Four and a half

Yesterday was a big day.  Elijah celebrated his half birthday, meaning he is now 4 1/2.  (Marty says there is no such thing as a half birthday.  I say he is no fun.)  :) At the beginning of the week Elijah asked when he was going to be four and a half and it just happened to be on Saturday.  He wanted to have presents, but I told him instead I would make him half of a birthday cake. 

I just found a cake recipe and cut all the ingredients in half; easy enough.  However, if theoretically, you were to forget to cut the amount of sugar in half.... the cake would bubble over into your oven and result in smoke billowing from the oven.  Then, theoretically, you would need to scrape burnt sugar mess out of the cake pan and the bottom of the oven and start over.  But I wouldn't know anything about that.   Nothing at all.

Some fascinating facts about our 4 1/2 year old:
 * He wants to be a firefighter and work at the factory with his dad when he grows up.
* He does not plan to ever move out of our house and wants to live with Mommy, Daddy & Gavin forever.  (But even when he is a grown up he will not change G's diapers.  He must think that G is going to be a baby forever).
* He is 43.5" tall and is almost 40 pounds
* He is ambidextrous (at least at this point).   He writes his name, etc equally well with either hand and uses them both on a regular basis.
* He can 'read' traffic signs very well and likes to be a back seat driver.  (Mommy, that sign says "Do Not Enter" so you can't go that way).  He also likes to monitor my speed and compare it to the speed limit signs.  (Mommy, you are going "forty-zero" and the sign says "thirty-five".  You need to get a speeding ticket).  He will then "write" one for me when we get home.
* He is very committed to recycling.  He visited the recycling center with his preschool class in CO last fall and continues to take that trip very seriously.  Before we put anything in the recycling container, he first wants to talk about possible ways we can reuse it.... which explains things like egg cartons in his bedroom.
* He is also committed to wanting to know which foods are healthy.... and then a few minutes later telling me "Mommy, I think my body is telling me that it just needs more sugar."


Overall, we think he is a pretty fun little guy.  I cannot believe that he is already 4 1/2!!!!!

Other weekend fun activities included going to the local Winter Festival.  We watched fire dancers, saw ice sculptures & snow sculptures, played in the Kids Tent, built a 3D dinosaur, watched the Rail Jam, listened to music, sampled local vendors.... it was a lot of fun!  Earlier in the week we got dumped on with snow and school was canceled (for only the 6th time in the past 20 years).  There was plenty of snow for the weekend activities.

Gavin & me checking out the snow sculpture.  Elijah was tired & grumpy by this point.

We stayed out past G's bedtime and he was really tired, but he needed a dry diaper before bed.  He rolled over mid-diaper change & went to sleep.