Happy 4th Birthday, Cole!

My sweet little boy turned 4 yrs old last week. I can't believe he's so big. We woke up early to open presents. The big hits of the day were a batmobile with a batman, superman and wonderwoman (for Claire, of course) that fit inside and then a bat-jet from his grandparents as well. Both vehicles make loud noises and shoot things out of them, all of which is apparently essential for boy toys. He and Claire played with them all morning until Claire had to go to school. She convinced me to let her just go to school for a half-day so she could play with Cole and their superheroes again this afternoon. I figured, hey, she's already going to full-day school as a kindergartner, why not let her still have some fun.

For dinner Cole wanted pizza and we decided to take it to the mall to eat it and then go to Coldstone for ice cream afterwards. When we got home we still had to eat the cake I'd made! I'd made cupcakes to bring to his preschool that I decorated with batman, superman, wonderwoman and robin logos. I made a tiny cake out of the rest of the batter and put all the logos on it, as requested by the birthday boy.

On Saturday we went to Build-a-Bear for his "party" - both kids just invited one friend since it's so dang expensive so it wasn't much of a party, but Cole didn't seem to mind. The kids have been wanting to go to there forever and they had a great time.

This year I want to copy something my friend does and say all the reasons I love my kids and spouse on their birthdays. So here goes.

I love Cole's hands. They're very little (he got my hands) and soft. I just think they're so sweet. I also love his eyes. They're unlike any eyes I've seen before. They're blue, but with a ton of yellowish/brown in them and they're almost stripey. I also love his gut. He was making it stick out the other day and I swear he looked pregnant. It was hilarious. I love his laugh. I love his personality. He's so funny. He's always making us and other people laugh with his weird little antics. He's got a random little mind (like his father) but is incredibly expressive (like his mother) which is a great mix. He is always telling me how he is feeling. I get a running dialogue everyday of what is going on in his brain. He's as talkative as a girl, in fact more talkative than Claire. I also love that he's a deep thinker. He's always asking me questions, one example being when he asked me if the toys in heaven are all golden. It's near impossible to read a book to him because every single page he asks a different question about something that's going on in the story or the pictures. He has a very strong imagination, and makes up the most inventive and detailed stories. Sometimes this does him more harm than good, though, as this imagination can also create very real and vivid monsters at night! I also love how sensitive he is. He's sensitive to music, especially. He often has to watch movies on 'mute' because otherwise he'll get too scared by the music. He's also often asked me if certain songs are 'sad songs' or 'church songs' and told me he could tell because they 'felt sad' or 'felt like church'. I also love how snuggly he is. He wants to snuggle with me everyday. Even if he's playing and I ask him to snuggle me, he'll stop whatever he's doing and come give me snuggles.

I love my little Coley-man. It's amazing how sweet life becomes when you have a little boy to raise.

I'm including a few home videos that show Cole's funny little personality. Enjoy!