Kaleb Turns 4

Kaleb finally turned 4. I say finally, because just like when he turned 3, he had been counting down for like... 364 days. Even now, he can't wait to turn 6. He is just trying so hard to catch up with Jaden. Good luck with that, buddy! :)

The first of the birthday festivities was a family party. Since we have 4 birthdays in one week's time, we had a big ole bash! Kare and Curtis came to town, and they both have a birthday on the 21st.


Poor Alli has a birthday on the 19th, but we won't see very many happy shots of her because she had JUST had her wisdom teeth pulled... ouch.


Here's Nathan getting his turn with the Happy Birthday glasses.


When Kaleb opened his presents, he surprised us all by being THE MOST grateful kid ever! I was so proud of him. He was genuinely excited and expressed his gratitude to everyone, for everything.


Kare and Curtis gave him a card with 4 one-dollar bills inside. He jumped around yelling, "I'M RICH! I'M RICH!!" and danced his pants off... literally. Then Kare asked him, "Kaleb, do you know why you got FOUR dollars?" He just responded matter-of-factly with, "Yes. Cuz I'm broke!" We all got a good teary laugh out of that one.


Here he is opening his gift from Alli. He was hugging it and rubbing his face on it before he even knew how cool it really was.


Alli made Kaleb a quilt of all his favorite things: Mario Brothers, pirates, Indiana Jones, Wall-E, Batman and Spiderman. Very nice, Al, very nice. :)


Kaleb was so much fun to watch. Usually I'm worried about my boys being ungrateful, and fighting, and just being selfish. But Kaleb kept telling his brothers that he would share with them, he kept telling everyone how much he loved them and a couple times he called out to everyone, "I Hyte you guys!" (Hyte is one of Kaleb's made-up words that means, "hug.")

(I have a video of this, but will have to upload it later when my computer stops having issues.)

He was SO excited. In fact, I think he was a little overwhelmed with excitement because a few times, he just didn't know how to react. He would open a present, look at it, and then kind of grab his head and make kind of a frustrated sound. It was the funniest thing. We all knew he was happy... maybe the happiest any of us had ever seen.

(I have a video of this too.)

He got lots of cool stuff. Grandma Ashton and Alli said they had a little too much fun in the toy aisles, and that they were pretty sure I would kill them. :)




The next day was his Friend Party. He decided to have an all-boy Pirate-themed party.


There were 11 little boys, and one scalawag girl at his party, (his cousin, Katee-Jo). Kaleb really lucked out having so much family from out of town here on his special day... 3 cousins from CA and 1 from AZ.


Such a good Daddy...


Such a good uncle...


Such a good Grandpa... :)


There was pizza...






Pin the Tail on the Donkey...



Presents...





Cake...


Ice Cream...


And a pinate...




Here he is sharing his Joker's Playhouse that he got in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa Socci.


I'm pretty sure Kaleb loved his birthday. :) He was a joy to celebrate.

Kaleb at 4:
-Looks up to Jaden and wants to be just like him, but is also very original.
-Comes up with the funniest and most random comments.
-Becoming a very loving and nurturing big brother to Bradley.
-Extremely shy in church and at school, but has just started talking at school. :)
-Loves his new school, Sunshine Square.
-Makes up his own words and their meanings: "Hyte: hug, Foey: a straight yellow line, Alien Squant: jumping on the bed, tuh-day: Jaden..."
-Favorite toys are: Batman, pirates, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, legos, swords, guns, knives, bow and arrows, light sabers...
-Has a bear (who he named, Skinny) and 2 blankets that he has had since he was born and sleeps with them every night.
-Is still extreme, but mellowing out. (Extremely sweet, extremely volatile, extremely grateful, extremely stubborn, extremely cute, extremely funny)
-Made up a secret handshake with his 2 year old brother.
-Is hilarious. He keeps everyone laughing... (when he's in the mood.)
-Has so many funny facial expressions.
-Loves to pray.
-Favorite book is "Naughty Little Monkeys."
-Loves to play "tougher," "I can do it, Oi-yah!" and have weapon battles with Daddy.
-Prefers the wiggle cars to learning to ride a bike. Ruins his shoes at record-breaking speed by dragging them on the cement while riding a wiggle car.
-Is timid. It takes him a while to try something new like go down a slide, ride a bike, or swim.
-Is so little. He's so skinny and seems so fragile.
-Most tantrums and timeouts revolve around dessert.