It's My Birthday. I'm Four Years Old.

When my sisters, niece, and nephew called tonight, that's what I heard Eric tell them. "It's My Birthday. I'm Four Years Old." How cute is that?

Eric got us up around 5am because he had "peed" in his diaper. Patrick changed him and gave him some more ibuprofen because he still had a fever. He did okay at home as long as he was kept medicated. I even let him stay in his pajamas until after lunch. He didn't want to change and I didn't want to make him. Patrick, Alex, and I went to Alex's soccer game in the morning. Everyone else stayed home. After lunch Eric insisted that he was "not tired" but he fell asleep in the upstairs hallway next to a bunch of his stuffed animals. It looked like a stuffed animal sleepover in that hallway. (I was asleep too. Patrick took this picture for me.)

We went to church and then Eric's choice for dinner was Chili's. For a long time now he always associates going to church with going to Chili's, even though we really only go to Chili's once every other month or so. We haven't been there in a while and that's what he asked for, so why not? While we were there, I tried to get him to look at me while holding up four fingers so I could take a picture. He even wanted me to take pictures of him, but every time I did, he would make this fake smile. When I told him that I wanted to see his eyes, he opened one eye a little wider, but his face was still all scrunched up.

We told our server that it was Eric's birthday, so they brought us a warm fudge brownie with ice cream on top, and they sang "Happy Birthday" to him. He looked he didn't know what to do with himself. He just stared at them singing. When they left he was very interested in the brownie. The dessert came with several spoons. Eric wanted them moved. At first it looked like he was going to eat it all by himself and he just wanted the extra spoons out of his way. Luckily for his siblings, he willingly shared with all of them.

When we got home, we opened presents. Eric had already opened his presents from Lola and Lolo yesterday. Mom always wants him to open his presents from them early. Tonight he opened his presents from us and from Grandma and Grandpa. He seemed most excited about this Thomas and Friends playhut and tunnel. He is not as crazy about Thomas or Cars as he was last year, but he still gets pretty excited whenever he gets anything with those characters on them. The playhut/tunnel combo has always been popular with the kids when they were at this age.

Next came the birthday cupcakes. We let Eric choose between getting a cake or cupcakes and he chose the latter. Mom baked some chocolate cupcakes today and Natalie iced them and put sprinkles on top. When it came to eating them, he wanted an iced cupcake without the sprinkles. He knew exactly what to do at the end of our "Happy Birthday" song. He blew out those candles without any hesitation.

It was four years ago today that I went to work. I noticed that I was having contractions and that they seemed very light, just like the contractions I'd been having throughout the last part of my pregnancy. I told myself that I needed to drink plenty of water and I would see if they went away. As the day progressed, the contractions seemed very regular and they started getting stronger. I told some of my colleagues about it and they insisted that I go home. By the time I got home, they were pretty strong and pretty regular. One of my friends scolded me for driving myself home. The rest is detailed in my "Birth Story" post four years ago that you can find HERE.

This little boy brought a bright light into our lives four years ago. Even his older siblings dote on him and he eats it up. My family has been here on the weekend around his birthday every year, but this year only my parents made it. Life is just going to get busier, especially when this four-year-old boy starts getting involved in activities like his siblings.

He finally held up those four fingers and gave me a smile where I could still see his eyes. He's such a cutie with that icing mustache. :)