My Keaton is 3 today. I can hardly believe it! As I'm sure any other parent can understand, it seems like he's always been here, and also that he just arrived.
I remember when Tucker was little (okay, he's still little, so I remember when he was REALLY little), and he was the only kid in the family (on one side anyway). Everything he did was fascinating to everyone. In fact, he got so much attention that he cried because he didn't want to be held.
It makes me feel almost sorry for Keaton. He constantly competes for attention, so it's a good thing he's so entertaining!
Yesterday I took cupcakes to Keaton's preschool. I wanted the kids to have them for snack today (his birthday), but I didn't want Trey to have to deal with them in the morning. When I walked in and showed Keaton the cupcakes, he was so taken by them. His mouth fell open, his eyes lit up, and he gasped, "Oh, thank you, Mommy."
This morning - the morning of the big day - we made all over him. Well, they must have done the same thing at school because when I picked him up he was singing "Happy Birthday to Keaton," and he sang it all the way home. He did take an occasional break to ask, "Who is the birthday boy? KEATON!" He seemed to be having a great day!
When we arrived home, I was busy pretending to be a pack mule who can load herself by collecting all of the lunchboxes, papers, and various show and tell submissions while Keaton and Tucker ran inside. Just like every other day.
Only today, by the time I got inside, Keaton had completely opened one present and was about to tear into gift number 2. Luckily I was able to convince him that he had to wait until everyone got here before he opened the other gifts. Or at least I thought I had convinced him.
Five minutes later I was putting a few groceries away when I realized my little helper was no where to be found. So I called out to him, "Keaton, where are you?"
"I under the bed in here," came the faint reply from somewhere down the hall.
So I went to investigate. Sure enough, there he was on the floor under the bed with gift #2. He explained he was just holding it and hiding until the party started. That's my Keaton.
As Trey's parents and nieces and nephews and sister and brother-in-law arrived, Keaton explained to them that we were going to "eat his birthday." You see, he still believes that "birthday" and "cake" are the exact same thing. So after dinner, we ate his birthday. I think he started asking to open presents even as we were cutting the cake.
Finally he opened the presents with lots of help from Tucker and his cousin Tiffany. Tucker would have thrown a fit about having so much "help," but Keaton didn't mind at all. I suppose you get used to it when you're the youngest. He got an airplane, a truck, a High School Musical microphone, a Very Hungry Caterpillar board game, and a sandbox. He played with them until we made him stop at 10:15. This playing also included the boxes. Often he could be heard saying, "Hold on! I get my box!" Then he would climb inside them to hide. I have tons of pictures of his head sticking out of the top of a box.
I always tell Keaton that he's my sweet boy, and he always agrees. He reminded me why as he hugged and kissed every person who was here and excitedly thanked them for his presents. He really is just innately a sweet, kind person. Who knew that less than 8 hours later I would need to be reminded of this over and over again. (This is my cliffhanger! See "The Bah Fairy Cometh.")
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