Joe's Fourth Birthday Bash

Special thanks to Sara for this terrific shot.

Joe won't turn four until Monday--at 1:02pm CST!--but his fourth birthday bash was this afternoon.  The weather was fabulous and, it must be said, so were the Ekkers children.  Joe, in particular, wowed: saying thank you to everyone who wished him a happy birthday, keeping his cool in the face of birthday party induced craziness, and doing his best to play with all of the disparately connected friends who came to celebrate with him.  It was an afternoon where even as you were thinking to yourself, "How can he be four?", you could see he really was more big than small.  (Remember, Fans, when birthday cake was still "happy birthday cake"?)

Clara is awfully big, too, though most noticeably in a different way.  Birdie was sporting the bird dress Julie had gotten hoping Clara would be able to wear it at her second birthday party.  When Birdie turned two though, the dress--a 2-3 T (what?)--was far too long.  Two months later, today, it was just right.  But at least three juice boxes, one straw cup full of water, and too many delights and distractions to number later, Birdie had to don a new dress (minus the birdie) since she'd peed probably her weight--probably while she was sitting down eating her cake, which Julie discovered promptly when Clara sat on Julie's lap.

A few weeks ago, we asked Joe what he wanted on his cake this year, and he said, "Snoopy. [beat] And Spiderman and Batman."  Uh huh.  We checked in again a day or two before we needed to place the order: "A crab.  Four crabs.  A Mama Crab, a Daddy Crab, a Brother Crab, and a Sister Crab."  (He was wearing his crab pajamas at the time.)  And that's how it came to be that Joe had crabs on the cake at his fourth birthday party, and nautical-themed chalk art on the walkway leading up to the house, mostly courtesy of Grandma Connie who, as we've noted here before, has hidden, but very real, artistic talents.

And so, another birthday bash is history, but Our Hero is three for two more days.  We wouldn't miss 'em.