Levi’s Fourth Birthday

by Michelle Lasley

Michelle Lasley is a mother, wife in Pacific Northwest learning to balance green dreams with budget realities.

February 9, 2011

Levi's 4th Birthday Cake

Image by alexis22578 via Flickr

Tomorrow is Levi’s Fourth Birthday. That means, he’s been in this world five years. That means, I’ve known of his existence for almost six. That means, my life has not been the same for almost a decade.

I feel I ought to dedicate this post to my darling boy who gave me the title to this entire web log (One Mom’s Balancing Act). He is such an interesting, sensitive, inquisitive, compassionate, curious little boy. Even at Day 1, I couldn’t have imagined life without him – even considering he was a surprise!

Let’s see, what shall I say about my son? He’s silly. He takes after his parents in that regard. One of the things he has been doing lately is stating, “Mommy! Guess what?” I’ll reply, “What?” And he’ll follow up with, “Pickle Pie!” Why would he say something so incredibly silly? Because I taught him that.

Levi wants me to pass all the cars in the morning. I took the opportunity last week to explain police officers give adults a scary jail time out when they go too fast or otherwise do bad things, so it’s not always a good idea to pass all the cars. Sometimes, I can appease him by showing how the cars going in the opposite direction are being passed by us. Sometimes.

On the way to work, just east of exit 61, there are six balls on the power lines. I don’t know why they are there versus other places. Our job, though, is to count them every morning. Levi would get sad when they were gone, which is how I explained the whole “passing” concept. That was almost 6 months ago. “Two red, two white, and two orange. Six balls!”

Every morning he wakes up in a good mood. Seriously. It’s a rare, rare morning if he’s grumpy. Even when he’s sick he has bundles of energy. I blame temperament and the “low-cry” method, but generally, when we put him down to bed, he’s down. Thank you, Kate, for sharing that one. It has been a life savor. (The occasional excitement or night terror could disrupt that perfect bed time, which is why I say generally.)

Levi's 4th Birthday Cake

Image by alexis22578 via Flickr

I was considering a large-ish affair for his birthday. We thought about bowling and a few local party-places. But, when I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday, he mentioned two friends. Well, that simplified things! We drew the guest list out a little bit, but this was a relief because I couldn’t imagine 6 to 15 kids in my living room and I was wary of the cost of even bowling at $8.95/kid for an hours worth of fun. This is the first year our “regular” crowd won’t be in attendance for his birthday. I will miss that. The menu, though, is the same: homemade pizza and homemade cake. We’re even trying something new: no presents. Sure, we got him a few, and grandparents did too – so we’ll open them up afterwards.

Levi was in school for the first time this year. This is the first year he has notable, “real” friends. Oh, the times, they are a changing.

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