Happy Birthday J3!!!

June 10, 2005 was the scheduled day for my fourth c-section. We were certain we were having a girl. All the signs pointed that way. After all, I had a boy, girl, boy by that point so it seemed reasonable to say since that pregnancy was far more like R8's than my others. We had decided not to find out early because well there are so few good surprises left in this life. We did find out once and it was very anti-climactic on delivery day! So, when the doctor announced it was a boy!- we were shocked. And there you have it...the birth of our littlest man and the last of our clan.

He is a joy and he can be frustrating. He is a crazy smarty and has a naughty streak. He is snuggly like all little boys and very strong willed. He loves his blankets- three large receiving blankets that my mom made when we had E9. Like all of our younger three kids, he had a liking for his pacifier. Each baby seemed to love them more intensely. I-6 kept his a looonggg while because it was part of his oral/speech therapy much to Dan's chagrin. J3 gave his up upon "losing" it maybe four to six months ago now. He did really well giving it up except that he still asks about it. Last week when he asked about it and we all said oh it's gone. He replied with, "They sell them at the store." Yesterday I heard the kids greet him with a birthday greeting and he asked, "Will I get a new pacifier for my birthday?" Seriously? He won't let this go!! So, I'll add tenacity to his list of attributes. He absolutely loves being outside- more so than even R8 (and doesn't transition well at all to coming back inside...). And he has a crazy imagination which coupled with his new found chattiness, produces many outlandish stories- often.

Take the cake below for instance. One day we left the house in the van and he was giggling about "funny trees". We finally found out he was referring to the large spruce tree in our front yard. I have no idea what struck him funny about the tree, but he is still amused by it. He and I have had some spirited discussions about whether there are acorns or pine cones on the tree. The morning after the funny trees he woke up telling me that the funny trees were asleep and we had to wake them. So, when asked what he wanted on his cake he replied without missing a beat, "funny trees".

He spent part of the hot, humid day at his water table. He thinks playing there means using the hose. I think because he's seen us fill it. Whatever the reason, he likes to create a tempest- flip boats flip!

Whenever he hears Go Fish! He sings and dances and asks for the DVD. When I didn't get it going the first time, he impatiently added, "DVR it Mommy!" How's that for a technology oriented kid? He has seen them in concert once and we plan to go again in August, but we thought the DVD might make a cool gift for the 3yo.

Some birthday goodies

He loves our Brio Builder (formerly Brio Mec and really hard to find these days) so I found this set for a good substitute.

A box of fun stuff of his very own- tape, new crayons, post it notes in two shapes, memo pads, scissors, index cards...what 3yo can resist a box of this stuff?

It was a huge hit. He didn't miss a beat! Check out those mad cutting skills!

He has a few other items like a matching super hero shirt and cape from Grandma and Grandpa, a Caribou game which he watched me buy with some of his Aunt and Uncle's birthday money and then snatched out of the bag on the way home. He's been enjoying it since then. Word on the street is that a set of custom made blocks will be on the way soon. I think it will deserve a post when it arrives. The backstory is kinda crazy.

It was storming on and off all day yesterday- which frankly I didn't mind because the weather has been brutal and we don't have central air and I'm not good for it anymore- been away too long now. For his dessert we had ice cream cones at home since it wasn't a nice night for hanging out at the local ice cream stand.

Happy Birthday J3!