Finally, a Happy Birthday!

My sweet Wesley turned four years old yesterday. FOUR! Can you believe it!? Even more amazing than the fact that my little boy is growing up is the fact that we actually had a really good birthday and a really good party. Wesley's birthdays are usually overwhelming and end up being less than fun for everyone involved, but this was great.

Saturday morning, Wesley woke up and come downstairs. I greeted him with a big, cheery, "Happy birthday, my four year old." Wesley looked at me with eyes wide and said, "Am I four now?" I laughed and told him he was. He must not have believed me though because he spread his arms wide and checked himself over before replied, "Huh! I guess I am!"

Wesley headed into the living room to see his dad and Ryan. Duane and I had decorated the dining room with balloons and streamers the night before, but Wesley walked right passed it without seeming to notice. We finally got him to turn around and look at it. He was really impressed and pronounced it "awesome!"

I had work all day, but that just meant that when I got home it was almost time to party. Cathy, Sho, Kei, Grandma and Grandpa H. were already there when I got home. We took the boys outside where they entertained themselves by playing ball and finger painting until the rest of the guests arrived (Grandma W., Uncle Kirk and Aunt Susan, and the H. family.)

After everyone feasted on Wesley's birthday dinner we ate cake and opened gifts. Wesley requested a strawberry cake with a green and orange brontosaurus on it, so that's what he got. He blew the candles out on his cake all by himself - although it did take a couple of tries.

For the first time ever, Wesley was really interested in his gifts and he opened them all by himself. He was most excited to get his every own camera! Once he opened it he had to take pictures of each of the rest of the gifts before AND after he opened each one. He ended up taking about 50 pictures and wore the batteries completely down.

By the time all the inside festivities were done, it was starting to get dark. We took the kids back outside and broke out some sparklers leftover from the Fourth of July. The boys had a great time running around in the dark until it was time for everyone to go home. Once the place had cleared out, Wesley and I sat on the couch and read his new birthday books over and over. Finally, Wesley turned to me, took my face in his hands and said, "Mommy, you belong to me." I told him that he was right and that I'd always be his mommy. "Mommy, you ALWAYS belong to me," he amended before planting a big kiss on my face. I guess it was a happy birthday for both of us.