4 years old!!!!!

Holy Crap.  My precious little boy is a four year old now.  How did this happen?  Next year he'll be in kindergarten.  I can't believe it.  I know I have a just turned 6 month old at home, but sometimes Seth still feels like my baby boy.  I still baby him sometimes when Jacob naps, I'll pull him on my lap and hold him and tell him stories, and I still sing him to sleep at night.  I've always had a really strong relationship with my Sethie because his imagination and the way he plays is like looking back on my own childhood.  Seth is always inventing exciting stories in his head.  Sometimes it's frustrating when I'm trying to get an accurate account of things, like when he has a bruise on his leg, and I ask him how he got it, he will usually tell me a fantastic story about how he got in a fight with a monster.  Very creative, but not exactly accurate.  Then I remember the stories I made up in my head as a kid about being a gifted cook who just had to make pies out of my dads glue and shampoo or world hunger would continue to plague the earth.  Recently Scott and I were looking out the window in the backyard to see Seth talking to and dancing at a bush in the backyard.  At first I thought he'd lost it, but then I remembered the ol' faithful tree that grew in my elementary school playground that was my friend who I talked to.  Anyway, even Scott admits that Seth has a lot of  'de Hoyos' in him, and even though there is definitely some 'Itri' in there too, the 'de Hoyos' seems to dominate as far as personality quirks go.  He's okay with it though, because Crystal acts a lot more like him than she does me, and so he can relate to her quirks extremely well.  Who knew the girl would end up like the dad and the boy would be the mom?  Ha.
Anyway, Seth was really excited to celebrate his birthday this year.  He got to celebrate at the place of his choice,  Chuck-E-Cheese's.  Normally I avoid this place like the plague, but for my birthday boy, anything.  We met up with my parents and siblings who also wanted to celebrate with him.

Here is my brother and sister teaching him how to shoot aliens:

Crystal always gets a kick out of watching Seth getting excited. 
Here she is looking amused.  Oh yes, we also got her glasses a couple of days ago.  I caught her squinting at picture at the wall so we took her to the eye doctor and sure enough, she's near sighted, just like me and Daddy. 

My parents are all about helping my kids get as many tickets for scoring high scores at the games as possible.  Here they are cheating at the whack-a-mole game to help Crystal get some extra tickets.  Yup.  Those are my parents:

Seth also got a lot of tickets for doing well at some games.  He was really proud of this particular strip of tickets because he earned them without help:

One of the rides/activities, prints out a little black and white picture of you sitting next to a figure of Chuck-E-Cheese while sitting in a car.  For some reason Seth thought this concept was fantastic, and totally worth using a token on:

The funny thing is that as thrilled as he was to take this little picture next to the figure of Chuck-E-Cheese, Seth was actually terrified of the actual Chuck-E-Cheese mascot.  Every time Mr. Chuck-E tried to approach Seth, he would run away in terror.  He told me that he didn't trust him, that he was POSITIVE that it was just a man in a mask who was trying to trick him.  He kept saying "I don't like that guy mommy. He's just a weird guy in a mask."  Fair enough.

After about an hour of hoards of children fighting over video games, we all went to lunch at the Texas Roadhouse, then we went back to my parents house to sing happy birthday and open presents.

Making a wish.  (The wish is always the same wish.  He always wishes he can fly.)

Present time!

These Hulk gloves and also the Hammer of Thor were his favorite gifts.

Yes, I had to post at least two pics of my youngest son, who as you can see enjoyed Seths's presents as well.

At the end of the day, Seth said he had a great birthday.  As a bonus, he got to sleep in Mommy and Daddy's room, which he is constantly asking to do every night, and we always say no, but on his birthday, he got to sleep in a little mattress on the floor next to our bed, and he loved it. 


I love my little Superhero.  I love the songs he invents, and the soundtrack he invents to his life. (He is always humming some made up, intense tune to his actions throughout the day.  It's hilarious).  I love hes huge dimples and his sparkling blue eyes, and I love that he's such a momma's boy right now.  I love that when he has a nightmare he screams for me  to come and save him.  I know that's a little selfish, but I love being the center of his life, I love it.

The older my kids get the more bittersweet I get about their aging.  I love my little babies, and even though I'm super excited for their birthdays and getting older, I get sad when I think that they won't always be my little babies, and that they will be teenagers who won't want to hold my hand anymore, or tell me every thought in their head.  It was sad for me to see Crystal go into kindergarten because she was no longer a 'baby' anymore, and when she goes into Jr. High, it will be harder for me, because then she won't be a little kid anymore...she be an adolescent.  (cue scary music). Now seeing Seth getting bigger and only a year shy of entering kindergarten himself, it all seems like it's going way too fast!!  Ahh! 
Truly though, I find joy in their joy, and happiness in their happiness, and I know that the only way for them to experience true joy is for them to grow and progress, so I know that when they grow older I will enjoy it as well.