Happy 4th Birthday, Pearce!!!!

4 years ago on January 25, 2012, the baby I had always hoped for came into the world!  I remember every moment of that day.  I was excited, then scared, then nervous, then anxious, then absolutely ecstatic when I heard Pearce's cry for the first time.  In that moment, all of my fears just melted away and love was all I felt for my baby boy.  How in the world have 4 years passed already?  The saying is true...."The days are long, but the years are short."  It has been so much fun watching Pearce grow and change and learn new things. 

My perfect, beautiful newborn baby boy!

                                

1 year old

2 years old 

3 years old

4 years old!

For Pearce's real birthday, I wanted a "day of fun!"  We met Pearce's BFF, Claire at the park and they just had a great time playing together!  We packed a picnic lunch and Pearce's scooter.  Claire brought her bike, too and they loved riding and playing!  Chris and I got Pearce a new balance bike for his birthday, but I didn't want to take it to the park because he just got it the night before and we need to spend more time practicing.  I think he will really do well with it though, because he has gotten soooo good and fast on his scooter!  Pearce even does little "tricks" on his scooter by lifting up one leg and gliding :)  Claire gave Pearce the nicest gift!  It's a board game called Busy Town and as soon as we got home, Pearce was ready to play.  We played it 4 times in a row!  This is the first real board game he's gotten and we had so much fun playing it!  He also got the video that goes with it, so after playing the game several times, he was ready to take it easy and watch the movie.  Thank you Claire and Ms. Heather for coming to play!!!! 

Pearce has been begging us to let him do iFly, the indoor sky diving place.  We like to go to Phil's Ice House for lunch and then go next door to watch the sky divers.  Kids as young as 3 years old can do it, but we thought his 4th birthday would be the perfect time to go!  Chris and I were both sooooo nervous that he would chicken out!  We got there at 5:15 and got checked in and then he had to watch a short video about how to position his arms and legs.  His instructor said the most important thing was to keep his legs out and straight and his hands tucked up under his chin and  then she would do everything else.  I was worried that when he got in there and felt the strong wind, he would just flail his arms and legs and hold onto the instructor.  Pearce got his suit, goggles, and helmet on and then it was go time!  Pearce went with the instructor and Chris and I were on the outside of the tunnel ready to watch our boy!  Oh my goodness, he did GREAT!!!!!  He didn't keep his legs totally straight, but kept them out, so that was good!  The other thing he did was keep his arms stretched out like Superman :)  That was ok, though because he kept that position and didn't freak out!  He got to "fly" twice with his instructor and then he got to do a high fly where the instructor held onto him and they both flew up and down and ALL around!  It was so fun to watch!  When he was finished, Pearce came out just so excited and said it was "super awesome!"  Maybe this will be a yearly thing :)  I really was so proud of him!  After that, we went next door for dinner at Phil's Ice House where, of course, he made some new friends to play with :)  Happy 4th birthday Pearce...Mommy and Daddy love you sooooo much!!!!!