What an exciting week! Monday after school, Dad was home a little earlier for a meeting with someone at our house. After the meeting, Mom, Dad and I got down to some really important work – preparing for my birthday! I helped Mom make jelly and cupcakes for my school. I stirred and tasted all the jelly, and I touched every single one of the 50 cupcakes personally, and I even decorated some. In the evening, after my shower, Dad blow-dried my hair and made another of his profound predictions – when I’m forty blow-driers will be banned and replaced with something energy efficient. Sigh. I know he means well, but he does carry on a little!

Tuesday I woke up and I immediately knew it was my birthday. There was a certain buzz about the house. Mom and Dad woke me a little earlier so there was enough time for me to open presents and play before school. I barely had my eyes open and I said ‘Where’s my cake?’ Mom and Dad presented me with pirate cupcakes with FOUR candles. I was thrilled. Finally it was my birthday and I’d made it to four years old. After blowing out my candles (for a change Mom and Dad didn’t trick me with re-lighting candles) I discovered a table covered in presents for me.

I got to the business of opening them, albeit very delicately. Mom and Dad couldn’t bare it, so they started chanting that I should just rip the paper off. I obliged. Amongst me gifts were a bunch of Phineas and Ferb ‘Ferb My Ride’ sets. I love them. There was a huge Lightning McQueen that doubled as a racing ramp and a carry case for all my cars. One present was a Lightning McQueen that spoke a whole bunch of lines from the movie. I already know them all by heart. And my absolute best, which I had been wishing for for months and months, was a Lightning McQueen Tractor Tippin’ limited edition Race-O-Rama. I discovered it on YouTube a number of weeks back and have wanted one since. My Mommy is amazing to have found it. As I opened the packaging and I recognised what it was I announced “Just like on YouTube; it’s exactly what I wanted”

Just as I thought Daddy had to start getting ready for work, he announced that he’d taken leave, and Mom and Dad were taking me to school. At school everyone hugged me and jumped on me wishing me a happy birthday. I was overwhelmed, but I loved it. Shortly after Mom and Dad left Teacher B helped me make a birthday crown that I wore for the rest of the day. At break another big surprise was in stall for me – Mom and Dad arrived back at school to celebrate my break and school birthday with me. It was awesome. I got to blow out candles again and all my friends, teachers and Mom and Dad sang happy birthday to me.

Just as everyone finished singing Mom’s phone rang – it was Sharon from Australia phoning me to wish me a happy birthday. I had a brief chat to her before getting back to playing with my friends. It was so awesome that she phoned. Everyone tucked into my cupcakes; the pirate theme carried through all the cupcakes, with some being a dessert island with a palm tree, others had a pirate on them, and still others some treasure. Mom also made orange-jelly ships – what’s a pirate without a ship?

It was a stunning break, and after we all went back into class there was a further surprise – everyone got party packs with light sabres, gold coins, and eye patches – everything a self-respecting four year old pirate needs. For the rest of the class all my friends chipped in and each decorated a page of a book which they then presented to me when school was over. What a stunning day. Needless to say, no school work was done that day.

Mom and Dad tried their best to get me to snooze after school, but it was way too exciting. Back at home I played Tractor Tippin’ and then in the late afternoon Dad took me to see Vicky, who also showered me in hugs and wishes for my birthday. It was a good session, and the move from a Monday to a Tuesday seems to be working, even though I was still overwhelmed from the events of the morning.

After my session with Vicky it felt like forever before ‘my people’ (a.k.a. my family) arrived for dinner in the evening. Fortunately Daphne, Sharon’s Mom arrived for a visit and that made the time slip by quicker. She showered me in birthday hugs and presented me with a present from Sharon in Australia – it was a Lightning McQueen back pack and a red Piston Cup racing jacket. I fell in love with it immediately. After Daphne left I helped set the table for the whole family – it was a lot of plates, knives and forks. Fortunately Dad helped.

As it got dark ‘my people’ arrived – dressed as pirates! I was thrilled. They had bandanas on, scars drawn on their faces and eye patches. Shannon even had a hook hand. We all settled down and I started open their presents. I was so spoilt. There were more Cars things, a Toys Alien set, a remote controlled Thomas the Tank Engine for my Track Master set, garages with tracks, a Bosch workbench with tools, and puzzles. I was completely thrilled. It was so amazing. Sadly we all had to sit at the table for dinner, when all I wanted to do was play with my new toys. Dinner lasted for an eternity, and I’d barely said ‘may I be excused’ and I was gone.

Shannon started helping me put batteries in everything (we sent Dad to the shop to buy batteries – apparently he spent most of my education fund on them!) It has been a long time since Shanny had to put batteries in toys, so it was a rude awakening for her when she discovered battery compartments now require a screwdriver to open them. I said ‘I don’t worry, I’ve got a screwdriver’ and I went and fetched my Handy Manny tools for her. She giggled and giggled when I presented her with my chunky toy Handy Manny screwdriver! It’s a screwdriver, isn’t it?

It started getting pretty late, so ‘my people’ had to leave again, but that didn’t stop me from playing well into the night. Mommy noticed that my fringe was interfering in some earnest playing so she trimmed it. When I found my hair on the rug I picked it up and tried to stick it back in my hair, announcing “It broke off, I’m trying to fix it”.

Getting up on Wednesday morning was tough, for all of us. It was cold, and we were played-out and hung over from sweets. I trudged through the day at school in a daze, and I was more of an observer at music than a participant. On the way home from school I needed to speak to Daddy, so I phoned him. He even popped out a workshop to chat to me. I told him I missed him and that he should be at home playing with me and my new toys! In the afternoon Michelle arrived and presented me with a range of Thomas the Tank Engine books. I was thrilled. I picked up one and headed off to the bedroom. A while later Mommy came looking for me to discover I’d fallen asleep, I was so exhausted from partying.

Thursday was the shortest day and the longest night of the year, as it was the Winter Solstice. We all woke up very late. Again. To my absolute amazement I’d discovered Mom and Dad had assembled all my new toys for me after I’d gone to sleep the night before. It made me sad that we’d woken up so late, but I’d play in the afternoon again. I had a shower with Dad and we rushed to get ready.

Mom joined me for SEMAS maths at school; I enjoyed showing her how to count on my abacus and recognise numbers. It was really awesome. I snoozed in the car on the way home and when I was woken up by the doorbell in the afternoon I discovered a Jack Russell in the house. I was thrilled! Another birthday present. Mommy said unfortunately not. It was a stray that someone picked up on our road that morning and because Dad is the CPF Street Captain the lady got hold of Dad and asked that he let the community know that the little Jack Russell had been found. Sadly for the little doggie no one claimed her, so Mommy agreed to foster her until her Mommy was found. Sadly it’s now Sunday and the doggie is still with us. I’m sure her Mommy is really worried.

It was freezing cold on Friday morning. Dad didn’t even think twice about braving the bike and simply took the car – no discussion! The rest of Friday was pretty quiet, apart from the fact that I went with Mom for her acupuncture. Normally Mommy doesn’t take me with, but today it just didn’t work out. I was really freaked out by seeing needles sticking in her, and I hid under the bed.

We woke up to rain on Saturday. I couldn’t believe it. Mom didn’t relent, and still went for her 4km walk around Zoo Lake. While Mom was out Dad and I rushed around like headless chickens preparing the house for guests later in the morning. Our job was to get the brassier out and fill it with wood. Hectic. Mom did everything else. She’s better than Super Girl.

First to arrive were Robin and Di – big hugs were dished out and I got three stunning cars which I immediately started playing with. Next Claudi and Paul arrived with Ryan. We screamed in delight at seeing each other and got down to some intense playing. Later Tanya and Anthony arrived and little Morgan joined us. We dismantled my entire room and played with EVERYTHING! It was amazing. Once we’d had enough of that we trashed Daddy’s study. Lastly we played outside, as the rain had stopped and it was surprisingly warm outside. After playing for seven solid hours with my friends it started getting dark and everyone had to go home. I was very sad that the day was over, but at the same time I was exhausted.

Mommy met Granny on Sunday to help her with some work. Dad and I built a huge train track on the dining room table and deployed my new remote control Thomas the Tank Engine. It was awesome. We then decided to go to Wimpy for lunch, but it was so cold the car wouldn’t start. Daddy phoned the AA and a really nice man with a huge truck arrived in less than half an hour and jump started the car for us. I told Daddy we needed a truck like that. It was freezing at the Wimpy but I still played on the jungle gym. Dad and I snoozed in the afternoon and when we woke up Mom was home.

Well, that’s it for this week. A big thank you for all the birthday wishes I received – too many to mention. Mom and Dad’s Twitter and Facebook accounts were abuzz with wishes, as well as plenty of SMS’es and emails. I felt really special, thank you.

Love,

Jarrod

Photo 1 Checking the jelly

Photo 2 Stirring

Photo 3 Slicing oranges to make ships

Photo 4 Orange jelly ships

Photo 5 Making cupcakes

Photo 6 Baking the cupcakes

Photo 7 Icing!

Photo 8 Making dessert islands

Photo 9 Mmmm tastes good

Photo 10 Adding ‘grass’

Photo 11 A sea of cupcakes

Photo 12 Blowing out my birthday candles

Photo 13 Present time!

Photo 14 Oooooo

Photo 15 ‘Ferb My Ride’

Photo 16 Yay! Tractor Tippin’

Photo 17 Play time (before school)

Photo 18 Prince Jarrod!

Photo 19 Party!

Photo 20 Hugs from Teacher B!

Photo 21 Friends!

Photo 22 Chatting to Nhati

Photo 23 And a hug!

Photo 24 Fireman JB!

Photo 25 Teacher B, can we pleeeeeeeeez do the party packs now?

Photo 26 Mom with Nhati and I

Photo 27 It’s my party and I can cry if I want to!

Photo 28 More Tractor Tippin’

Photo 29 Me and Frank!

Photo 30 Pirate Aunty Kim

Photo 31 Pirate Shanny

Photo 32 My People (aka my family)

Photo 33 My gorgeous cousins

Photo 34 Giggles with Shanny

Photo 35 Card time

Photo 36 Special pirate card from Aunty Birgitt and Uncle Wayne

Photo 37 Thomas The Tank Engine!

Photo 38 Wow!

Photo 39 Awesome

Photo 40 Passed out with Dad

Photo 41 Speech therapy with Vicky

Photo 42 Having a laugh with Vicky

Photo 43 Early morning DIY

Photo 44 Racing cars

Photo 45 Ryan and I playing

Photo 46 Sweetie smile

Photo 47 Ryan and I making lunch

Photo 48 Cooking!

Photo 49 Swinging

Photo 50 Morgan, Ryan and I causing havoc

Photo 51 Morgan and I hiding

Photo 52 Art time

Photo 53 Dad kept a fire going the whole day

Photo 54 Piston Cup racing jacket


Photo 55 Toot toot time!

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