John turns four

I need to start this off by saying that I am having trouble accepting the fact that John is four years old. I know it is a sentimental "mom-thing" to say, but I cannot believe my baby has grown up so much. John continuously surprises me and challenges my mothering capabilities because he simultaneously cracks me up and frustrates me at the same time. John has a masculine sense of self which I typically have a hard time identifying with, very rough and tumble, "mommy, watch me burp!", etc.. However, he can also be extremely sweet and loving too, freely offering kisses and affection to people he loves. John is a sweet and spunky kid who is certainly a blessing for our family.

We hosted a birthday party at home for John last night. We decided to go with a Friday evening party at the house, with our special guest Spiderman to entertain the children. We had plenty of food and drinks for the invited guests, John's classmates at school and their parents. Below are Amelia and John enjoying some of the food before the guests arrived.

The children and their families arrived about 20 minutes before Spiderman got to our house. During this time the kids were running around outside, playing in the yard on the swing set. But then one of my favorite moments from the party occurred when John and two of his friends from school ran up to me (we were inside) and exclaimed with great excitement, "Spiderman is here! Spiderman came to my party!" The children had seen Spiderman walking up the front walk before I knew he had arrived.

And behold Spiderman was here! Many of the children were immediately drawn to Spiderman, who engaged the children in party games teaching them "how to become superheroes". Below are a few shots of the dancing game where the children danced to the music and when the music stopped they were told to enact superhero poses to fight off enemies.

Amelia, my toothless girl, dancing...

Then another game! Spiderman led the children on a treasure hunt. Below he is explaining the game.

Here is the group in the guest room of our house, still searching for the treasure.

What I did not expect were the children who were terrified of Spiderman. While the games were going on in the backyard, three little girls were screaming inside the house, tears streaming down their faces saying they were scared of Spiderman. Yes, I felt terrible about this! But we kept Spiderman outside as long as possible and once the girls were happily playing in Amelia's room, their parents claimed that they were just fine.

Games complete, time for cake! While Spiderman painted the childrens' faces and made them balloon swords, we enjoyed John's birthday cake. Check out this special Spiderman cake!

Friends singing happy birthday to John! Check out Spiderman on the side - how cool!

After the games, cake, face painting and balloon crafts were completed, I had the chance to snap some photos. Below is John with Spiderman. John looks a bit speculative, though he was really having a good time at this point.

John and a few of his friends with Spiderman. John has his large balloon sword in his hand.

The party was a great success! After our guests had departed we let John open a few of the gifts that his friends brought for him. It was nice to wind down and be together as a family after having so many guests in our home. While I did not get any great shots of John opening gifts, I did capture this adorable photo of Amelia and Scott as they were watching the opening of the gifts by John. Note this one for the record books - Scott is actually smiling in a photo. I think it's due to the fact that for the first time in his children's lives he has been able to enjoy beer during a child's birthday party. Friday night parties at home = good mood for dad of the household. Notation made for next year.

Happy Birthday John! We love you!