These birthdays keep happening, huh

In other words, Aubrey is FOUR! I still have a hard time remembering that she isn't 3 anymore. I have to make a conscience effort to say 4 now. But, no matter how hard I struggle, she is quite proud of her advanced old age and will proudly show off 4 fingers when anyone asks how old she is. 

It was nice that her birthday was on a Saturday this year so we could celebrate on the actual day as a family. However, we did have a little stress after another winter "storm" passed through Charlotte on Friday. Luckily, the storm only brought freezing rain and didn't cause nearly as much drama as the snow and ice from her first birthday. 

We started the morning off with some pancakes with sprinkles, followed by opening presents from us. After lunch, it was time to get ready for her birthday party. We decided to invite her preschool class and her BFF Landon to Monkey Joe's and it turned out to be an excellent party. The kids got to run and jump for an hour, eat some yummy cupcakes and ice cream, open presents and then jump some more. It was a chaotic 2 hours but Aubrey loved every second of it and in usual Aubrey fashion, threw a tantrum when it was time to leave. We rounded out the birthday night by having dinner at Jason's Deli followed by digging into all of her presents when we got home. 

On the Monday after her birthday, I treated her preschool class to doughnuts and Aubrey was so excited to walk in carrying those bags. She also got to wear a crown that said "I am 4" and she loved it.

Aubrey had her 4 year check up on Tuesday and was almost crying from the second we walked in the doors. She knew she would be getting shots this time and I think watching Mason get his a few weeks ago terrified her. The good news was she is healthy. She is now 40" tall (57th%) and weighs 37 lbs (67%). Dr. Honeycutt said she has slimmed down over the past year but that is a good thing. She passed the developmental questionnaire and Dr. Honeycutt said she is on track for everything. She refused to cooperate for the hearing screen but passed her vision test with flying colors. Unfortunately the nurse then announced that it was time for shots and she started crying before she even laid down. She really let loose once the first shot was in and cried for a good 5 minutes afterwards. And, there was not even a lollypop to bribe her with because of the stupid flu season germs. Luckily, she won't get any other shots except a flu shot until she is 11 so I hope that will make future doctor's visits a little easier. I was able to come home and treat her to a doughnut so that made her world all better again.

We have one more celebration with family this week for her birthday and then we can call birthday season over in our house. Aubrey asks me everyday when her next birthday is and is already planning what she wants to do next year. Let the planning begin (as long as I can deny that she will be FIVE!).

Mason's First Birthday Party

We hosted Mason's first birthday at our house and decided to keep it low key with just family and a few friends with babies around Mason's age. I learned after the debacle that was Aubrey's first birthday that no matter what the party situation there would be a good time and enjoyment by all so I scaled back my planning and let the focus be on our little man. After a yummy lunch, Mason had a blast with his cupcake and we were relieved. We were worried after his cake smash pictures that he wouldn't enjoy it, but he did exactly what we hoped and destroyed it. We also watched a slide show of pictures from his first year and watching it the first time made me so sad, but by the 5th or 6th time, I was able to get through it and just be happy. We then opened a few presents, including his new riding toy and toy phone that he loves to pieces. All in all, it was a great little party and even though he won't remember it I am glad that Mason had this time to be celebrated.

The "I guess I have to write that Mason is ONE post"

If I could avoid this post, I completely would. Writing things down just makes them seem much more real for me. So, writing down that my little man is now the big ONE makes me just sad, sad, sad. Since he was born early in the morning, more of my reminiscing about his birth was done the night. Unfortunately for him, he didn't have a very glamorous day to celebrate his birth. It was a Monday, which meant business as usual, which also included visiting the car dealership to patch another freaking hole from a screw in my tire in the rain. But, Mason did get lots of extra hugs and kisses throughout the day and I did bake him a cake for his birthday so it wasn't too terrible for him. I am excited for his birthday party this weekend and hope he is little more excited about his cake then than he was for his cake smash pictures that I'll share soon.

This month's milestones:
*Left upper central incisor broke through 12.17

*Right upper central incisor broke through 12.22 (so now we can joke he did get his 2 front teeth for Christmas!)

*We think he has started working on his lower lateral incisors

*First Christmas and New Year's Eve/Day

*First few nights away from me 

*Started the transition off breast milk. We started with a coconut milk/rice milk mix. He didn't handle that so well. We knew soy milk was out so after some more research, he is now drinking hemp milk. Its freaking expensive, but he seems to be tolerating it well so we'll just deal with it for now.

*He has started sleeping with a little comfort blankie. It is the cutest thing to see him snuggled up with it. It has greatly helped with his bedtime crying and fussing so I am seriously considering buying about 3 extras to have on hand just in case the first one is lost.
*He had his first visit to urgent care after we thought he may have swallowed the slider that goes on the bottom of our kitchen chairs. Luckily, the x-ray found nothing out of the ordinary inside him but made Todd and me feel so much better. We still can't find that slider though...

*He is walking pretty well behind his walking toys. He just giggles the entire time he is walking and will walk until his walker won't move anymore.

He had his one year well check today. He weighs 18.5 lbs (15%), is 28.5 inches long (15th), and his head is 45 cm (45th). The only concern Dr. Honeycutt had was regarding his verbal development, but she said that second born children, especially boys, will often be slower on verbal development and faster on the  motor skills because the older sibling will often talk for the younger child and youngest want to be able to keep up physically with that older sibling. Perfectly true in our house. She just encouraged us to keep reading and encouraging him to make sounds and see what happens by the next visit. Otherwise, he is healthy which made her happy. He did have to get 4 shots and his blood drawn, but he continues to show he is a tough guy by only crying until I pick him up and give him his paci. So,  hopefully no more doctor's visits and shots until July for his 18 month appointment. 

After his first spaghetti meal. He loved the spaghetti, however his stomach did not enjoy it so much. 

Poor little guy was fascinated with the x-ray machine.

This is how he greets me most of the time when I go in his room to get him up.