Now I am Four!

My baby is four years old! Oh, man! Wasn't he my little baby Francis like, just a minute ago?

I am in awe of the person he is becoming, and honored that I get to be part of the process. He is going through a real cuddley lovey phase right now -- he'll stop whatever he is doing and walk over and hug me and say, "I love you, Mama". Aaaah. (Unfortunately, he also has learned that this will also stop punishment dead in its tracks).

This year's cake was the number "4", with a roadway and cars on it (thank you, Australian Women's Weekly). I still have red food coloring deep in my fingernails. Decidedly less complicated than last year's train cake.

Nonetheless, I am still resolved to take a cake decorating course since I see a lot of cakes to make still in my future. There was disappointment that the cars were not made of chocolate like in the picture accompanying the recipe.

This year we let loose 7 4-year olds in the KinderGym at Village Square for an hour, and then fed them chicken fingers, french fries, juice and cake and sent them home with ballons. (What is it about ballons that facinate children so? They are so happy to get balloons. This year I splurged and got helium-filled balloons). The money spent on having the party in a place padded with crash mats instead of my little house was worth every penny.
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There was some tense moments as the party start time came and went and no-one came. No-one! Oh, I was white-knuckling it, ready to burst into tears for my dear, dear boy. But, traffic was bad (there are two seasons in Calgary, don't you know; winter and construction) and so everyone was late.

Happy Birthday, Francis! I hope your day was special!