The Scottster Turns 4

I had a thought of throwing Scotty a birthday party with friends and such this year. I abandoned the idea, though, when I realized he would be just as happy with his birthday without it. So instead I just made cake. We shared one with the Draper cousins who are Draper cousins no longer. (Yay for moving closer to us!) 

 We let the 12 year old boy handle the matches. 

And we had the other cake (vaguely heart-shaped--as per Scotty's request) at home with Dad. Notice how I didn't even bother taking the cake out of the pan. Did the birthday boy care? Not a bit.

Aaron-Long-Arms took a family selfie for us. This always results in the most charming pictures.

A few weeks before his birthday, Scotty played with a soccer ball and net at a friend's house and immediately fell in love. He's always happy to meet with a new version of playing with a ball. So he requested a soccer ball and net for his birthday. And he never forgot about it over the course of those weeks, so I knew it was something he truly wanted. I'd recently found a Toys R Us gift card for $15 that was from our wedding. I took it to the store thinking it would sure be nice to spend $15 on Scotty's gift. That wasn't looking too hopeful, though. A regular soccer ball itself was $10, and the big nets I saw were over $20. But then I happened upon an adorable, mini soccer ball and net for, you guessed it, $15! Score!

Scotty is and always has been an observant, sensitive guy. He has enjoyed primary so much more than nursery because he is only expected to go an sit in a chair--no playing or immediate interaction involved. He will even go to primary in an unfamiliar ward. Considering how challenging nursery was, this is a real miracle. Scotty always wants to "do school" with Annie and me. So I bought him a little math workbook. He loves doing that--tracing numbers, counting and circling, etc. He has not been a fan of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. But he does love reading books together. Annie and I like listening to books on CD in the car. It's interesting, though, because Aaron and Scotty do not like this. Something about all that noise in a small space can really make them both annoyed.

This year, Scotty learned to play with friends, and it has been great. He loves it; I love it; everyone's a winner. I've loved seeing him grow in confidence realizing that he has something to offer, that he knows how to have fun. And seeing him realize that other people can be really fun for him as well.

One of my favorite things about Scotty is that he loves to snuggle and be close to me. Just today he fell asleep on my lap because I was rubbing his head. I'm trying to soak up all the closeness. He's growing so fast, and I know it won't last forever.