Andrew is now 4

Last weekend Andrew turned 4. Unfortunately he started out in a bad mood. Nothing was right and he was grouchy all day. My sister Alice came and that brightened him up for awhile since he got more presents but by the time dinner rolled around he was in no mood to go out. So instead, I went out to dinner with Alice and my mom, as well as Gina and Dylan, while Andrew stayed home with Vic and they worked on his legos together. He probably did have more fun playing with Vic than he would have sitting in a restaurant so it was a good call.

Last Saturday was his birthday party. Four of his friends from preschool came as well as another friend from Las Madres. With a couple of additional siblings, it was still a pretty small group compared to Gina's last two birthday parties. From this party I have learned that small is good. Andrew had a great time interacting with his friends, the jump house never got too crowded, and it was fairly easy to keep track of all the kids.

Here is Andrew surveying all his presents:

I made a rocket shaped cake for the party. The details of the cake are here. It turned out pretty well and tasted good too.
So far, 4 hasn't been much of an improvement on 31/2. He is easily frustrated when things don't go his way and then he becomes nonverbal, expressing his feelings in screeches and screams and refusing to talk. I'm hoping things will improve when he moves to the PreschoolIII room in a week. I am also working on how I deal with him before he gets to the frustrated part, emphasizing the positive when he does something correct. It is not easy being 4.