My Baby is 4?

Happy fourth birthday, Zach. Ah, it brings back very fond memories and funny ones too. The photo above is Zach at his 2nd birthday - the Firestation. I told Olivia about the day Zach was born. I knocked on the McCurry's door early one morning to say, 'Hi, would you mind listening for Olivia while we head to the hospital? My parents are coming and I'm not sure I am in labor, but it's possible my water broke." Mark gave me a very funny look. I was always unsure of this, but hey with 4 1/2 hour deliveries for both kids, that uncertainty is A-ok with me. I also remember my parents bringing Olivia to my delivery room. Zach was in my arms and my dad decided to put Olivia in a wheelchair and push her around my room. Olivia was 18 months old at the time. He hit a spot/bump in the floor and she went flying out onto the floor. Tears ensued and I rolled my eyes (and had a bit of a laugh too). My dad does not seem to remember this :-) How soon you forget.....

Zach has had lots and lots and lots of energy for the past week or so. I seem to remember this happening last year. He gets really worked up over his birthday. This year, I'm not sure I had the stamina to keep up with his energy... or random falls, bumps, bruises, splinters and other miscellanous acts of 'acting goofy and hurting himself.' At one point, he was so excited, wanted to touch me, be close to me, etc., he climbed onto a stool, proceeded to fall and was caught by his nose on a cabinet handle. Ouch! But, again, this continued for days (and is still going on). Is this what four is all about?! I'm running out of bandaids! Tuesday morning, he was up really, really early - say 5:45 am and I prepared cereal for him. Sometimes he does not want to eat right away, so I put cereal in his bowl and a small cup of milk for him to pour when he's ready. Well, he decided to pour right away this time. The cup slipped, the entire contents of milk poured out onto the floor - remember this is 5:45 am - and I decided that I had given Zach 'the look' so many times over the past week, that I would just let this one go, clean up and move on. No look, no comment, nothing. Zach watched me clean the spill and said "That's the spirit!" Where does this kid get his one-liners?!

To celebrate the night before his birthday, we read Ricky Ricotta and His Mighty Robot (thank you, Amy) and Dave and I removed 4 huge splinters out of his foot while tears flowed out of his eyes. I can't say we enjoyed it that much, but it was something that had to be done. Olivia was moritfied and said "stop making Zachy cry." That a way, big sister.

For Zach's birthday, we celebrated at the Peachtree-Dekalb airport on Sunday. It was an absolutely beautiful day, we had 28 kids attend, watched airplanes and helicopters and enjoyed ourselves. I love spring-time birthdays! Dave managed to arrange a flight for Olivia and Zach while he flew (during one of his lessons!) He flew them over Stone Mountain and arrived back to PDK in time for Zach's party. The kids said they enjoyed it and even commented on how smoothly daddy landed. Great job, dad! All of the kids were so sweet and looked like they were having a blast on the playground. I think some of them forgot to look at the planes taking off right in front of them!

So, for Zach's actual birthday, which is today, March 25th, we waited to open a few family presents. As Dave and Zach opened his brand new steering wheel and peddles for a Playstation 3 racing game (yes, the kid is only turning 4, but he and his dad LOVE racing) I made myself some coffee. Olivia has been sick with a fever for almost a week and I may be fighting off what she has, who knows, but I am exhausted. I pour milk in, but forget I wanted to use cream to save the last drop of milk for Dave's cereal. Then out of habit, I pick up the strawberry syrup (Zach loves Strawberry milk) and proceed to pour it in my coffee. So, today I had a blend of Starbucks Organic Breakfast Blend with Strawberry syrup. You should try it sometime. Not everyday, but on crazy days, it works. Moving on to the race and the new steering wheel, Zach is having a hard time and eventually crashes horribly. To give him the benefit, Dave needed to set up the controls to be less sensitive. After Zach crashes and the announcer makes it loud and clear, Zach says sweetly, "I'm not worried about the Piston Cup". This one came from the movie Cars, where Lighting McQueen learns that it's more important to be a good friend/person than to win a trophy. Way to go, Zach, I'm happy you are not in it to win the Piston Cup!

I'm Parent of the Week for Zach's class, so we made blueberry muffins to take in for Zach's birthday. Another "Happy Birthday, a bit more of icing (with the kids actually eating the blueberry muffins) and we are on our way to another year. Let's make four a great one!