St. Patty's Day and Makinley's birthday party

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day, and Jacob celebrated by sporting his Mr. Lucky t-shirt and ignoring me while I was trying to take his picture. These are the best 3 pictures that I got, out of probably 100.









Don't be fooled and think he was 1/2 smiling at me in this picture. Yo Gabba Gabba had just started and he always smiles at that!

Yesterday was also Makinley's 4th birthday, so we headed to Austin to celebrate and party at her gymnastics place. Jacob was an angel in the car. He watched some shows (you guess which one) about half of the way there and just played and chilled the other half of the way. To make the 2 hour (ish) car ride more comfortable, I didn't put his shoes on him. So, as soon as we get there (already a few minutes late), I have the bright idea to put his shoes on him. O.M.G....he had the biggest meltdown we have seen so far. It was just NOT working to put his shoes on while he was in his car seat, so we assumed he had just been in there too long. We decided to get him out and have Randy hold him while I put his shoes on (in hindsight, having him strapped into the car seat, where he could not flail about as much was a better strategy). This didn't go very well either, but I finally got them on. Randy sets him down and he continues the meltdown. Including sitting down in the middle of the parking lot, screaming, flailing about and crying. Juice did not help. More Yo Gabba Gabba did not help. Holding him did not help...nothing. An older couple walked by and just gave us that "We've all been there" look. Once he settled down a little, I was able to wipe his face (tears and snot galore) and we headed into the party. Like I said, we were already a little late, and the absolute first thing we hear is "Take off his shoes and come on in!". Really? Ugh... He was a little shy and red faced for the first 5 minutes or so, but we let everyone know it was just a meltdown and he'll be fine. And he was. He had SO much fun playing in the gym. He was most likely thirsty after the screaming, so Randy decided to teach him how to drink out of the water fountain. I'm not sure how much he drank, but he had a great time getting his face wet...



(He looks so sweet an innocent in this picture like he didn't just lose his mind.)


There were lots of aunts and uncles and cousins there, but I somehow only managed a picture of Logan while playing. This was the first attempt...



So, I had to beg him to stop and smile for me...



Isn't he handsome??? And so grown up!

Jacob also liked to play on the trampolines like the big kids (our gym does not have trampolines).










But his favorite thing in the gym had to be the little car that goes over the ramp that you ride. At first, I commented to Randy that we could/should get one for our backyard. After I put Jacob on it 78 times, I decided that I didn't want one...






He got to enjoy some quality time with M too...while riding, of course.



And this is what he looked like if you didn't push him back and let him go again fast enough...



I got so many pictures of him that were blurry, that I was so excited for every one that wasn't. So, I'm not sure what he is doing here, but he wasn't blurry!!



And right before it was time to go eat, we let him get into the foam pit. The problem is that it's like quicksand. If you don't really know how to get out and just keep squirming, you sink lower and lower.






Daddy had to come to the rescue.



Here's the sweet birthday girl when it was time to eat...



And Jacob, more than approving of the almost endless amounts of juice on the table...



He ate a little bit...



And really enjoyed the part where we sang Happy Birthday. If you remember, it was last year, at Makinley's party, that he first lit up for that song. And one year later, we're still singing it to get him to smile.



After the party, it was back to the hotel for us. He enjoyed looking out the window but he had to stand on the AC to do that. Seems safe, right?



Don't worry...he never fell. But when I changed his diaper, he had a little bit of a rash, so I wanted to let him 'air out'. He choose to get up on our bed to watch MORE Yo Gabba Gabba and even censored himself in this picture.



He had a bit of a rough time falling asleep in the hotel, but we think he was just over tired. It wasn't bad though...not nearly as bad as the crying in the parking lot.

Happy Birthday Makinley! We're so glad we were able to come celebrate with you!! We love you!

~ Nancy