Happy Birthday Nate!

We celebrated Nate's birthday on Sunday, March 3, instead of on his actual birthday since Sunday nights are easier for all of us, especially Nate's cousins who are in high school. This year he decided he wanted a Shark themed party. I know this is kind of shocking... Given how obsessed he is with dinosaurs right now, I fully expected him to want that to be his theme, but nope!

So far we've kept all of our birthday parties pretty small, and this year was no exception. It was just us, Nana and Grandpa, and Aunt Cindy and her family. That's actually a lot of people for our little house! We definitely need more chairs, but Nate had a good time and that's all that matters.

FOUR!

Under the Sea

Mia was in on the theme

Pizza!

I love sharks!

Showing off some gifts - he did a full 360

Spectators thinking,  "this kid doesn't need any more stuff!"

Where's Mia?

Peek-a-boo! Happy Birthday Nate! (Just what he always wanted.)

What should I wish for? Presents! Wish came true already!

Yummy cake!

Mmmhmm! Happy birthday to ME!

The next day (on his real birthday) he took a book and cookies to school to celebrate and got to have Moe's for dinner (a real treat for him). On Wednesday, Peter took Nate and his friend, Logan, to Monkey Joe's so he could at least have a little birthday fun with friends. All in all, he had a great birthday, but he's already talking about when he turns five!

Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)

One of my favorite lullabies to sing to Nate when he was a baby was Godspeed (Sweet Dreams) by the Dixie Chicks. When I first heard it I thought it was the perfect lullaby for a little boy and tucked it away for later. Nate loved it when he was a baby. If I sang it or played the song for him, he would calm down right away. It was amazing! I still sing it to him on occasion and yesterday morning I was feeling nostalgic for the "baby" years and decided to play the video for him. While the song was playing I was rocking with Mia and she leaned in for a hug, then Nate came in for a hug and I started bawling. 

I've been feeling like four was a really big birthday for some reason, but I didn't really know why. It's not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. Four doesn't mean anything - he's not starting school, he's still in single digits, he's definitely not a teenager, he can't drive or drink... Why is it such a big deal? Then a friend helped me realize - my first baby is no longer a baby! He's a little boy. He hasn't been for awhile, but it is just sinking in. Thank goodness I have my little Mia to hold onto for a couple more years!

Baby-Nate - 03/04/2009

Not-So-Baby-Nate - 03/04/2013

"Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)"

Written by Radney Foster

Performed by The Dixie Chicks

Dragon tales and the "water is wide"
Pirate's sail and lost boys fly
Fish bite moonbeams every night
And I love you

Godspeed, little man
Sweet dreams, little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

The rocket racer's all tuckered out
Superman's in pajamas on the couch
Goodnight moon, will find the mouse
And I love you

Godspeed, little man
Sweet dreams, little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

God bless mommy and match box cars
God bless dad and thanks for the stars
God hears "Amen," wherever we are
And I love you

Godspeed, little man
Sweet dreams, little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angels wings
Godspeed
Godspeed
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

Happy Birthday Dr Seuss!

Speaking of theme weeks... This week Nate's school (and every other school in the country) celebrated Seuss Week in honor of what would have been the 109th birthday of Theodore Geisel (better known as Dr Seuss) on March 2.

First up - Monday - Crazy Hair Day

So sad.

Mia showing him how it's done

Nate didn't really want to do anything for Crazy Hair Day. I tried to show him some cool pictures of other kids with crazy hair. There was green hair with a bunch of bugs crawling through it, and we were going to do something like that with sharks or dinosaurs (see the dinosaur in his hair in that picture). He got excited about it for a second, but then he decided he just wanted to play with them. So we decided to just do green hair in his regular style.

Then came - Wednesday - Crazy Hat Day

Went to school like this

Came home like this!

Obviously his hat is not that crazy, but he was excited about it because it had dinosaurs on it, so I was just happy he was more into it.

And finally - Friday - Crazy Sock Day

ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!

Again, the socks aren't that crazy, but we mismatched them, and at least they have some sort of design. I did try to get him some crazy socks, but the store I went to didn't have any for little boys. Lame! Again, he was pretty excited about this - and can you guess why?

In the end, I think he had fun this week at school. And obviously something stuck because when he went to the bank with Grandpa Friday afternoon he asked her if she knew that it was Dr. Seuss's birthday. (She did!)