Four.

Who knew this little Brett Favre jersey would see so much action in 2013. Everett's almost daily uniform is the Packer's jersey, "sport's shorts," Halloween socks, and his Elmo tennis shoes. He believes this combo helps him run the fastest, and he wants to always be ready for "the big game" in case dad comes home in time.

At his four-year-old check up. This is the appointment where they get the mother load of shots to be ready for school. Everett was actually looking forward to the shots, band aids, and stickers. He really was SO tough and watched the needles go into his legs without making a peep. All until the very last poke that must have really burned because he finally burst into tears. But he recovered quickly, of course. (We did Faye's two-year-old check up that same week, and she was totally ticked that she didn't get shots too. She yelled and screamed about it a bit until the nurse gave her a band aid.)

 

 

 

Everett weighed 33 pounds, so in the 25th percentile like he usually is. The doctor referred him to a dermatologist to check out his cute birthmark on his leg; I'm hoping they can leave it alone.

The morning of his birthday, he came downstairs and announced that he had woken up, stood up in his bed, and felt like he was four. Everett says such cute things like that all the time, with these big, sincere eyes, and it is just so cute.

Our church held a talent show for all the kids a couple of weeks ago. Carson played the piano, Faye cried when she got home and realized she hadn't done a talent, and Everett was, I think, the star of the show. He had listed three things on the sign-up sheet. "Running super fast, riding my bike super fast, ear trick." At the last minute he decided to add showing his muscles. (Everett regularly flexes his muscles to people or things he might be scared of and is convinced that this wards them away. Like he'll run in from playing outside and announce that he just saw a bee, but not to worry, he showed his muscles and the bee flew right away.) So, when it was his turn to perform his talent, he got up on stage and darted across as fast as he could, then hopped on his bike and rode back across, then calmly walked out to the middle of the stage and turned his ears inside out. After putting his ears back, he paused for a while, then suddenly flexed those biceps, really showing the strain in his face. The crowd went wild. Man, he is proud of those muscles.

Everett was lucky to have the Greer cousins in town for his birthday. My parents sent him a kit to hang a tire swing, and Uncle Greg and Sam assembled it for him. Everett has always been a play-outside kind of kid, so the swing is just perfect for him.

In other news, I can't even believe this girl today. This morning I would have told you she can scoot around and crawl a little bit, but by the time she went to bed she was full on speed crawling all over the house. I need to buy a baby gate for the stairs.

Oh, and on his actual birthday he couldn't decide between the Packer jersey and the Curious George shirt, so he did the obvious and wore both. Here we are doing our weekly "Family Fun night," where everyone's name goes in a bowl; when your name is picked you choose a game that everyone plays.

Family Fun was cut short, because when Everett's name was picked he yelled, "For my game I choose THE DESSERT," and since it was his birthday we went with it.

So glad he went with strawberry pie instead of a cake, and he insisted we do root beer floats, too. (He calls it root beard.)

More fun with the tire swing...

The Greers gave Everett a fun kit to help catch and keep bugs. Although my boys are definitely NOT brave about touching moving creatures, this cage has seen caterpillars, lizards, a couple of tiny snakes, and plenty of roly-poly bugs.

I have no idea how Carson got the guts to hold this lizard. He had just seen his friend Kennan catch one, and really really wanted to get one to put in the cage. After lots of encouraging, he finally grabbed its tail. He hasn't been brave enough to do it again since!

Everett had a wonderful fourth birthday. He is such a sweet boy, definitely a little stinker sometimes, but at the end of the day he's the one I am most likely to crawl into bed with and snuggle. We sure love that kid.