Noah’s 4th Birthday
Noah’s birthday this year was on a Wednesday, which meant that school and work were non-negotiable. Plus, Matt was away TDY, so we were celebrating as a group of three rather than four. His party was planned for the following weekend, but I still wanted to mark the actual day with some fun. So, Ava and I took our guy out for a fun evening and kicked off his celebration as we picked him up from school.
We started, of course, with cupcake delivery for snack time in his classroom.
He had been wearing that big, goofy hat all day and LOVING it. We served chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting (his request) and topped them with Star Trek command badges. Noah loved hearing his class sing him “Happy Birthday” and we apologized profusely to Ms Donna for leaving her with a classroom full of sugared up kiddos.
When we got home, we opened a couple of small gifts (because what good is a birthday without presents, right?) and Skyped with Grammie. Our gift to Noah was a set of tickets to a Dragons baseball game that night. His gift from Grammie and Grandad paired nicely with ours and he was soon all geared up to go to the ball field.
After we answered numerous phone calls, we headed out the door to dinner. Noah picked his favorite place and we yummied on burgers at Five Guys. We headed downtown and to the ballpark after that. Heater (the Dragons mascot) always hangs out in the plaza in front of the gates before the games, so Noah immediately ran over to say hi. He LOVES mascots (#minorleagueheroes) and always scores a photo op with them at the ballpark.
When Noah told Heater that it was his birthday, he got the royal treatment. The whole Green Team swarmed and he was treated to a special birthday song, lots of laughs and some fancy balloons.
It’s hard to tell from the video, but his first balloon sword totally deflated mid-song. If you know Noah, you also know that such an occurrence could have put him into a major funk. But, the Green Team magic was at work and kept him in a comical mood. The team was cracking up and, when they were done singing, Noah said, “I did not see that coming!” With a new sword in hand for Noah and a green kitty for Ava, we finally went in to watch some baseball.
The kids were SO good for the whole game and were respectful of their neighbors with their balloons. In fact, the man behind me tapped me on the shoulder in about the 5th inning and said, “Relax! They’re doing really well. You should be so proud of how they’re behaving.” So I did and I was.
The game started at 7pm, which is about 15 minutes before bedtime around here, and we left after the 7th inning stretch because it was a school night. BUT, Noah and I were up on the big screen while we sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” so I think that was pretty much the high note to leave on anyway.
There are two things that are absolutely always true about Noah – he loves baseball and Star Trek in equal measures and with his whole heart. Since we’d be enjoying his other passion for his party, it made good sense to celebrate baseball for his big day. We couldn’t love our little baseball man more and love watching him grow up.
Happy 4th Birthday, Noah!
