2+2=4

Tonight I tucked my four year old boy into bed and told him a  TRUE STORY  about the day I became a mother.  "Once there was a Melinda who had a gigantic belly," I said.  "It was so big and round and right out in front of her that a lot of people thought I was hiding a basketball under my shirt."  Aaron really laughed at that one.  "But it wasn't a basketball...it was her first baby boy, Aaron."

"This baby loved his momma a lot.  He loved her so much that he didn't want to leave her tummy.  Melinda wondered if he would ever come out.  And, after two weeks of waiting past the day her baby was supposed  to come, Melinda finally asked the doctor to give her medicine so that the baby would come.   But, early in the morning on the 13th of February, Melinda woke up in the middle of the night and felt her tummy start to squeeze.  She knew the baby finally wanted to come."

"So, Melinda woke up her husband Jonny and said, 'let's go to the hospital right now!'  And, they left.  When they got to the hospital Jonny wheeled her in a chair, up the elevator, and then into the delivery room.  Melinda's tummy squeezed so much that soon it was time for the baby to come.  Jonny called the doctor and when Dr. Chaudhari came, it was time to push.  Melinda pushed once...no baby.  She pushed again....no baby.  But, the third time, her baby came out and 'WAAAAA!' started to cry.

"And, when Melinda say him, she felt a special feeling, 'His name is Aaron.'  Jonny saw him and felt a special feeling, 'His name is Aaron.'  They named their beautiful baby Aaron.  His hair was blonde like sunshine.  His nose was thick like his daddy's, and his eyes squinted like his momma's.  Jonny and Melinda looked at their little Aaron and felt more joy than they had ever felt in their lives.  They loved their little boy."

 "And, they love him more now than they ever have before," I said.  A true story.  It's amazing what four years can bring.  This boy--my Aaron--so full of imagination, determination, negotiation, silly-ation, and loyal love, is four.

His birthday was magical.  I did my best to make it an unusually awesome day.  And, judging by the positive feedback received (Aaron said, "Hey, I have an idea--let's do my birthday every day), I think I will call it a success.  I decorated the house to look like his "cars 2 party," complete with tape lines for roads and international flag banners.

I brought him balloons at school.  We reserved surprises for him throughout the day: a CD with "his" music on it, a movie outing (with tubs of popcorn to share with dada...seriously tubS), a cool truck with interchangeable wheels, a learning laptop, and an evening Zumba dance party with Momma.  Oh how I wish I had a picture of that.  But, even with all of the surprises, I think that my favorite part of the day was watching Jonny play "remote control cars" with Aaron.  It was fabulous to focus on Aaron all day long.  He knew it was his special day, and was so proud--wearing a confident grin and telling people (a couple strangers even, which doesn't normally happen) that he is four years old.

Aaron's actual birthday party happened on Saturday--at 11:00am, to be precise.  Yes, to be sure to get the record strait, even though the invitation said 3:00, it happened at 11 because the building scheduler wasn't aware of the world wide leadership conference at 3:00.  With a last minute switch-a-roo, we decorated the gym of the church on Mario Cappecci Drive to be the ideal scene for a "Cars 2 Secret Mission" party.

We invited a lot of guests to participate in our "spy training course" with top secret 2+2=4 missions that included: 

proving one's warrior strength by beating "Francesco Bernuli"s bad brother to a pulp so we could feast upon his sweet insides;

(Everyone really got into that one)

proving one's pursuit prowess in the old fashioned game of "duck, duck, goose" substitute "Lightning, Lightning Mcqueen;"

testing the speed of one's feet in "Red Light, Green Light;"

 and, identifying which model car could roll the furthest on the inclined slope.

 And, wouldn't you know it?  The Birthday boy won.

 I would by lying if I didn't report that a few tears were shed: by JJ, by me and by Aaron.  But, we made it through, with no missing parts.  And, we learned a few lessons along the way.  Most important: the best birthday moments are often the simplest...like telling your boy the true story of his birth.  And though he might make a pretty good argument that the presents were the best, I won't believe it for a second.