Happy Birthday T. Bone

"Don't mess with me...I'm THE CHAMP!"

Boys (and men) being boys!

Best of buddies...a boy and his uncle.

Jab, cross, hook, upper cut!

"Come on...go get him! You cannot be taken out by a 9 year old."

"Oh yea...you want a piece me!?!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a decision."

T. Bone has learned that good things come in both small and large packages.

A birthday squeeze from his sis.

The sugar has kicked in!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9...a pinch to grow an inch and a sock to grow a block!

T. Bone's birthday falls just two days after Christmas so we are often celebrated out by the time it rolls around, but we always do our best to give our special guy a special day. I can say with certainty that his ninth birthday did not disappoint. We enjoyed a leisurely morning at home eating pancakes and playing with our new toys. It was the longest stretch of time we had spent at home in days except for the hours we spent sleeping. Grandma and Grandpa joined us for an early afternoon outing to see The Squeakuel. I was most impressed that my boy opted for a family friendly movie we could all share despite the fact that I knew he was itching to see both The Blind Side and Avatar. It was important to him that we sit in the dark sharing popcorn and sour patch kids as a family. I was also most impressed that my Dad agreed to attend a movie about talking chipmunks cuz' he's sort of a cinema snob. It was important to him to please his grandson. All good!

After we had our fun fill of the always cute Alvin, Simon and Theodore (if you ask my hubby he'll tell you that I enjoyed the movie more than the kids), we headed home for a little pizza party. T. Bone thought long and hard (say 5 seconds) and then decided that he wanted Rocky Rococo's pizza for HIS birthday dinner. Uncle B. and Aunt A. joined us for the feast. After dinner, the boys turned the family room into a boxing ring, and the rest of us morphed into referees, announcers or spectators. Uncle B. and Tigger are enjoying T.'s Christmas gift as much as he is. What can I say...my cat gets his groove on by genuine leather. And my conservative brother is all like, "T. Bone needs to learn how to defend himself." He was asking for ibuprofen on his way out the door! Grandma J. obliged our last minute request to bring a cake - vanilla with vanilla icing. He usually orders up homemade lemon cake with my secret special buttercream frosting, but I was baked out this year after 20 plus batches of cookies, and he was understanding. T. Bone demonstrated that indeed his vocabulary is expanding when he referred to the rainbow cake as "gay." Ok then. Luckily Grandma didn't hear that comment.

It was a sportsman's birthday. He was excited for the airplane ticket to Colorado we bought him to join us in February. He cannot wait to see cousin Knox, snowboard and miss two more days of school. Grandma and Grandpa followed suit by giving him snowboard lessons at an area ski resort. Nice! Uncle B. and Aunt A. came through with that green stuff that will come in handy for his trip. Snowboarding is expensive you know!

So yes...it's true, my baby is 9. I look at him and am amazed that I ever felt fulfilled before he came into my life one snowy morning. He is such an incredible person in every way, and to know him is to love him...everyone who knows him knows that!