Birthday Boy

Ollie, you turned 4 today -- FOUR!! Four years ago I became a mom, Andy became a dad, and we held this big bundle in our arms, all 10 pounds, 10 ounces of you. We have marveled at your wonderfulness every day thereafter. You're so full of energy and joy and curiosity and kindness. And FUN! Speaking of fun, your fourth birthday was super, super fun... it started on Friday, when you helped me make your big airplane cake. You're such a good cook, and you love to pull a chair up to the counter and help in any way possible, especially if it involves the kitchen sink or cracking eggs (which you're very good at). You decided a few weeks ago that you'd like an airplane cake, so we spent lots of time looking at them on Google images, getting ideas. I finally got up the courage to design a plane that looked manageable, so I drew a picture of it on paper the size of the cake pan, then cut out the pieces. We made the cake together (double recipe! yum!), then let it cool and covered it for the night. Today we put the design pieces over the cake and cut it up, and made a double batch of butter frosting, but the cake turned out to be soooo big that I had to make extra frosting! It took a really long time to frost... you wanted a blue airplane, but this is the closest I could get without using so much coloring that it was yucky tasting. You were SO happy with the cake, and it was super delicious, but the best thing about it was making it together. It took so long to frost that sometimes you would wander away to play, then come back a little later and exclaim, "Wow, Mommy, you're doing a really great job with the frosting!"

So, this morning you came downstairs to a big stack of presents from us, both grandparents, your cousins in England, and Auntie Mavis. You got a Geotrax train, a remote control amphibious vehicle, books, an erector set, a Peppa Pig t-shirt, and more! We spent a good part of the day putting together your train and making your cake, and then at 3:30 we headed to Titan Gym for your little birithday party. Your closest friends were there - Ryan and Addie, Claire, Emily, Brooke and Maddie, Carys and Lowri, and Georgie of course - your oldest friend in New Jersey. Titan Gym has loads of trampolines, and you all had so much fun bouncing on them! After playing for an hour and getting really hot and tired, you came over to the party area for your yummy cake, juice, and other treats. It's so nice you have such good friends here, and we're happy we could celebrate your birthday with them... our little boy, who's not so little any more. We love you so very much, Ollie, you're the most lovely boy that ever was.