Birthdays

Well, we have had a few birthdays around here, and I have not got around to documenting them much!  I still don't have many photos, although I know I took more, I just have to figure out if it was on my phone or Jeremy's because apparently it wasn't on my camera!  

Mason turned 4!!!  I still think that's crazy!  He's getting so big!  He had a small party with a couple of friends that was really simple, and he was very, very specific about what sort of cake he wanted.  He wanted a chocolate cake with a football with brown icing and white icing for the lines.  I have never had a child have a specific cake vision yet, so thankfully his was easy and I could pull it off!  Mason is a special boy who we love so much.  His smile melts the hearts of him mommy and his primary teachers.  He is a very sweet boy, who often just wants a hug or a snuggle and to tell you he loves you.  He also loves balls and when I asked him he wanted to play every sport I could think of, even the ones he didn't know what they were.  So we're hoping for an athlete I guess!  4 things that I love about Mason are:

1. If we are sitting at the table together just the two of us, he will strike up such an adult conversation.  If I am distracted with something he will just say: "So, mom, what was your favorite part of yesterday?" It always makes me laugh because he sounds so grown up and he's obviously copying what I do to him.  Cute.

2. He asks me almost every day how big our baby is now and when she is coming (and if her name can be Elsa, but I am trying to steer him in any other direction!)

3. He picks up things so quickly and is already a good counter and very smart.  

4. He recently heard me singing to Owen at bedtime (which I don't do for the older kids anymore) and now every night after I'm done and about to head downstairs he will whisper from his room "mommy, I can't go to sleep without a song".  So I will go sing him a song and I love that we still get to have moments like that!

This is me writing the blog obviously, but he also really loves his dad and wouldn't pass up any chance to wrestle, shoot hoops, kick a ball or play any way with him.  He can't wait to be big and tall like his daddy! He also had a checkup where we discovered he is now in the 71st percentile for weight and 77th for height.  

Owen also had a birthday!  He turned 2!  He was VERY tired when we got around to dinner and cake on his birthday because we had been running around all day and he didn't get a nap.  He nearly fell asleep in his pizza, but luckily we caught it and kept reminding him there was cake soon.  He perked right up when he saw his cake and loved it.  He picked the carrot cake box, so he was one of the only ones really excited about his particular cake.  I was, until I read the box and it said it included "carrot flavored pieces".  That turned me off a bit.  
Owen is big... huge really, he is in the 93rd percentile for height and the 77th for weight.  He has big feet and is destined to be a big boy I think!  His sixth sense is tingling that he won't be the baby for much longer I think, because he has gotten very protective of mommy lately and doesn't like my attention going anywhere else except on him... and his snacks and meals.  He is still napping most days, and is finishing up getting his last teeth (his bottom canines are finally poking in I think).  He would follow his big sister and brother anywhere, and it's funny watching them in a group of friends and Owen will happily follow and just do exactly what they do.  If they jump on a curb, he will, if they pick up a rock, he will bend down to find one, if they jumped off a cliff.... he might just blindly follow!
It doesn't seem fair to say only two things I love about Owen when Mason got 4, so I'll just make them good!
1. He just loves me!  haha he is totally happy to sit on my lap and play or watch tv or cuddle almost any time... it's getting uncomfortable since I do have a baby growing and taking up some lap space, but it's still nice to have him close!
2. He is talking so much now!  It took him a long time to start, but now he's going strong, and although I am really the only one that understands most of it, I sort of like that too.  And when he tries something new, it's fun solving the mystery of what he's trying to say.  It gives me a lot of satisfaction when I figure it out! 

We love our Owen so much.  He is definitely entering into some new two-year-old territory with occasional tantrums and no longer wanting to sit in the grocery cart or the stroller or buckle into his carseat when the other two just get a seat belt instead of the harness, but he's usually a joy and we love him to pieces!

And just as a last minute cherry on top, here are some pictures of the kids being goofy.  I am glad that they (usually) get along so well, and Brenna and Mason really do spend a lot of hours happily playing outside together and they love it when Owen joins in too!  As you can see.... he doesn't always willingly join in.

This is as good as I could get with all three, and nobody was allowed to touch Owen or he would not even stand close!  Maybe it was too close to bedtime for smiles.

And we finally got a tongue out for his goofy picture.. haha