Jay's 4th Birthday Party

Yesterday we had Jay's 4th Birthday party and I think it went well. This year Jay chose a fireman theme. He's been obsessed with all things fire fighter for months now. All he asked for his birthday was turnout gear. In a previous post I mentioned I was going to try and make some and it turned out fantastic. He hasn't left it alone much since the party but his initial reaction was far from stellar. When he opened it he quickly put it aside and ignored it. I guess he was more interested in all the wonderful presents his friends brought him. We are so grateful for good friends and Jay loved playing with them. I was pretty crushed that he wasn't even a little excited but after everyone left he dressed up in it and has taken it every where with him, even out to dinner and shopping.

For games, I had them play tape the hose on the hydrant and then dress up like a fire fighter. I drew the hydrant and I asked the kids to tell me what it was before we started. My artistic ability really shined because no one (even the parents) guessed what it was. I had people guess a thermos, a car seat, and other non-related things. Jay is still convinced it was a car seat. But the kids loved to try to tape the "hoses" on it. After that I had the kids dress up in "turnout gear." I used James' black coat, my black sparkly sweats with a flame on the leg, my black snow boots, and some black snow gloves. Everyone was looking at me like I was crazy but Bella Peavey (who was one of the youngest there) volunteered to go first. After that the kids got into it and ended up loving it. Jay never did dress up for me though, he was pretty shy and mostly hid. He's really not a fan of being the center of attention for big groups. Jay ended up liking it though. Hours after, he randomly came up to me and said that he loved the games we played. It made me really happy.


Even Mackenzie wanted to dress up . . .

After everyone left and we cleaned up, we decided to get out of Kirksville for the afternoon and drove down to Columbia. It was so much fun and the weather was amazing. Columbia is only 90 miles south of us, but it was sunny and in the 50's and there wasn't snow on the ground. We played at a park without coats and the kids had a blast. After we shopped and played, we went to Chili's for dinner. We told them we were celebrating Jay's birthday so they let him pick a dessert and sang to him. Even though he really liked it, he hid during the entire song and only cautiously smiled at the staff singing to him. This morning he told me it was cool. All in all it was a fantastic day. I can't believe my boy will be 4 on Tuesday. Seems like yesterday he came into our lives. Thanks to all our wonderful friends who came to celebrate with us!