Florida Part 6: Holden's 4th Bday!

I took this picture of Holden sound asleep on the air mattress on his last night of being 3. Wanted to capture the moment. I can't believe my baby boy is 4! I feel like the years are flying. He is learning so many new things and looking/acting so much older lately. He still looks like my same little baby when he sleeps, though.

My sweet boy and me on his birthday! How fun to be able to celebrate in Florida.

Family pic before heading off for some mini golf at Smuggler's Cove. We had gone earlier in the trip and Holden LOVED it, so that was his choice for how to spend the morning. (Hunter's faux hawk is due to sunscreen on his head.) :)

The birthday boy on the green. He scored a hole-in-one on his bday! Daddy had told him that if he did, he'd give him 50 bucks. Needless to say Daddy wasn't planning on it actually happening! Ha! He did pay up and Holden was so pumped.

Memaw, Pepaw, and Aunt Allie came with us to putt-putt. It was a HOT morning but we had a good time. We also got to feed the alligators, which Holden loves.

After lunch, Hunter went down for a nap, and Holden and I headed down to the pool to cool off. Holden's buddy, Aunt Allie, joined us. He has so much fun with her. During the trip, he consistently introduced her to people as, "Allie, my best friend." So sweet! Daddy and Pepaw came down for awhile, too.

After a good swim for Holden and a good nap for Hunter, it was time to get ready for our big night; a trip on a pirate ship!! Memaw and I found these matching shark outfits for the boys in one of the little shops in John's Pass. We thought they'd be perfect for the pirate ship. Love these pics of the two of them, especially the silly ones. So typical!

We headed down to John's Pass to board the pirate ship. We took the evening cruise hoping it would be a little bit cooler. There was a little pirate shop we browsed while we were waiting to board. Holden got a sword and skull cap, and they threw in the eye patch since it was his bday. When boarding, they handed out wooden pistols for the kids to play with. Mike, Penny, and Jason also joined us. Here are some pics of us before and after boarding. (As you can see from lower left pic of Holden and Allie holding their noses, it smelled pretty fishy down on the dock.) :)

The pirate ship was so much fun for both adults and kids! The "pirates" entertained the kids with stories, a treasure hunt, water pistol fights, and face painting. There were quite a few kids on the ship and Holden had an absolute blast. The boat provided unlimited pop, water, and alcohol, so the adults had a good time, too. ;)

Hunter was too little to join the "big kids," so he took turns hanging out on various laps and also investigating the ship a bit. :) A cup of ice was the entertainment of the evening for him. It was still pretty hot until the sun lowered a bit, so I think he liked how cool the cubes were. The pic. of him and Jay on the lower left cracks me up. Can you see how bulging wet his diaper is?? Between the water he kept drinking and the ice cubes, plus the water he spilled on himself and the constant drool, he was loaded!

Some other miscellaneous pics from the evening. It was a beautiful night, and we had so much fun!

My favorite 4 year old enjoying piracy.

We decided this police headquarters has just a slightly better view than Jay's. ;)

After our 2 hour boat ride, we all ate dinner at a pizza place before heading to the condo to call it a night. Holden had picked out cupcakes at the grocery store earlier in the day, so we sang happy birthday and enjoyed those before turning in. As usual, the frosting was his favorite part. :)

Finally, a little video clip from the pirate ship. Everyone sang happy birthday to Holden. He enjoyed it...but not as much as his Cheetos. ;)

Holden Jay, you bring so much laughter and love into our home. At age 4, you have a very active imagination. You love to play pretend, and to act out scenarios you have seen in real life, on the movies, or read about in books. You love all things pirates, dinosaurs, rescue vehicles, and construction. You are starting to get into sports-you love your gymnastics and soccer practice, and will begin tee-ball this summer. You take swim lessons and are getting a lot better about your fear of being underwater. You love to perform-singing with your microphone, dancing like a white boy, :) pretending to be in the circus, making parades with your toy vehicles, and doing flips/stunts off the couches that make Mommy a nervous wreck.

You attend preschool at NCWHS three days a week and absolutely LOVE it. You are actually bummed when you have time off for holidays! You have made a lot of friends there. You are learning new things each day; this age is so neat to watch because you are like a little sponge soaking up all of the new experiences and information.

You are still our picky little bird of an eater, but you are doing a good job of taking "one bite" of new things or foods you don't care for. Some foods that you DO love are pepperoni pizza, chicken nuggets, bacon, yogurt, french fries, Cheetos, bananas, strawberries, watermelon, cheese quesadillas, and of course anything sweet, like cake and candy. Your favorite drink right now is Gatorade. You think you are so cool when you drink it because you are "like Daddy."

Current favorite movies are "Despicable Me," "The Wizard of Oz," (you call it the "tornado movie") "Tangled," the "Home Alone" movies, "Goonies," "ET," and "The Polar Express" among others. TV shows you enjoy are "Phineas and Ferb," "Jake and the Neverland Pirates," the insufferable "Max and Ruby," :) and "Caillou," to name a few. You have too many favorite books for me to name, and I love that you enjoy being read to as much as I love reading to you! The "No, David" series, "Curious George" books, "McDuff the Dog" stories, and "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" and companion books are ones that we read over and over.

You still love music and singing. Every night before bed, we read two books and then you insist that Daddy and I each pick our own songs that we want to sing together, and you pick a song as well. Then we say our prayers. Some of your favorite songs are "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," "I'm a Little Teapot," "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," "I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumble Bee," (you laugh and laugh at that one!) "Old McDonald," "The Wheels on the Bus," "Jesus Loves Me," and "Baby Mine" from Dumbo. I have sung that lullaby to you since you were a baby.

You are a wonderful big brother. You talk to Hunter and try to teach him new things, you give him kisses and hugs, you try to keep him out of trouble, (if he is getting into something he shouldn't you will grab him around the waist and sort-of hold him in a football type lock and yell for help, which is hilarious because he is not much smaller than you!) and you make him laugh daily. He adores you and thinks you are the coolest. Sometimes he gets on your nerves when he gets into your toys, bites you, chews on your things, or takes our time away from you, but you jump to his defense if anyone tries to bother him. I love watching you in your big brother role. Hunter is so lucky to have you in his life.

You continue to have a huge vocabulary. The things at come out of your mouth are hilarious!! We have to really watch what we say around you because you pick up on everything. You recently started using the phrase, "That pissed me out." We had to hide our laughter while explaining that it is not a nice word, and that yes, Mommy and Daddy need to work on not using that word, either. It was all the funnier that you didn't get the phrase exactly right. Recently, you have started making up "facts" to tell us, and no amount of arguing on our part will change your mind. Some recent "facts" you insist upon are: "Polar bears are NOT bears," "Turtles have 10 legs," and my personal favorite,"Skunks steal coconuts from squirrels." You also insist that the jets that we see in the sky that trail streams of fuel are "rockets." Today you found a rock outside and let out a huge gasp and yelled, "A DINOSAUR TOOTH!" You went running over to show the neighbors and explain to them that it fell out of a dino's mouth "a long, long time ago." You make us laugh when you begin a story with, "Back when I was a little boy..." meaning when you were younger.

We are enjoying every special moment of your childhood, and can't wait for all of the new memories we will make with you at the age of 4! Just don't grow too quickly, okay?