Happy Birthday To You!

Today is your birthday! Today you are you!
If we didn't have birthdays, you wouldn't be you.
If you'd never been born, well then what would you do?
If you'd never been born, well then what would you be?
You might be a fish! Or a toad in a tree!
You might be a doorknob! Or three baked potatoes!
You might be a bag full of hard green tomatoes.
Or worse than all that...Why, you might be a WASN'T!
A Wasn't has no fun at all. No, he doesn't.
A Wasn't just isn't. He just isn't present.
But you...You ARE YOU! And now isn't that pleasant!

...Come on! Open your mouth and sound off at the sky!
Shout loud at the top of your voice, "I AM I!
ME!
I am I!
And I may not know why
But I know that I like it.
Three cheers! I AM I!"

Do you know this book? We love it. Highly recommended.

Today Hadden turned 4! Everything I have to say about his growing up into a kid sounds so cliche--They grow up so fast! It seems like he's always been a part of our family. I swear it was just yesterday that I was carrying him everywhere in the Baby Bjorn and cleaning up his spit up all day. Maybe that's how cliches come about. They are just a simple way of expressing a universal truth.

And truthfully, Hadden is such a kid now. There is something about 4 that just leaves all that baby and toddler stuff in the dust. He is riding a two wheeler with no training wheels. His curiosity is raging (we've decided that every sentence spoken by a 4 year old must contain the word "why" at least once). He hears everything, even when we are sure he isn't listening. Sometimes he is even truly helpful around the house! Get me a "diaper/potholder/towel" I'll shout as something I'm working on goes awry. And suddenly, there he is, and more often than not, he brings the actual item I asked for!

We had a great day with our grown-up kid. He enjoyed having his grandmas around and a very fun party with some of his friends. It was a Thomas-themed party, so we even had a special guest appearance by Sir Topham Hat (thank you, Chris--I know you didn't want to, but it was really great, and the kids loved it.) The best part of the whole day was how well behaved Hadden was. I kind of felt like we all got a present today! I love you buddy!

Chris was a very good sport and Hadden still can't decide if it was Dad or the real Topham Hat.

I love how he is showing dad how old he is on his fingers.


Cute friends eating treats.

...and more treats.

Loving the top hat.

Thank goodness for artistic grandmas!

Story time with Sir Topham Hat.

Blowing out the candles.