Happy Birthday Big Tig!

My sweetie boy is four today!

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E's 1st birthday (sigh, I miss my pool)

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I think this is probably the last year I can get away with not having a real birthday party, the kind with friends and favors and all the ensuing chaos.

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2nd birthday

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This is the first year that Ethan actually understood the whole birthday concept, that it was his special day, that there'd be a cake with candles and presents to open. He was so excited and so happy, all afternoon he just kept giggling and hugging everybody, it was so cute.

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3rd birthday

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We had to wait for Papi to get home for work, and of course, for the first time in months, he had to work late! But he finally came, we watched E open his presents then lit the candles (okay, so they weren't actually candles. I put the candles somewhere so that I wouldn't lose them, then I forgot where that place was, so I just shoved 4 matches in the cake, lit them and we sang Happy Birthday really fast!) and enjoyed some cake. I ordered the cake from the grocery store, because I've really been craving that whipped buttercreamy frosting, oh so yummy! The design was Hot Wheels, but he had asked for a monster truck cake, so I just bought a toy monster truck and replaced the race car that came on the cake. It turned out cute, and he loved it.

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Ever since we visited the Harajuku Kiddyland in November, E has been dreaming about a shinkansen set. It wasn't in the budget for Xmas, since by that time all my shopping was already done, so he got it for his birthday. I set it up while he was at school, because I knew it would take some time to put together and I knew it'd be agonizing for him to wait if I left it as a gift for him to unwrap this evening, so it was waiting for him when he came off the bus. I had to drag him away from it to open his other presents and have some cake, he took one bite of cake and went right back to his tracks.
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Ethan, and the love of his life ( I built that train table for his 2nd bday!!!) Look at that actual smile on his face! Not the usual cheesy-for-the-camera-grin. He was sooooo happy!
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Fen enjoying some birthday cake
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