Carter turned 4 years old yesterday! He has been gearing up for this birthday for quite some time and I don’t think it disappointed him!

For his birthday meals this year, Carter chose “chocolate balls” (cocoa puffs) for breakfast; Pizza Pie Cafe for lunch; and veggies with hummus, fruit, deli ham, and cheese for dinner. His dinner choice made me really happy! The kids like eating vegetables when they are served uncooked and especially with dip. If you actually cook them into some “dish” it’s less of a win.

For his activity, he chose swimming! Everyone had tons of fun!

Helen and I hung out on the side of the pool and did this:

Carter didn’t want ice-cream. He only wanted cake–a green vanilla cake with custard filling and Mack from Cars. But, unfortunately, there was a miscommunication on the cake.  Josh and I had planned to use his toy Mack on the fondant road. But just as it was time to put Mack on the road Carter revealed that he wanted a fondant Mack, not an actual toy. He wouldn’t accept the toy, so he ended up with just the road. But I think he was still pleased.

Here’s a little bit more about our fabulous four-year-old!

Carter still loves cars as much as ever! Every time he gets a reward for anything he chooses a car. When asked what he wanted for his birthday, he said “cars.” When we built a snowman, he named it “Car.” It still makes me really happy that his name has the word “car” in it!

Some other things Carter loves include:

• The color green–If there is ever any choice for color, he wants green! He loves to eat off green dishes, have green cakes, notice anything green anywhere we go, and wear his green pants and his green shirt together.
• Superheroes–He likes Batman and all the Avengers, especially Hulk–because he is green.
• PAW Patrol–He has never actually seen an episode of this show; but we have gotten books from the library about it and he has a few of the toys. He gets excited any time he sees something PAW Patrol.
• Vacations–Whenever we get back from some family trip, Carter is already planning for us to go back! He especially loves visiting hotels/houses with pools and the beach.
• Puzzles–He thrills at taking out all the kid puzzles we have and putting them all together by himself and laying them all out side-by-side.
• Photobombing–One day he discovered it drove Fay crazy to have him jump in front of her fancy poses for pictures. I told him there was even a name for such a stunt and he fell in love!
  

  That face is pure joy!

Another fun thing about Carter is that he is one determined dude…when he feels like it. For example: for months he insisted he was positively incapable of getting himself dressed/undressed to any degree. No he could NOT take his pants off by himself; there was no possible way he was able to put his sock on his own foot. But then one day in about February, he decided he was big enough to dress/undress himself; and in the course of a couple weeks he was able to completely independently get himself ready for the day! He has similarly determined that he can fold all his own laundry and put it away, help mow the lawn, help make any food in the kitchen, and buckle his own seatbelt! I am very much looking forward to the day he decides he can consistently get himself to the bathroom when he needs to go.

We love this boy! And we can’t imagine life without him! Happy Birthday, Bud!