Birthday Bash

We have a visitor - Josh's mom! She flew in from balmy Texas this past Saturday to find snowflakes filling the air. Misha was very excited - not only is Grandma Kate here, but it was his birthday this week AND Easter is on the way.

Saturday morning, he climbed up on our bed to wake us up.
Misha: Mommy, it says eight, two dots, three, four. What does that say?
Mom: Um ... it says 8:34.
Misha: Is Grandma Kate here yet?
Mom: No. She doesn't come until 12:30 - that's in four hours.
Misha: (pause) Mommy! It says eight, two dots, three, five. What does that say?
Mom: It's 8:35.
Misha: Is Grandma Kate here yet?
Mom: Not yet.
Misha: (pause) Mommy!! It says eight, two dots, three, six. What does that say?

And so on.

Now that Grandma Kate is here, Misha sticks to her like glue. He has made some funny observations, which I have been permitted to reproduce here. The first is his question, more than once, about her height. "But Grandma Kate, why are you so small?" His other funny observation was the soft skin under her chin. "Why is this so fluffy?"

We had Misha's fourth birthday celebration on Sunday (though his actual birthday was the 6th) - the first year we had a real "party" for him. We had four little kids over in addition to Misha! The party was only an hour and a half long, but it was enough to wear us all out and we had to recuperate the rest of the day.

How to Have a Birthday Party
Step One: The Cake.
The train I had envisioned in my head looked far different than the one I created in reality; however, Misha and the kids thought it was pretty cool. And that's what matters.

Step Two: Decorations.
With some help from Grandma Kate, we decorated the house with streamers and balloons.

Step Three: The Theme
Since it was the week before Easter, I made Easter baskets for all the kids (boxes and oatmeal containers covered with paper). First, the kids found the basket with their name on it, then they decorated it with stickers/markers before going on an Easter egg hunt in the kitchen and living room.

Step Four: Food
We lit the candles, tried to get a chorus of Happy Birthday going, and watched Misha blow out the candles. This surprised Mommy as much as Misha because I had accidentally bought trick candles! Then we served the cake. Truth be told, kids only pretend to eat. I think each kid ate one measley Oreo wheel off their piece of train, sucked down the juice drink, and called it good.

Step Five: A Little Free-Play, and then Presents
As Grandma Kate commented, you have a vision in your head of Misha in the middle and all the other kids in a semi-circle watching Misha open each gift in turn. In reality, it's total mayhem, with all the kids helping him unwrap everything! It's best to keep this part short and sweet. The photo below is quite deceiving, as this orderly opening lasted about two seconds.

Step Six: Outside with you!
Luckily the snow was melting and the sun was shining and we sent them outside to blow bubbles. This was timed perfectly so that when the parents showed up, the kids already had their coats on. Ah, peace. :) That took care of the 4th birthday. So ... how many more of these do we have to do??

In case you haven't gotten enough birthday pictures, here's a slideshow of some more.



In the evening, we went to my parents' house to have the family party, with Grandma Diane (who fulfilled Misha's request for a unicorn cake) and Grandpa Bill. Misha liked having his two grandmas together. Then of course he got more presents!

Movie Star

Forward roll in action!

Here he's playing with his new doctor kit. This present was a HUGE hit. He has been to the doctor so much that he knows all about it. He'll listen with his stethoscope and instruct us to "take a deep breath!" He'll take our blood pressure. Then he'll look in our ears and say ominously, "It looks a little red." He'll take our temperature and say, "Put it under your tongue!" Then he'll say with a little too much pleasure, "Now I have to give you a shot! Don't cry!" He even took some doctor tools to day care and proceeded to give everyone check-ups all day.

Cuddling with Grandma Kate

Storytime with Grandma Kate.