On His Way to the Big 0-4: The Fourth Year

A year in review. Aiden didn't have a 3rd birthday party. We did a small celebration here at home, but after the loss of Chase in late March we just weren't up for a big party. Thankfully, he was too young to notice that he didn't get one. This year would have been different. He started planning his birthday party in February!

We got him a bike for his 3rd birthday...and it took him a few weeks to get the hang of it:


I think this was the year that I really started to see the Daddy's boy come out in him. He LOVES daddy :-)



We spent most of last summer at a local pool, dubbed by Aiden as "blue slide pool" because of the massive play area (and yes, there is a blue slide involved) at the children's pool. We bought season passes and enjoyed actually sitting down and talking while we kept two sets of eyes on Aiden playing blissfully by himself or with any "friend" he could find in the pool. We didn't have a summer vacation because we had planned on having a baby that summer, so instead we quietly healed from our loss.

On the 4th of July, Mike was introduced to the game cornhole...Our life will never be the same.



Mike made his own set of boards and I became a cornhole widow when I got too pregnant to join the fun. Aiden was utilized to pick up bean bags after each throw--but he soon caught on that picking up the bean bags wasn't as fun as riding his bike--so Mike lost his little lackey after a few weeks.


In September, we joined my side of the family for the annual beach trip. That was a lot of fun. Aiden adores his older cousin, Meghan and she kept him entertained. It was the first year that Mike and I had a pretty restful vacation...until I got violently ill...thanks for sharing Uncle Joel! ;-) And Aiden had his first throw-up experience on the way home from the beach...Yes, I made it 3 years without having a vomitting child, but when it did happen, it was a doozy--and he did it in the car on the way home from the beach when we were still about 2 hours from home. So I guess you could say that fate caught up with us finally.

We bought a tractor (finally--we have a LOT of yard to mow and Mike was using a little push mower to do it until late last year)...and Aiden discovered the joy of riding with daddy (note, his ear is sticking out thanks to a mosquito bite.


Aiden started preschool in the fall:


And in late October we found out that Little Sister was on the way:


We went apple picking--momma was feeling nice and ill by that time, but Aiden enjoyed learning that apples grow on trees BEFORE they come to the grocery store:

The holidays came and went in a blur for me--probably because of the morning sickness and preoccupation with our new pregnancy. We began decorating both kids' rooms. Aiden tried out the new crib to make sure it would be comfy for his little sister:


Preschool was a great thing for Aiden. His classmates were so sweet and he was always so excited to go to "school"...not so excited to come home and take naps. What a mean mommy! They had a Valentine's Day party and Aiden was very excited about the candy. Mommy...Not so much!



We've figured out how to brush our teeth on our own:


And finally had a REAL birthday party!!


Happy Birthday Little Man!!! What a blessed 4 years it has been!