Happy Birthday to Miles!

Our sweet boy turned 4 on Wednesday.  He has been looking forward to his birthday for a long time.  I have also been excited to see another 3-year-old graduate to 4.  (Yes, the tantrums are definitely worse at 3 than at age 2.  However, I need to mention that Miles has been MUCH easier at 3 than Tess was....it might be that her personality is just more dramatic, or maybe I'm just more relaxed this time around, but 3 really hasn't been too bad with him.)

I think that 3 is the best of times and the worst of times for kids...they are trying so hard to be independent and do everything for themselves, but when they are incapable of doing some things alone, beware of the gigantic wig-outs. The yelling!  The screaming!  The hitting & kicking!  The throwing of items!  Yowza!  But 3 is also, in some ways, the very best of times...Mom is still their very best friend and favorite playmate, they love to give loves and smooches and snuggles, and my favorite part is their budding language skills.  Almost all of our "kidisms" from this year (posted on the side of our blog) are things that Miles has said--mispronunciations, grammatical errors, etc. that are so dang cute and funny!

Miles got spoiled with lots of wonderful presents this year.  Here he is on his new bike: 

Miles wanted a Spiderman cake this year.  I learned how to make fondant a few months ago, so I thought that I would try it out.  I didn't do anything too hard, just a simple oval-shaped Spiderman head.  But I was still stressed out about it, since I'm so new to the fondant scene.  In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by how it turned out:

Miles' birthday interview:
Favorite Movie: Despicable Me
Favorite thing to do:  play games with you
Favorite Wii game:  Sonic Colors
Special friend:  Gabe
Favorite food:  pizza
Favorite treat: M&Ms
Favorite book:  a winter magazine (??)
What makes you laugh?  tickling
What makes you sad?  hitting and kicking
What is your favorite part of school?  coloring
What is your favorite song?  Kiss Your Brain
What do you want to be when you grow up?  Garbage man
Does anything make you scared?  Really, really dark stuff
What makes you feel better when you're scared?  Light
What's your favorite toy?  Racetracks
What do you like to play with Tess?  Beanbags
What do you like to play with Bree?  sing songs to Bree and play with her.
Favorite vegetable: carrots
Favorite fruit: apple
Favorite dinner:  Meatballs & rice
I am so thankful that Miles is in our family.  He is my little buddy.  I love to play with him each morning while Tess is at school and Bree is napping.  We play CandyLand, Go Fish, Dominos, and War.  We build with blocks and drive trains.  He is super smart--he's reading cvc words and doing some blends.  I am also amazed by his memory.  He knows what types of cars all our neighbors drive and can point out weird, specific things that I don't even care about or notice, (for example, we'll be driving along and he'll mention that a certain truck has rims on its tires like the rims on our truck!  He's like his daddy.)  He is helpful and happily does his chore of putting the clean silverware away.  He is a really good minder--he truly wants to follow the rules and be obedient to us.  He is quick to say sorry and give loves when he's done the things I mentioned above ("The yelling!  The screaming!"  etc.)  I love him very, very much.  Happy Birthday, Mr. Miles!