Max is FOUR (and it is a BIG deal)

Months ago I asked Max what kind of party he wanted for his birthday. It was no surprise that he chose trains. Trains have been his main obsession for most of his life by now. However, we had also wanted to have a pool party, in hopes that this year it wouldn't rain for his party, and I wasn't really sure how to combine trains and a pool party. But then I realized that he's four, so he doesn't really care about anything other than playing with his friends. So I slapped up some train decor and we had a pool party. (Ok, the train tracks up to the front door and around the pool resulted in my quads being sore for days, and hanging the tunnel on the screen porch resulted in Chris's standard speech, "Why do YOUR projects always become MY projects?")

There was food, of course, but the beauty of a 2 PM party is not having to feed anyone a meal!

And it was definitely a good day for swimming. Hot hot hot...with a touch of humid. I think Max and his buds had fun, and at the end of the day, I'll call that a success.

 The gift opening was a wild affair. Thank goodness I wrote down what he got, because he opened those things faster than the eye could see.

And what's a party without subjecting these poor little girls to a forced photo op? Actually, this is the most docile they've ever been for pictures. I think it was the unbearable heat that had set in. 

MAX, 4 years old. 22 Questions
1. How old are you today?      "Four!"
2. How does it feel to be four?      "Good"
3. What's your favorite color?      "Red and Orange"
4. What's your favorite toy?      "My trains"
5. What's your favorite fruit?      "Carrots. I like Carrots, Mom. Are carrots fruits?  Are they?"
6. What is your favorite TV show?      "Um....Peppa Pig"
7. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?    "I don't know. I don't know!" (which makes sense, because he doesn't really like anything)
8. What is your favorite outfit?     "The car outfit, but it doesn't fit. It's too small for me" (he's talking about a hand-me-down of Natey's that was a cool Hawaii-style shirt with hot rods all over it.)
9. What is your favorite game?    "The car game on the iPad"
10. What is your favorite snack?   "Uhhh, Cookie Crisps"
11. What is your favorite animal?   "Elephants, but I never got to see an elephant cause we don't have elephants at the zoo cause they're moving tigers in and I don't like tigers" (He actually started crying while saying this! The Greenville Zoo had plans to get rid of both of their elephants this year as part of a long-range plan to get tigers or some other animals in their space. Sadly, both elephants died this year instead).
12. What is your favorite song?    "That apple song"
13. What is your favorite book?     "I like that train book that's in my room"
14. Who is your best friend?      "Colton and Eric and Jackson and Joseph" (all boys from school)
15. What is your favorite cereal?    "Cookie Crisps and I like Lucky Charms"
16. What is your favorite thing to do outside?   "I think swimming"
17. What is your favorite drink?     "Milk"
18. What is your favorite holiday?   "Um, I never get to go on a holiday. Daddy says so."
19. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?   "Teddy"
20. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?   "I like cro-sats" (croissants)
21. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?   "Lucky Charms"
22. What do you want to be when you grow up?  "A train engineer."

Shortly after Max's birthday, we got to take him to see his buddy Dr. Lookadoo. Unfortunately, we knew he was due for some shots this time. He did ok for all of the initial activities.

Stats:
Height: 41.25 inches, 73%
Weight: 42.6 pounds, 91%
BP 103/68
HR 68

I'm not totally convinced that the weight is correct. However, Dr. Lookadoo did advise us to cut back to skim milk and we are working on improving what he eats.
So, soon enough, time for shots. Thank goodness Chris was there. It was a tad dramatic.

Thank goodness kids are resilient! 5 minutes later, we were able to carry on with our day. I let him play hooky from school that day, but he totally could have gone. I love this big four year old!