FOUR!!!!

Aden has been looking forward to being "Four" for a long time. He instinctively knew this was the magic age where he would be "big", and was over-excited about his birthday (which was now two weeks ago, on the 18th of February). It was quite fun to catch his enthusiasm and make the day special for him. He requested chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, "leftovers" for lunch (because that's what the big people in our house eat), and tortillas for dinner. Since his birthday was on Thursday, we had his special birthday dinner on Friday and had pizza (another favorite) for dinner on Thursday.

We had a wonderful day full of celebrating. Aden proudly wore a special "Birthday Boy" t-shirt that Grandma Karen had left, and loved that all of the special birthday decorations (banner, balloon, chair cover, hat, and plate) were for him. He opened one birthday gift at breakfast, while on Skype with Grandma Karen and Grandpa Dan. He was so excited about his new bike helmet from them and tried it on right away! We went for a walk, and he was eager to show everyone his birthday shirt and accept all the birthday well-wishes, often with his own response of "Happy Birthday!"

He had a few visits from Aunties and Uncles around the station, and even got a ride in the new mission cruiser (which Aden nicknamed "The Wheel") as a birthday gift from Aunt Judy. For his cake, Aden had requested "The road to Rondon Ridge." This is not just any road, but a rather bumpy, rocky road leading up to a very nice lodge and restaurant in the mountains. Mommy worked hard to make the road, complete with a plank bridge (missing a plank, of course), and then Aden thought she should add the buildings for Rondon Ridge. This seemed like a bit much, but she decided to make one building out of a frozen loaf of banana bread, which she iced and sprinkled for the signature red roof. Since we were saving the birthday cake for Friday night, the Rondon Ridge banana bread gave us a special dessert on his birthday. While Mommy lit four candles on the top, Aden had Daddy and Mommy sing a duet of all five of the traditional Kudjip birthday songs.

For Friday night, Aden had invited McCoys, Radcliffes, Auntie Erin, and Aunt Becky. Wiley, who currently enjoys pretending to be different characters, assigned "Winnie the Pooh" characters to each guest. We already had parts assigned for our family (Daddy is Eeyore, Aden is Christopher Robin, Wiley is Tigger, Mommy is Kanga, and Noah is Roo), so he added to it for our guests. Uncle Bill was Owl, Aunt Marsha was Rabbit, Uncle Jim was Eeyore, Cilla and Lydia were both Winnie the Pooh, Jo was Piglet, Auntie Erin was the Frog, and Aunt Becky was the Snake. We actually are not sure about the last two, but the boys insisted that they are a part of the Pooh characters.

We enjoyed tortillas and then brought out the Rondon Ridge/Rocky Road cake and rocky road ice cream (which Daddy had made), and sang just one song before Aden blew out his candles. Right after that, Mommy noticed a rash on his face, and then on his back. With four doctors in the house, we had a quick assessment that he'd reacted to something and gave him ointment and medicine. It was a bit anticlimactic for Aden on his birthday, but the rash was soon forgotten (though not gone) when it was time to open more gifts. He received PNG pencils and a sharpener, his own Bible, a Dr. Seuss ABC book, and two piggy banks. Though they realized the gifts were duplicated, Radcliffes and McCoys gave the twin banks anyway. And Wiley was quite grateful that they did!

Aden is quite proud of being a four year old. There are several things that he can do now that he is four - he has proudly acknowledged all of these at some point, though there are some that he is occasionally hesitant to prove.

• He will now obey Mommy and Daddy and not whine.
• He keeps his pants dry.
• He rides his bike without training wheels (though so far, as soon as he realizes that Daddy has let go, he bails).
• He now refers to himself in third person, as "the four-year-old."
• He can do his chores (putting away his clothes, making his bed, setting the table) - mostly in the hopes that he will soon receive an allowance.
• He has asked to carry Noah around the house now, like Mommy and Daddy do.
• When asked what he wants for lunch, he answers, "I'll have whatever you guys are having" (except when it's asparagus soup).
  

Daddy and Mommy are proud of our four-year-old boy, who keeps us entertained, and humble.