First and Fourth Birthdays!

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Outta my way (until I need help)

The aforementioned wagon-pushing Oscar:

First and four!

And I'm not talking about a football game... No, as of tonight, our littlest one is, in fact, one. And in just two short days, Annie will officially turn four. The unofficial entrance into her new age was accomplished this weekend with a shared birthday party at our home. It was a blast. Oscar did his best to keep up, which was hard given that he has a wicked cold and is on a day-time sleeping strike. When it came the time to blow out the candles, he was a little perplexed as to why all these people were singing at him. Then, he was presented with the cupcake. Still not sure what was up and why all these people now were staring at him. Once he got a taste though, the cupcake didn't stand a chance. He literally threw himself into its consumption. Full on, face first, and barely came up for air. Yup, he was blue in the face. (Literally, the icing was blue.)

Annie loved playing the hostess to all her friends and this was the first year we could do real party games. We had them all: Musical Placemats (preschoolers high on candy throwing themselves into chairs didn't seem like the best idea); Pin the tail on the donkey; and a piñata shaped like a giant cupcake. This was the safe kind too, where each kid takes turns pulling strings until the correct one is pulled and all the loot flies to the ground and you don't see the kids' faces for 20 minutes while they're buried in a huddle retrieving the goods. Annie was over the moon with all the attention. Not only did she have her best kid friends in company, but Annie and Oscar's adult fan club was there, too.

We also had another special occasion to celebrate today: GrandBob's 70th. Oscar and my father share the same birthday and although they had to head out early for a road trip to Branson, MO, we got to have a birthday breakfast and present fest before their departure. And not too sad of a departure as they'll be back for part II of their visit on Friday. We are so grateful they were here for the party on Saturday too. But back to the presents: From Nana and GrandBob, Annie and Oscar got a great outdoor playhouse so they finally have something to do in the backyard besides make up games involving a soccer ball and some grass. We gave Oscar a push wagon and we pretty much immediately regretted it. The kid has no fear, but worse, he has no sense of direction. He'll go full speed toward a wall, hit it, laugh shaking his head, and then scream and cry until someone turns it around. I'm hoping he figures it out soon, because this was supposed to distract him SAFELY from his fascination with the stairs. Oscar: 2, Parents: 0. But his new tricks make him a very cute, if not reckless toddler. He now says "Uh-oh" and means it, even preemptively so. This morning he said it and then dropped his lovey on purpose. He has a sense of humor, we'll give him that. He'll even fall down on purpose so you can say "Woah!" and laughs. Also, he was a little late coming to it, but he can now clap on command, and tries to blow kisses, but instead of making a smooching sound, he clicks his tongue. 'A' for effort, Oscar.

I guess we're gluttons for punishment, because despite this year's ups and (falling) downs, we're looking energetically forward to the coming year with both of these kiddos. We're just going to have to invest in some bubble wrap for Oscar.