Hamilton Turns Four!

My little boy, despite my efforts to dissuade him, is growing up. Today he turned four. Four! Since it was his birthday, Alex and I were a lot less grumbily when he came into our room at 6-something. He announced, "It's my birthday!" I promptly started singing, but he told me "no." He insists that "Happy Birthday" is for blowing out candles. I made him a "4" shirt, which he told me he didn't want last night but this morning liked it and said, "Thank you, Mommy, for making me this cool shirt." As Alex says, never trust a tired kid's opinion.

We decorated the house a little last night and left wrapped presents on the table. I think Hamilton's feeling about them was pretty obvious:

He actually seemed much more into opening birthday presents than Christmas ones. Funny. He even let Beckett open one.

Trying to get his cute face and the shirt in one shot without him moving (take #34):

He selected "donuts" as his birthday breakfast. This would be the first of many blowing out of candles preceded by "Happy Birthday." Thanks to Auntie Karen, the boys had their awesome aprons to protect their clothes. Sprinkle donuts are kinda messy.

Sorry, no shot of me eating a french crueller while in my workout gear. Plausible deniability, baby.

After the gym, we met up with some friends at McDonald's--another Hamilton meal request. The next shots are me trying to get a decent photo of all the kids. Fail, but together, I think I got everyone in a decent, non-drunk photo.

The holiday season revealed Hamilton to be a great lover of egg nog. So, it only made sense that he get egg nog cupcakes for his birthday dessert.

Alex came home crazy early thanks to his hard work over the last couple days and the NYE holiday. This made it possible to got to dinner with the boys at a decent time, letting us discover that they are excellent dinner companions if we're not making them behave in a restaurant after a long wait and during their bedtime.

Once again, I'm trying to get a photo of my handsome boy:

Yes, The Cheesecake Factory. Selected by me, based on our having a gift card. On our way home, Hamilton asked, "Why did we go to a cheese store?" Then, he talked about all the desserts in the case, reflecting that the chocolate cake was even big for Willie the Giant.

When I take a bite or sip of something before giving it to Hamilton, I call it a "Mommy Tax." Here is Hamilton taking a "Hamilton Tax" of Alex's Diet Coke:

Hamilton got a cheese quesadilla, but rejected the side of guacamole. Thank goodness. I made Becks' sliders into guacamole burgers, and he gobbled his up just like his daddy:

Hamilton getting sung to! I get to be the mommy who does this! Love it!

Hamilton purposefully posed like this:

We returned home to sing two more "Happy Birthday's" over the cupcakes. I asked Hamilton what his favorite part of the day was, and he said, "Blowing out candles!"

It was really, truly a wonderful day. Thanks to everyone who was a part of it, either by celebrating with him, a phone call, or sending him such wonderful gifts. He's lucky boy. We're lucky too. :)

Today's Moments with the Boys

I've gotten worse and worse about recording moments with the boys on this blog. I blame Facebook. With the app on my phone, it's easy to write something funny they said or did there. Unfortunately, my Facebook statuses are not eventually making their way into a book, so...not good. I've wandered into the office tonight, worried I'd forget a couple funny things from today.

I spent a total of six selfish hours away from home today (crafting with friends, running with a buddy), so I think I'm even better able to see how cute my boys are today. Here's a few moments...

1. It took me extra long to leave for my run this afternoon because Beckett kept saying, "Bye, Bye, Mama!" and blowing kisses. I extended that parting to about 5 minutes. I could seriously eat that kid up. Don't even get me started on him in jammies.

2. When I came home from my run, I kissed Alex. Beckett, sitting nearby, leaned towards me with an "Mmmmm..." (you know that sound you make when your hugging or kissing your kids? or is it just me?). I laughed and kissed him. Then, he points to Alex and says, "Dada! Dada!" So, I kissed Alex again. Beckett then repeated, "Dada! Dada!" several times, occasionally asking for a kiss for himself. I soon carried Becks upstairs for a diaper change, and all the way up, he was trying to kiss me on the lips. I was laughing like crazy.

3. We got our Christmas tree tonight! While Alex was waiting in line to get the trunk trimmed off and tree bundled, I decided to pick up a few needed items in Home Depot. Hamilton wanted to go, but only if I took Beckett too. Therefore, it appears that mommy + 0 is less than Daddy, but Mommy + Beckett beats Daddy. Cool. Other than Beckett flipping out about being in a cart and Hamilton biting me while I was trying to listen to some Home Depot advice, we had a nice time. :) Seriously. Clearly, my time away gave me the patience of Job.

4. We left the tree bundled while we got it situated in the stand, but there was a netting piece that was making things difficult. Alex and I complained about not having scissors handy (as our hands were both busy holding the tree/screwing in the stand). Hamilton responded by getting one of his swords to cut off the pesky netting. "Here you go, Dad!"

5. We let the boys put some non-breakable ornaments on the tree, then sat back and soaked it all in: the tree, the lights, the Christmas music, the decorations slowly filling the room. Hamilton looked up at the tree and pronounced, "It looks really good." I laughed a little and agreed, then he jumped in my lap for a hug and an "I love you." Oh, Christmas Spirit....welcome to my home! Can you stay ALL year??