Happy Birthday to you....Joseph!!

My baby turned four today! And when Megan called to wish him a happy birthday, after Nathan sang to him, she asked him how old he was and he replied four and a half!! So ready to be grown up and yet I am not sure how ready I am for that. It is hard to believe it was four years ago that we first met this sweet little spirit! He had preschool today and got to take Oreos to share with his classmates. He was carrying the bag inside and tripped and skinned his knee pretty bad. Not a good start to such a special day, but he got a colorful bandaid and was soon just fine. After school I splurged and got him a kids meal with a chocolate shake AND a sprite, since that is an unfulfilled dream of his to have both. He did not touch the Sprite. ::sigh:: Tonight I had a pack meeting to go to and Annalina had softball practice and Jake had a track meet, so little celebrating took place. But I saw this coming so we celebrated over the weekend.

Last week I got a cool coupon good for a free build-a-bear critter so Richard and I took him there Saturday afternoon. He choose a cute camouflaged bear whom he promptly named Fred. How cute is that? He picked out a purple heart to support autism research and he had a great time stepping on the pedal to fill the bear with fluff and brushing him under the air bath. He even helped in making the birth certificate! We took him to do this for the first time last year when he turned 3. He made a monkey whom he named Joey. He did not know what to expect and was in awe the entire time. When we got to checkout, he told the cashier she could keep it, he didn't want it! It was too funny! This time he understood how most of it worked and was even happy to take the bear home with him!

On Sunday I took the kids to Stake Conference since Richard was working most of the weekend on a huge project or two. We baked a cake and opened gifts. He got a really cool flight jacket from Grandma and Grandpa, an astronaut bear that he loves, a wooden helicopter, and then the doorbell rang and he went to answer it and found a bike!! A friend had given it to us last month thinking he could use it, so we put it aside to help stretch our birthday gift budget! He had a great birthday, both today and over the weekend!

A little about Joseph. If I had to choose one word to describe him, well, I don't think I could. But sweet comes to mind. And curious. And strong-willed. I have a history of large babies and since Joseph was due on the 20th, along with my encouragement my Dr decided we would induce a little early. So we went in on the 12th of April to meet our little guy. Remember the part about strong-willed? Well Joseph was NOT ready to leave his warm comfy home in the womb and after about 24 hours of trying, home I went. I slept the entire next day. When Jake came home from school he looked at me and said "why are you here and where is the baby?" He was not pleased that our promise of baby brother's arrival was broken. We hadn't even considered this could happen so we didn't think to prepare the kiddos for it!!! So Jake stayed mad for a while and I stayed pregnant. My due date came and went and on the 22nd we again went in to have this baby, one way or another. Luckily the natural way won out. I tried to have an epidural and after enduring about 45 minutes of getting it in, it came disconnected somewhere along the way and never took effect. The anesthesiologist had run off to do another and never made it back. Luckily Joseph came pretty quickly after that. He weighed 8 pounds 14 ounces and was so perfect and cute! He lost about a pound that first week and remained small for a while. After the first month, he was a high maintenance baby and was not happy with the world. It was exhausting! But once he learned to crawl and could get around he was a delightful child! He just wanted to interact with this world we live in, not just watch from the swing or car seat! He walked at about 10 months and has continued to make leaps and bounds in his development! He is happy mostly, he is kind to others and his curiosity pushes him into activities like drawing on the walls again and again, taking things apart, breaking things...well he is pure 100% boy, except that his favorite color is pink. I love my little guy and cannot imagine my life without him!

Happy Earth Day to you all as well. Yes, Joseph was born on Earth Day, a fact that Jake made us aware of the day Joseph was born or I might not have realized it! For our pack meeting we planted trees in the churches large sports field. It was hot earlier in the week, in the 80's, but today the wind started blowing and though I think it stayed in the 60's, it was a cold day! After school I went and stood in the wind for a bone chilling hour hoping to get to see Jake run the 3K, but had to leave for the pack meeting before the race took place. I rushed back in time to give Jake a ride home. Well, I tried to be there, and I actually was there, just not at the right time! But I am ok with it and so is Jake.