Shark Week! (Nate's 4th Birthday)

Nate is 4 YEARS OLD! Happy Birthday, Bud!

A Busy Birthday Week:

3/14. Friday. Free Birthday dinner at Luby's from the Kids Club--he was just happy he got the orange jello. But no balloons. Adamant about no balloons--a few too many unintentional balloon releases for the young lad...traumatic!

He's still a great big brother!

A good shot of her bottom two teeth and her increased confidence in walking!

3/15. Sunday. Awesome pork rib dinner with the family at Granna & Papa's in New Braunfels.

Sensory exploration outside in the grass--hear the birds, feel the grass, smell the flowers, uh, taste the leaves!)Amelia adores her big brother--even when he's squeezing the life from her hand.

Wrestling with Papa--Nate keeps him young! ;)

3/16. Monday. A visit from Uncle Todd--in from NYC for the South by Southwest music show in Austin:

Educating Uncle Todd on the intricacies of tractor tipping (after showing him "My Book About Sea Creatures")

Early St. Patty's day attire--aww, we match!

3/17. Tuesday. Happy St. Patrick's Day! Tonight we made Nate's birthday cakes (in a broken oven). Yup, the refrigerator and oven are going out at the same time. The oven doesn't turn off at a preset temp; it just keeps getting hotter and hotter until it's as hot as the surface of the sun. The cakes turned out pretty well, considering the challenge (red velvet for the "shark" and white confetti for the "ocean").

Helping Mommy mix, mix, mix!

A childhood rite of passage--licking the batter off the spoon!

Oh yes I did! I couldn't resist when I saw this little green shirt on clearance last fall. I knew I had this matching green shirt in my closet!

3/18. Wednesday. Med School Family Picnic at Orsinger Park. UTHSCSA (J's school) has had organized activities every day this week in preparation for Match Day tomorrow. Every 4th-year medical student across the nation will find out which residency program they matched into at 11:00 CST on Thursday (though Jason found out in December since the military has a different system). Nate enjoyed playing with the babies & teaching the big guys about sharks. That night, he locked himself in his room and told us he didn't want to be four. He was going to stay in his room all day tomorrow so he would still be three!

Nate discussing the eating habits of the gentle giant (plankton) vs Great White (seals) with "the guys!"

Mia stayed busy flirting with her boyfriend, Parker, while Nate gave his lesson.

Bye, Bye Parker! See you tomorrow! (She's waving "Hi!" now!)

3/19. Thursday. Nate turned 4! After a fun birthday wake-up at the house (cake in bed, streamers in the doorway and one present-opening), he brought birthday snacks to preschool--shark jello & goldfish on shark plates with apple juice in shark cups. We left school a little early for the Match Party at Floores Country store (a Texas music icon of sorts). Nate ran himself ragged with his cars on the back picnic tables. Jason wished him a Happy 4th Birthday over the microphone on stage when he announced his match. Nate had a BBQ Birthday lunch. Pancakes for dinner. Presents. A full birthday day. That night he shocked us by announcing he wasn't wearing a pull-up to bed. He was four and he was wearing underwear. Huh. It's been four dry nights so far. That's how he works.

Nate's "big" gift from Mom & Dad--the keyboard!

Preschool Party!

The Family at Floores--Nate and Jason's big day!

3/20. Friday. BAMC appt in the shot clinic. All morning. Afternoon = party prep. To bridge the gap between the birthday and the party, we took Nate out for a birthday meal at "The Fish Company" in the Bass Pro Shop. He loves the aquarium, the sharks on the wall ("Mom, why do they not have a whale shark?") and the mini corn dogs. Unfortunately, there was no complimentary bday treat for the bday boy. Not to worry, when we got home, I put the finishing touches on his bday treat--the CAKE!

The Shark Cake on display.

Mini corndogs and broccoli--what's not to like?!

A sample of all the fish on the walls!

3/21. Saturday. The Shark Party!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Birthday presents this year: electronic keyboard with songbank and microphone, the blue automoblox sedan, time telling clock set, fishing game, shark shirts, shark flip-flops, shark swim trunks, shark bath toys, a shark attack playset, Frank & Lightning McQueen Tractor Tipping track, lots of Matchbox and Hotwheels cars and periphenalia, two giant floor puzzles, books, flat-screen Light Bright, a dinosaur DVD, a music recorder and lesson book, lots of sidewalk chalk, bubbles and a Lightning McQueen kite.

3/22. Sunday. We let him go one day longer. He wore his "Birthday Boy" T-shirt to church today. His Sunday School class sang Happy Birthday to him.

3/23. Monday. The birthday hoopla is over. Nate had his 4-year well-check today with Dr. Grant. (If he stays healthy, his last appointment before we re-enter the world of military medicine in June.) The appointment was going well, 39 pounds, 42.5 inches, he got all his pee in the cup (and none on me); then they blind-sided me with 4 vaccines--DTAP 5, IPV4, MMR2, and VARICELLA2! I wasn't prepared. Nate got about 20 seconds of prep for his four needles. He was actually quite a trooper. No tears; just a few whimpers, "But it's going to hurt!" And I couldn't say anything but, "Yes. It will hurt for a little bit. But it's medicine for your body...to help keep you and the people around you healthy." He had all the sympathy he needed since Jason and I had just been stuck three times for our travel vaccinations. The two shots in our left arm left both of us pretty sore for several days! He did get a hearing & vision test today as well. He aced them both, but was only 20/30 on the vision test. I mean he was 0/6 on that last row. Apparently that's normal for 4-year-olds; their detailed vision hasn't fully developed yet. Who knew? I'll have to ask Dr. Julie.