Jim's 20 Questions at age 4!

I actually remembered to ask Jim his 20 questions on his birthday.  It is fun to look back and see what's similar / what's changed.  Will have to remember to do this with Ben when he turns 3!

1.  What is your favorite color?  Green
2.  What is your favorite toy?  The crane
3.  What is your favorite fruit? Strawberries and blueberries and grapes
4.  What is your favorite thing to watch on TV?  Paw Patrol
5.  What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  Peanut Butter & Jelly and Salad
6.  What is your favorite outfit?  Jeans & my excavator shirt
7.  What is your favorite game?  This game - pointing to his new matching game
8.  What is your favorite snack?  Fishies
9.  What is your favorite animal?  Doggies & kitty cats
10. What is your favorite song?  ABC's
11. What is your favorite book?  Construction Truck Book
12. Who is your best friend?  Haxton, but he moved.  And Parker, and you, daddy, & Ben
13. What is your favorite cereal?  Marshmallows
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?  Help daddy with jobs & lawn mow
15. What is your favorite drink?  Milk & water
16. What is your favorite holiday?  Christmas & Halloween
17. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  Marshmallows
18. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?  Fluffer
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?  Pizza
20. What do you want to be when you grow up?  A...Daddy - I want to be just like you.

Jim is FOUR!!!!!

Hard to believe that Jim is 4!!!!  I love that he's always saying, "now that I'm 4, I will do this..." or "these are 4 year old shoes..."  Here's a quick recap of his actual BirthDAY!  Which actually kicked off on Thursday.  Grandma & Papa left his gifts here when they were down in March, so we Skyped with them on Thursday so they could watch him open his gifts.  Here's a picture of Jim & Ben waiting patiently to start opening!

Playing with his new crane!

I was busy on Thursday making cake pops for his big day!!

The morning was spent at the park with friends at an Easter Egg hunt!!!

Here's my 4-year old checking out what's in his eggs!

Trying to figure out why the candles wouldn't light.

He was pretty excited to have all his friends sing to him!!!

Enjoying a birthday cupcake!!

On our way home from our Easter Egg hunt, Jim made it very clear that "This was the best birthday ever!!!"  I asked him what he wanted for lunch, since it's his best birthday ever - and he told me "Salad - just the green stuff, nothing else.  I've never had salad before!!" 

 

I made him a salad, and a PB&J, and he gobbled up the salad, and asked for a 2nd helping of it!!!  He loved it!!!

We got to Facetime with a lot of people - Jim was very happy to hear all the Happy Birthday messages!!!!

That evening, we were busy loading up the truck for our trip to Charleston - enjoyed some pizza for dinner, and we sang Happy Birthday to him!!!!  He's one Happy Birthday boy!!!!

Make a wish!!!

 

Here's a cute Jim-ism - as I was buckling him in his car seat:

J - "Mommy what number are you?  (that's his way of asking how old someone is.)

M - 33

J - When I'm 33 I'm going to buckle my seat belt all by myself!

M - When you're 33, hopefully you'll be driving.

J - And you'll be the passenger!  (And Ben will still be riding in the back!)

Many faces of Jimma!

Just some of the many faces of an-almost-four-year old!!!!!  (I need to remember next time I capture some of his silly faces to make sure he doesn't still have dinner on his face!!!)

This was his angry face.

And his surprised face.

I forget what I told him in this one - funny face?!

A happy face!

A 'disgusting' face.

A cheese face.

Just a Jim being Jim face!

I love his curls!!!

And 2 more silly faces :)

More of Ben's Birthday Celebrations

Ben has quite the birthday week!!!  On Tuesday we had a little joint birthday party at Lee District with Ben's friend Sydney who turned 2 4 days after Ben did!  (We switched the date from Thursday because it was going to be rainy and cold - I'm glad we did because Tuesday was a much better day weather wise.  It was very nice getting to celebrate with some of our friends!  Had fun playing at the park, eating some good food, and some cupcakes! 

His Birthday fun ended that weekend with a visit from Nanny & Papa!  We took them up to Baltimore on Saturday to the B&O train museum!!!  I think everyone had a great time checking out all the trains.  Then we made our way back to Old Town for lunch at The Fish Market.  (A busy day at the museum made for 2 sleepy boys - able to get them to nap in the car, which was great because we were able to spend the afternoon outside enjoying the nice weather!

Ben of course enjoyed opening more presents!

Jim practiced his baseball!!!

Ben just hanging out, enjoying the nice weather!

Ben not very happy that there's no more water in his cup...

Here he is again, wondering where all this water went - he didn't want to accept the fact that he dumped it out and it's all gone!

As you can tell, Ben had a wonderful 2nd birthday!!!  So thankful for our wonderful family & friends who all helped to celebrate with him!!!



What Ben is up to at TWO!!!!!

- You are constantly looking up to your big brother, and always wanting to do what he does.

- You take after him, and love anything and everything with wheels - you love your trucks, cars, trains. 

- Your newest and favorite phrase is "I try that", or "I do that".  You want to try everything out yourself - and get very mad if we try to help you out.  One of your latest is climbing into your car seat all by yourself, just like Jim does!

- You like undressing yourself, again another one of your "I do that", you have to take your socks, pants, and shirt off...and then will try to dress yourself as well.  You're getting better and better everyday! 

- You're a very happy boy!  And are constantly on the go!  Very rarely do we find you sitting still, always playing with something. 

- You love being read to. 

- He's now in a big boy bed!  We converted his crib the other weekend, and now has the bed rail!  He's done very good with that.  Still lays right down at bedtime (9:00) and will wake up (7:00-7:15ish) and wait on the top of the stairs for us. 

- Is still a great napper.  Goes down after lunch time (1:30-2:00ish) and will nap for about an hour & half. 

- He's in 2T clothes, size 8 shoes - which I need to get him some new ones.  Size 5 diapers.

- Your eating goes in phases - some days you won't touch your dinner...but other nights you'll gobble it right up (like today you had salmon, cucumbers, a clementine, and lemon bread!)  You love your fruits and yogurt which I'd have to say are your favorite foods. 

- You're very good at saying 'God Bless You' when someone sneezes! 

- Healthy little boy - you were 35" (66th percentile) and 27 lbs. 12 oz (46th percentile) at your 2 year check-up!  Had to get one shot, as usual you weren't a fan when the needle went into your leg, but as soon as the Band-Aid was on, you were fine!

We love you Benjamin!!!  Such great joy you bring into our lives!  Can't wait to see what the next year (and beyond) brings!!!!!!

Ben's Birthday Celebration #1

We had a great visit with Grandma, Papa, and Aunt Ashley to celebrate Ben's 2nd Birthday!!  (And were sad that Aunt Ali didn't decide to call in sick and fly down Thursday night - but excited to be seeing her in a couple of weeks in Charleston!!)

They drove down on Thursday, and got in right around the same time the boys were getting up from their naps.  (Jim apparently was awake and watching out his window for them, because they were in the driveway - and he came downstairs all excited because they were here!)  But Thursday we just hung out.

Friday, after everyone got their workouts in (Jim joined Papa & I in an Insanity workout!), and I got Ben's birthday cake baked we decided to head into Old Town.  We just went to Cosi for lunch - was going to try BitterSweet Café, but they were busy and nowhere to sit.  And than after that we went to Paint This and the boys and Ashley both painted!  Jim did a fire truck piggy bank, Ben a race car one, and Ashley a pitcher with the boys handprints on it!  On our way home we had to make a stop at Target (requested by Jim) and they enjoyed checking out all the trucks!  

 

Saturday I finished up Ben's Birthday cake - a rainbow cake with a dump truck on it!  We went back into Old Town for lunch - eating at Chadwick's, and walking around a bit.  It was a really nice day!  The boys both fell asleep in the car, so we let them nap there.  They then got to see their birthday present - a new motorized pickup truck!  They love it!  After dinner we sang Happy Birthday to Ben!  And he got to open presents! 

We had a great visit with everyone, and very happy and thankful for them coming down for the weekend.

Ben is TWO!!!!

Happy Happy Birthday to my little Benjamin!!!  Hard to believe that 2 years ago you came into the world.  What a great 2 years it has been - looking forward to seeing what the next year brings!  We've had a great time celebrating your birthday - Grandma, Papa, & Aunt Ashley were here this past weekend...Then your actual birthday on Monday...and then you got to celebrate with friends (and a 60+ degree day) at the playground on Tuesday!

Here's a look back on your actual Birthday through pictures -

You enjoyed some cake batter beaters bright an early in the morning with Jim!!!

 I think you really liked it!!!  (I was baking cupcakes for your playground playdate!)

We then spent the morning at a new playground (Potomac Yard Park) and you and Jim had a great time there!!!  It was a little chiller than we thought - glad I brought your heavier jackets - but the cold never seems to slow you guys down!

Here you are happy to be 2!!!  And enjoying lunch.

After naptime, we went outside to play - it was warmer now that the sun was out!  You had fun driving your new pick-up truck.

I was sure to make you a dinner that you'd eat and enjoy (chicken nuggets & French fries) - then we sang Happy Birthday to you!!! (You blew out the candles as soon as I set the cupcake down!)

 Enjoying your cupcake!  You ate the frosting off, and then a bite or 2 of the cake...

And then you ended your birthday opening gifts - Jim was very excited to see that you got a new Grader!

I have a couple more birthday posts to do for you - including your weekend with grandma, papa, & Aunt Ashley...as well as a 'What you're up to post...'  You have your 2 year check-up on Tuesday, so I'll be sure to report back on your stats then as well!