Carston's 4th Birthday!

 Birthday balloons to fall on him when he got up in the morning.  He also had birthday cake pancakes for breakfast.

 Opening his GREEN swimming pool from Mom and Dad for the back patio.  Someone is highly obsessed with the color green right now. 

 Some swim goggles and some swim toys. 

 All he wanted was his green pool. 

 Trying my hand at using my frosting tips I got for Christmas.  It turned out pretty well for a first time.  Carston asked for a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, green mint filling, and green sprinkles on top.  Easy enough!

 Aurelia really loved this birthday cake. 

 Getting his present from Grandma Jules in the mail; he was so excited to open a package just for him!

Grandma Jules made Carston the softest green digger blanket ever!  I thought it might be hard to get him to throw away his old one (he has chewed the edges to shreds on two blankets since being born) as it's been his favorite for a long time; however, when he got this new green one from Grandma he promptly went and got his old one and threw it in the trash without looking back.  Thank you for the love and effort put into this blanket Grandma Jules!

This year we kept things simple and just tried to make Carston's birthday extra special for him from waking up to balloons and birthday pancakes, to opening presents, no chores, and just a lot of playing.  We had a few friends over for cake and ice cream that night.  He and Braxton are also going on a weekend getaway with Grandma Jane to Diggerland in New Jersey soon; that is a BIG gift and I am sure they will have a blast!

I am so very grateful for this sensitive, green loving, passionate (which can be both good and bad), thoughtful little boy! Though we are still working on trying to use words to communicate what is wrong or how we are feeling he can be very thoughtful and is always the first to say "thank you" to me.  He is full of energy and loves playing with Braxton.  He mimics him a lot.  He is still learning to be gentle with Aurelia but usually lets me know if she's headed somewhere bad (like the street!).  He loves her very fiercely and also loves to annoy her by ripping out her pacifier, pouncing on her and squishing her, etc.  He is learning to "do his list" in the mornings really well (make bed, get dressed, put pull up in trash, etc.). I can only imagine the changes we will see in him this next year.  We love you little Carster Bear!