On the twenty-ninth day of December...

Our little monkey, Li'l J turned 4! Although it seems like just yesterday that Li'l J joined our family, we can't imagine life without him. He is such a happy, big boy. His happy smile and big belly laugh are infectious. We are so grateful that you are a member of our family Li'l J!

When asked if he would like pancakes or waffles for breakfast on his birthday, he answered: "Cocoa Pus!" (Cocoa Puffs mixed with Kix) so, cereal for his birthday breakfast it was. Then when asked what he wanted to do on his birthday, he said he wanted to go play at the park with J-rod and M...and since we're in the business of granting birthday wishes, here is how he spent a good part of the day:

Shooting off the air-pumped rocket he got from G'ma & G'pa S for Christmas.

Riding down the hill on his Diego scooter that he LOVES!

Rolling down the grassy hills at the park with M.

While patiently waiting for his birthday dinner to be prepared, Li'l J enjoyed coloring in the GIANT coloring book he got from Aunt A for Christmas. (Thanks for the great soccer outfit Uncle Der and Aunt Rie, he requested it when getting dressed in the morning and LOVED wearing it all day!)For his birthday dinner Li'l J requested the following menu: "mac a' cheese" (which he LOVES to douse in ketchup--don't ask, we don't know why) and chocolate milk. In his words, "it's my favorite!" We obliged but also added hot dogs and green beans to the menu.

Apparently no longer just a Zippy favorite, Li'l J asked for a Marie Calendar's Chocolate Satin pie instead of birthday cake this year--YUM-O!

Li'l J received many nice gifts from his siblings, aunts and uncles, grandparents and friends. And while he's enjoying all the gifts, based on the reaction below, we'd say his favorite gift was the one he got from J-rod and Zippy. Since potty training Li'l J was a long, tough process that was taking way too long (a story that deserves its own post: we started our efforts way back in January of '08) as a last resort, in September we struck a deal with him...if he would potty train, for his birthday we would get him the Green Leapster 2 he had been wanting and asking for. Li'l J accepted the offer, er, bribe, and worked diligently to earn his reward. He is fully potty trained now and ready to start pre-school on Monday (Yay!), so, we paid up and made his day by "surprising" Li'l J with the long awaited Green Leapster on his birthday as promised! Even though he was fully confident that he would get the leapster, since we made him open it second to last of all the gifts he opened (the last one was the packet of games he got to go with the leapster) the suspense had built enough that he was able to supply us with an awesome reaction!

We're so glad you're happy Li'l J!

Now that both boys are plugged in, will we ever hear from them again? You'll just have to check out our future posts to find out!