Happy 4th Birthday TJ

My wonderful boy TJ turned 4 years old yesterday.  I can not believe how fast time is going by, and I can not remember life without him.  I wanted to make this day so very special for him so here are some of the things we did to celebrate his birthday.

 The night before his birthday I brought out his baby scrapbook and another one I made while I was pregnant with him.  We looked at all the pictures, talked about how much he had grown and all the new things he learned to do this year.  We also discussed some plans for he next day. Finally before he went to sleep I read this wonderful poem that was passed on to me from a yahoo group.

"When I have said my evening prayer,

And my clothes are folded on the chair,

And mother switches off the light,

I will be ___ years old tonight.

But, from the very break of day,

Before the children rise and play,

Before the greenness turns to gold,

Tomorrow, I'll be ___ years old.

____ kisses when I wake.

____ candles on my cake."

 First I decorated the house while he was asleep.  This made for a very late night for me becuase he didn't fall asleep until after 10pm. I set the kitchen table with a fabric party hat and felt birthday cake I made for him. The fireplace has felt flowers, streamers and some flowers the boys made.  I also hung our fabric birthday banner (forgot to take a picture of that) and some balloons.  On a table I placed his photo albums, some pictures in frames and other baby items for him to look at.

 When TJ woke up he was a bit confused about this whole birthday thing.  He thought it was only the party that you get not a whole day for your birthday.  He loved all the decorations and helped me add a few more.  We made birthday cards (I had expected MJ to wake early and surprise TJ, but he slept later), watched the Signing Time birthday video, and played with balloons.  Next we decided what park TJ really wanted to go to.

 Nanny invited us to her house for lunch so we decided to go to a fun playbround near her house.  Cousins E and J joined us.  TJ wanted to dress like a super hero so he could rescue his cousins and MJ if they needed his help.  At the park TJ started to play with some other kids and had conversations with them (this is new for him).  He loved riding his bike there too.  Lunch was delicious and TJ was thrilled with the cake Nanny bought.  TJ has also taken a liking to baby J and loves to pet him.  He was very proud to be asked to hold him for a photo.

Ater lunch we went home.  I tried to put the boys down for a nap... I told TJ a birthday story I learned from several Waldorf groups, using the fairies we had made. He lay down for a few min and then came to me and said he couldn't sleep because he really wanted to play in the rain.  So out he went to use a paint roller on a stick in the puddles!  MJ of course couldn't sleep either although I tried much longer with him.  After some fun in the rain we came in for a special birthday circle time.  We sang some Signing Time birthday songs.  I had more planed but Daddy coming home was way more exciting.

For dinner TJ asked to go to Boston Pizza.  He wore his little party hat and was so excited.  The boys were too eager to get to the cupcakes we brought so they didn't eat much.  Dessert was a big hit and so was TJ's gift.  He had been asking for a basket to carry his stuffed friends on his bike.  You can't imagine how hard it is to find a non-girly pink basket!  I have never seen someone so excited over a flashlight and some bike accessories.

Of course TJ wanted the optional plastic flowers on his basket!

When we got home we decorated his bicycle and played outside for a while.  we proceeded with our usual bed routine just a little later than usual and everyone (including Daddy) went to be early.  I, on the other hand, stayed up to write to all of you!

Thank you all for the wonderful birthday traditions that were shared with me.  Many thanks also to everyone who passed on special birthday wishes to TJ, he was very happy to hear from each of you.