My baby had a Birthday almost THREE weeks ago and I am just now sharing some pictures, but my motto has always been better late than never, so...I'm late, but I'm here!
Also, I didn't take many pictures.
(Also, 95% of my pictures lately are photobombed by a seven year old dabber dabbing. See below.)
Anyhow.
MY BECK. What can I say about my Beck? Oh how I love this boy. He is happy and outgoing and adventurous and brave and quirky and funny. He is all himself in his uniqueness, but also, a lot me when I was four, and a lot his Uncle James, who I miss so terribly and so that makes me very happy. He has the Lewis genes strong, it seems. (Which fits, as Lewis is his middle name!)
For Beck's Birthday this year, we did the same thing we did last year, which was to spend our party just the four of us at the local outdoor pool. (For the sake of recording, the very first thing Beck did upon turning four that morning, was to, while I was in the shower for a minute, run outside with a black permanent marker and draw a large picture on the stucco wall and our garage door. So that was a good start to four, I think.)(Also for future reference, it turns out rubbing alcohol is the trick to removing permanent marker from anything, so even though that was the last thing we tried I was very happy for it.) For the entirety of his Birthday afternoon and evening, we swam and slid and jumped off diving boards and then, as the sun began to dip, we sat on a blue plastic table beneath a pepsi umbrella to sing happy birthday and blow out candles atop a tiny ladybug cake (that beck picked out himself)(tiny because only two out of four of us even like cake).
I think I've said this before (that's sarcasm, because I say it a lot) but simplicity is my jam. Give me a four year old who doesn't need or want for anything other than us together as a family on a warm day with a pool and some pizza. No crazy chaos, nothing fancy. Simple, just us and for that one night, no one else in the world.
It was perfect.
And in honor of his Birthday (three weeks ago, I know!) I have a little story to tell:
One of the most unique and special moments of my life so far was when I was pregnant with Beck, on the day that we found out that he was Beck, on the day of our ultrasound gender reveal. Up until that moment, neither Dan or I had any real instincts as to whether this might be a boy or a girl. But we did know that we would only have two kids, and so we discussed how nice a girl would be, you know, one of each! Perfect!
I remember being nervous and excited. I remember the small room, and the kind tech who ran the sonography probe back and forth across my belly, telling us all about the healthy baby moving around inside.
And then, at the end, she told us. "It is most definitely a boy." And I can't quite put the feelings that overcame me into words. It was like...coming home after a very long roadtrip. Or, like remembering a memory from a very long time ago, recalling something you had completely forgotten all about and having it hit you so suddenly that it takes your breath away.
Yes of course, a boy! It felt so right, and so silly that I hadn't known that all along. All at once this massive emotion hit me, where I REMEMBERED HIM. I knew him! I had known him before somehow., and I was instantly ecstatic to have him back in my life.
I don't think I will ever forget the magnitude of those feelings in that moment. It was incredible.
And anyway, now he is four. FOUR. I love it so much, the ages of both the boys, how they are growing and independent and no one is in diapers or drinking bottles or waking up all night and we have so much fun together, albeit there is a lot of energy between them so don't fall under any impressions about it being easy or anything. ;)
And as promised, here are the handful of pictures I took on the day Beck turned four! (I didn't post a picture of the permanent marker fiasco, it is still too soon for that.)
Also, I didn't take many pictures.
(Also, 95% of my pictures lately are photobombed by a seven year old dabber dabbing. See below.)
Anyhow.
MY BECK. What can I say about my Beck? Oh how I love this boy. He is happy and outgoing and adventurous and brave and quirky and funny. He is all himself in his uniqueness, but also, a lot me when I was four, and a lot his Uncle James, who I miss so terribly and so that makes me very happy. He has the Lewis genes strong, it seems. (Which fits, as Lewis is his middle name!)
For Beck's Birthday this year, we did the same thing we did last year, which was to spend our party just the four of us at the local outdoor pool. (For the sake of recording, the very first thing Beck did upon turning four that morning, was to, while I was in the shower for a minute, run outside with a black permanent marker and draw a large picture on the stucco wall and our garage door. So that was a good start to four, I think.)(Also for future reference, it turns out rubbing alcohol is the trick to removing permanent marker from anything, so even though that was the last thing we tried I was very happy for it.) For the entirety of his Birthday afternoon and evening, we swam and slid and jumped off diving boards and then, as the sun began to dip, we sat on a blue plastic table beneath a pepsi umbrella to sing happy birthday and blow out candles atop a tiny ladybug cake (that beck picked out himself)(tiny because only two out of four of us even like cake).
I think I've said this before (that's sarcasm, because I say it a lot) but simplicity is my jam. Give me a four year old who doesn't need or want for anything other than us together as a family on a warm day with a pool and some pizza. No crazy chaos, nothing fancy. Simple, just us and for that one night, no one else in the world.
It was perfect.
And in honor of his Birthday (three weeks ago, I know!) I have a little story to tell:
One of the most unique and special moments of my life so far was when I was pregnant with Beck, on the day that we found out that he was Beck, on the day of our ultrasound gender reveal. Up until that moment, neither Dan or I had any real instincts as to whether this might be a boy or a girl. But we did know that we would only have two kids, and so we discussed how nice a girl would be, you know, one of each! Perfect!
I remember being nervous and excited. I remember the small room, and the kind tech who ran the sonography probe back and forth across my belly, telling us all about the healthy baby moving around inside.
And then, at the end, she told us. "It is most definitely a boy." And I can't quite put the feelings that overcame me into words. It was like...coming home after a very long roadtrip. Or, like remembering a memory from a very long time ago, recalling something you had completely forgotten all about and having it hit you so suddenly that it takes your breath away.
Yes of course, a boy! It felt so right, and so silly that I hadn't known that all along. All at once this massive emotion hit me, where I REMEMBERED HIM. I knew him! I had known him before somehow., and I was instantly ecstatic to have him back in my life.
I don't think I will ever forget the magnitude of those feelings in that moment. It was incredible.
And anyway, now he is four. FOUR. I love it so much, the ages of both the boys, how they are growing and independent and no one is in diapers or drinking bottles or waking up all night and we have so much fun together, albeit there is a lot of energy between them so don't fall under any impressions about it being easy or anything. ;)
And as promised, here are the handful of pictures I took on the day Beck turned four! (I didn't post a picture of the permanent marker fiasco, it is still too soon for that.)
