The big day finally arrived on Thursday and he was ready! Griffin spent the first half of his special day at VBS. We had lunch at home and I had a cupcake for him so he could make his first birthday wish.
He had a swim lesson later that afternoon (only his fifth lesson). Now that he was four years old, he decided he'd be very brave jumping in, putting his face in the water, and even dog paddling a little. After his lesson, we picked up Daddy and the babies and went to dinner at Pero's on the Hill. Griffin had been begging all afternoon to open a present. We took one small present with us and let him open it while we waited for our food. After splitting a pizza, we went to Sweet CeCe's for frozen yogurt. Then it was back home to open his other presents. 
On Saturday afternoon, we had a pirate-themed party at The Little Gym. The kids had fun jumping on the airmat, playing Disappearing Islands, searching for treasure, playing Hide & Seek, and more. All of the kids were on the move so much that it was hard to get many cute pictures! Griffin didn't open presents at The Little Gym so we invited our families over for a pizza party and present opening that evening. Griffin also got to make one last birthday wish.
Griffin has been playing on a "wee ball" team this spring. He's #20 on the Orioles. I'm probably a little biased, but I think he's a pretty good ballplayer for a 3 year old! These pictures were taken at his very first game. Look at that hit! And what good running form! 
There are no outs and they don't keep score in wee ball. They play two innings, and each team goes through its entire roster during each inning. Despite the fact that the focus is on fun instead of competition, Griffin already takes it pretty seriously. Here he is waiting for the next batter. 
He is very hard on himself when he doesn't catch every ball that comes his way...but he gets very excited when he does get to the ball first. Here he is snagging a ground ball and throwing it back to the coach.
The look on Griffin's face was priceless when he came out and found both of his brothers there to ride home with him. I missed the ear-to-ear grin but I did get this picture of him peering over the seats to see his brothers.
Once we got home, we put the babies in one of the cribs together. This was the first time they'd been together since coming into the world. 
Griffin had a bit of a hard time when Matt or I would be gone in the afternoons and especially at bedtime because we were visiting Hudson at the hospital. On the night we got Hudson home, he said, "Now no one has to go to the hospital...we can all be home together...happily ever after!"
Matt was able to take one visitor with him to Children's to see Hudson. In this picture, he has the nasal cpap, but it had already been removed by the time I was able to visit him.
After getting the call that the babies had arrived early, Aunt Holly dropped off a Big Brother shirt for Griffin to wear to school. He was so excited to share the news that he ran down the hall to his classroom and ripped open his jacket to proudly show his shirt to his teachers. Matt picked him up early from school and brought him to the hospital. Baylor was still in the nursery under the warmer so Griffin was only able to see him through the nursery windows that first day. He could remember Hudson's name since Doc Hudson is a character in Disney's Cars, Griffin's favorite movie, but he was having trouble remembering Baylor's name. If you listen carefully to the video, you'll hear him ask more than once, "What's his name again?"
The next day, Baylor and I went home. It was good to get home to Griffin, but it was bittersweet since I still didn't have all of my boys together.
