Our Li'l Monkey

A while back Jenna tagged me to post some fun facts about our youngest child, who until next month when he gets promoted to the rank of "big brother", is Li'l J. With M being older and thus always involved in something fun or interesting, I feel like I post more often about M than Li'l J so sharing a bit more about 'our li'l monkey' will be fun.

1. How he got his nickname: Li'l Monkey (and how it stuck.)

Li'l J was born with lots of dark hair! He had hair on his head, down the backs of his ears, down his back, on his shoulders...yep, just about everywhere!

Check out all that hair!

It goes from his head, down his back, across his shoulders, clear down his arms!

As Li'l J began to shed the excess hair, and became mobile, the name stuck as he began to remind us of Curious George: dark, hairy, always happy and smiling, and always getting into something!

When he was 11-months, Li'l J was home with dad and big bro while I was out doing some Christmas shopping. All three had been downstairs when M needed dad's help to get something from his room upstairs. Figuring he would be fine left where he was, J-rod decided to leave Li'l J playing downstairs while he and M headed up to M's room. Well, after a few minutes J-rod and M heard a happy little giggle right behind them--Li'l J had decided he had had enough of being alone downstairs and for the first time EVER made his way up the stairs!! Fortunately he didn't decide to try and go back down the stairs before J-rod realized where Li'l J was!

Not too long after the stair climbing incident, the movie Curious George came out and we decided not only take M to see it, but to bring Li'l J along too! It was almost more fun to watch Li'l J watch the movie than to watch the movie itself--Li'l J was absolutely mesmerized! At just 14-months he sat through the entire movie watching very intently--guess he must have identified with George? Hee, hee.

One last "Curious George" incident. The night before realtor's were set to come see our house in preparation to put our NY house on the market, J-rod and I were doing some last minute cleaning and touch-ups to have the house completely ready. M and Li'l J were playing happily...or so we thought. Apparently whatever Li'l J had been playing with no longer held his attention because I heard him toddle into the kitchen where I was. In less then the minute that it took me to register that Li'l J had joined me and for me to check on him, he had gotten a hold of a BLACK Crayola marker (at least it wasn't a permanent black marker!) and had taken it to the kitchen walls, the kitchen table and chairs, the door to the 1/2 bath (behind which J-rod was working), the window moldings, the floor, and himself--yikes! Under the circumstances: the stress of getting the house ready to show to realtor's, it didn't even occur to me to do anything other than gasp and call J-rod to come help! Too bad I didn't have the presence of mind to quickly snap a picture or two!

2. Our little athlete.

As parents we try really hard not to "compare" our children especially because we recognize that every child is unique--from their interests and abilities to their physical build and personalities. However, we couldn't help but notice rather early on, that Li'l J's strengths did not lie in the same areas as those of his big bro M. At a young age it was clear that while there were things Li'l J wouldn't do until much later than M had done them--speaking, potty training, reading independently, etc.--there were other things Li'l J was definitely doing at an earlier age.

When not quite a year and a half, one day Li'l J picked up a Nerf football and threw it to J-rod...what caused us to drop our jaw as we watched it sail through the air, was not only did he throw it directly to J-rod, but the ball had a very noticeable spiral spin on it! He wasn't taught that, he just did it!

Last Spring when Li'l J tried out his t-ball set for the first time, he hit the ball right on and off it sailed...far. The same thing happened when he picked up and tossed a frisbee last summer (something I still cannot get right!)

Last fall while still two, throughout his "Soccer Time" class for two and three year-olds, Li'l J was the only child in the class who could stay with the ball and dribble it up and down the field in a continuous line. We're still trying to figure out where he gets his athletic prowess, because he certainly didn't get it from his Mom and Dad!

3. A little guy with a great BIG happy heart!

Our Li'l J is one of the HAPPIEST people we know. He always has a big smile on his face, and a big belly laugh at the ready.

Lately Li'l J has extended his expression of happiness to singing throughout the day--while he's playing, drawing, looking at books, pounding on the piano, eating, or stirring up mischief--he sings for the pure joy of singing. : ) Just watching him or listening to him puts a smile on those around him.

Li'l J LOVES his dad and his big bro M! When they've been away from home (at work, school, running errands, etc.) he always drops whatever he is in the middle of and runs to give them a BIG welcome home greeting as they come through the door.

Li'l J has a great enthusiasm for life that is simply contagious! When asked to help out with something, his response 9 out of 10 times is, "Sure!" He is such an example to me of what I should strive to be more like: happy and excited about life, all the time!

Our happiest little helper!

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We LOVE our little monkey, Li'l J, and are so grateful he is part of our family...we couldn't imagine our life without him!

I now pass the tag to: Guinevere, Brandi, and JeMM.