This birthday is right up there with the others in regard to how spoiled my child is. He got his power wheels and a whole slew of gifts along with it. And that was just on Saturday at my parents'! Another onslaught of toys occurred on Sunday at our house. He had a cake at daycare on Friday, a chocolate eclair at my parents' on Saturday, and another cake plus cupcakes at our house on Sunday.
I made a confetti cake with bright blue frosting and fish shaped sprinkles for daycare. When I picked him up, he had his nails painted the exact same as the frosting. His teacher sheepishly said she hoped I didn't mind, but that he wanted his nails painted when the girls were painting their nails. It took me a moment to remember she hasn't been there long enough to witness the multiple colors of finger and toe nail polish this child has donned. If the boy wants nail polish, have at it.
Saturday was great! He loves the dune racer car thingy. His driving skills are pretty darn good too. A squink more focus on where he's going would be nice, but he has mastered the slide stop/swing into a parking spot. It's pretty badass. Aside from my backflip diving board accident due to my clumsiness, it was a successful day top to bottom.
Sunday was the big test. Travis left for work and Alex and I were on our own to get ready for his party. And I am gonna totally brag right now and tell you, I KICKED SUNDAY'S ASS. I had his cake baked and frosted before 9:30am. We were to the grocery store and back by 10:30. Alex maybe went to the grocery store in his dinosaur pajamas, but whatever, he looked cute and it was his birthday weekend; anything goes. As we pulled into the driveway, I saw my neighbor mowing my lawn, proving once again he is one of the nicest people walking the planet and way too nice to us. So he quickly became the receipt of one of the two leftover pieces of eclair. He claims he was the clear winner in that trade, but I beg to differ. I continued on making food for the party and relentless asking Alex to clean up his toy room. But not once did my brains have a meltdown. Not once did I freeze up and lose the ability to deal with the tasks at hand. And holy man that felt good!
I convinced Alex to take a nap around 1pm. And when I say I convinced him, I really mean I threatened him with taking away his dune racer car if he didn't lay down. He hadn't been able to ride it yet that day as we were charging the battery and I had way too much stuff to do to be able to supervise his inaugural trip around the yard, so this threat was particularly potent. How long do you suppose I'm gonna be able to hold that thing over his head? A couple years? Sweeeeeet.
I didn't wake him up until 1:50 and people showed up exactly at 2. Not totally awake kid+not yet having been able to ride his new car+kids that also are excited about his new car=terrified Mama. Alex ran out and sat square in the middle of the seat of his car and attempted to tell me there wasn't room for anyone else. With arms stretched out, palms up, there was a whole lotta, "But..ugh..I don't know what you want me to do!..ugh...look!...ugh! ugh!...there isn't enough roooooooooooooom." I quickly told him either he moved his little butt over and let someone ride with him or he was getting out and not driving or riding that thing the rest of the day. Amazingly, he was able to scoot over and make room for a passenger. But that was it. That was the only time he didn't want to share. He even let other kids drive it! I was so proud of him.
So proud in fact, I didn't totally freak out when he "couldn't make it inside in time" and shit in the yard during his party. Yes. That happened. About halfway through the afternoon, I was in the kitchen and spotted Alex coming in the front door and through the living room, pantsless. As I was asking him why he was half naked, I saw Travis following Alex, arm stretched out with a balled up set of shorts and underwear, telling Alex to have me help him clean up and get clean clothes. When it was obvious I was completely puzzled, Alex let me know he had pooped outside. I was charged with tending to the boy so Travis was free to go get the pooper-scooper thing we use for the dog poop, so he could clean up the "man maker" of a turd Alex left at the side of the house. Oh, and the clean clothes were needed because my sweet boy decided to clean himself with his shorts. All class; all the time.
Aside from the pooping incident, Alex did a great job. It's an awful lot to ask a 4 year old to not be a total asshole when he is presented with a zillion toys and excited people and kids that want to immediately play with the toys he just received. It is an awful lot, but it is also something I completely and totally expect him to be able to accomplish. And he did just that. He shared his toys. He played well (minus one spat).
My mom told me a while ago that she loved every different age so much when we were kids. And that she always wanted us to stay just the age we were because she figured she couldn't be happier than she was with us at that moment. But then the next moment came and then next age came and she realized that she just plain ol' loved us. That. That is exactly how I feel.
I know I complain a lot about his behavior on this blog. And the truth is, there are a ton of times that his behavior is absolutely atrocious and complete deserving of every bit of complaining. Being a parent is hard. Living with a toddler is hell on Earth at times. But the good times are just so mind blowingly good. Each age has had its unique make-me-want-to-pull-my-hair-out challenges and its unique happy, hilarious, silly moments. I will always miss the things he grows out of. I will always miss him asking me to "buckle him out" of his car seat and I will always miss the way he pronounces words. But here's the thing...it seems as soon as he stops doing something I love, he starts doing a new thing that makes me so happy, I really have to stop and think to come up with the things I miss. He just continually wraps me tighter and tighter around his fat little fingers. I love this kid so much and I am so proud to be his mom.
Happy Birthday, Alex.
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