at Nana's watercolor station.  He's actually becoming quite the artist.

True to his Asian roots, he knows exactly how to use chopsticks (which of course Hmong people don't even use).

The arts!  The letters!  This boy.

There you have it!  Mostly these are for me/us to enjoy and look back and remember things but if you made it through hopefully you enjoyed it too.  Our boy has some real highs and lows in his toddler emotional roller coaster, but mostly highs, and he's even getting easier to reason with, which is refreshing, since Baby Girl seems to be going just the other way in some respects, ha.  He's handsome and clever and bright and loves life so much, it just makes me want to match his energy and joy and exuberance, which we do our best to do.  He's a great big brother and a good helper around the house and a delight in Primary.  His voice gets increasingly not only louder but also higher the more excited he gets, but I love how he uses words ("we goeded" "I learneded" "I playeded"). He loves visiting aunts and uncles and cousins and always wants to go to a "fun place" (wherever that is, usually anywhere will do) when I get home from work.

Until next time!  We love our boy.

Five Years / Fifteen Months

So, as promised, here's my follow-up post about the happenings around about a month ago (I still want to do a post more about our house-buying shenanigans, but I won't bother with that just yet).

As it turned out, our anniversary fell squarely on moving weekend (or the weekend after, which is basically the same thing), so we didn't get a chance to go out of town or to a fancy dinner or really anything too special, except of course, you know, buying and moving into a house and everything.  There were still flowers and reminiscing about the blessed day five years ago, as well as anniversaries since then, but there was also a trip to Home Depot and a little frustration at trying to get this or that fixed or functioning.  It was enough to be together and have a nice place to live and be, and then we can celebrate more fully and appropriately sometime down the road.

After that we reached another little milestone in The Boy's lifetime, and at 15 months he's doing great.  His personality is definitely starting to show a little more prominently, and he's starting to assert himself (which is fun but also a bit bewildering at times).  He loves to make a mess at mealtime and is starting to be a little more selective with his preferred foods.  His favorite foods are bananas and Graham Crackers, both of which he will eat at pretty much any time and in almost no time.  He still sleeps like a champ, with the occasional (brief) episode at night or the occasional short nap (the new church schedule we just switched to might do a real number on the nap/lunch setup on Sundays, so we'll have to see how that goes...).  He loves to put things in and out of other things, and he can play with his set of IKEA stacking cups for ages.  He plays with any and every toy he can find, even if it's not a toy, and each night it's amusing to go around and pick up all the debris the li'l tornado has left in his wake throughout the day, just because you never know what you'll find or where.  He is very vocal, and says a handful of words, but definitely does plenty of animal sounds.  He sometimes growls for a good long while, no matter what animal he sees in a book or what animal sound we ask him to say.  He's very good and usually silent in the car.  He just stares out the window with a somewhat bemused expression on his face and watches the world go by (unless of course we're on a two-minute drive home from church, when he might probably fall asleep, and unless of course we're on a late-night roadtrip drive home, when he might fall asleep for a little while and then never fall back asleep again, much to his dismay... and the dismay of everyone else in the car).  But really, 98% of the time he is just an absolute delight, and his funny faces and tub splashes and squirmy diaper changes and elated wanderings around the house are a joy to his parents and all who meet him.  It's the best thing when your little one runs across the room just to be close to you or jumps into your arms with a huge, 7-toothy smile on his face.

Now it's time for an Instagram photo onslaught!

Make it blue!

You can be a champion too if you eat Kanine Krunchies!

The Boy who would be king.

Bath time with Daddy!

So many animals in this one!

Just a little pounce.

Bobo, Robin, Robin, Bobo.

He loved the splash pads this summer!  It took a little bit and he still mostly likes to skirt around the edges and flirt with the little spouts, but he still finds the whole thing pretty delightful.

The wonderful thing about Bobos is he's the only one!

Blurrily getting into things with cousin Nora.

Matching bedhead!

I really didn't mean to give him a scar on his forehead (L), but Elise definitely did (R).

Bleurgh, mushy stuff.  He'll change his tune one day.

Pop Rocks in my shave ice?!?  Oh my yes.  I love how Little Mister caught me taking the picture.

We finally made it to see the balloons!  (Okay, we missed the launch, but at least we saw some this year.)

The best of friends.

Time for a little visit to Prydain.

He's doing a little detective work of his own, I guess.

Just a family of cows at Chick-fil-A.  That tail!!!

Checking out the new Bean Museum (mixed feelings...) but he sure loved all the lions,  of which there was an abundance.

His first Disney crush?!?  He kept toting it around and giving her little kisses.

He just mostly likes to get around during these movie happenings, truth be told.

That's it, enough people have called him "her"...  time for a little trim.  Still so handsome.

Saying hello to Nana and aunties on the neighbors' U-Haul truck.

Pay no attention to the Christmas presents on the cart, young man.  We love a good consignment sale.

The one that started it all for me as a lad.  His first viewing didn't have quite the same effect as mine did.  Ah well.

Happy year-and-a-quarter, son!  You are a beloved child of ours indeed.