Big #4

Yesterday was the Rugrat's birthday. It was number 4 for her but our first to celebrate with her. And she is at just the right age to understand that it is a time that is all about her.

Because we love her so much, we stepped through the doors of a place we had sworn off many years ago -- the forbidden zone -- the land of indigestion and headaches for all those over 8. To celebrate, we took her to kid heaven for an early dinner -- otherwise known as Chuck E. Cheese.

We used one of those coupons for pizza, soda, and a cup full of tokens (approximately 85 which she added 3 more to when they found out it was her birthday). While waiting for our pizza, we took her to check out the games and rides.

We picked the perfect time to go. We were the only people there until we were sitting down to eat our pizza. One other family came in then and I think that was it until we left. So we were by ourselves checking out the games and rides to start.

It was probably a bad idea to do the monster truck first but we didn't realize it would do this:

The first thing it did was raise the hood up to almost my height, then it started rocking back and forth. She thought she was going to fall out at one point. Mercy! I probably would have gotten spooked too. The gentle rocking horse we talked her into next made it all okay though.

She's a pretty smart cookie and it didn't take her long to get into the games.

Or to figure out what made them work:

This game was probably her favorite. I bet we played it 8 or 10 times. Maybe more.

It didn't give us many tickets but Chick and Dude racked up playing Skeeball and other games. At the end, she figured out why we kept collecting those. She spent them all (the benefit of having an older sister and brother who aren't interested in the little plastic prizes) and got a lot of bling bling.


Then it was home for these:

and this:

She got a little shy on me when she got ready to open everything. But she knew exactly what to do. She ripped right into them.

She got a cool playhouse,

some fancy house slippers,

and a Dora kitchen.
Plus the grandparent gifts, of course.

Then we sat down to let her blow out the candles. She absolutely cackled every time we got to the part of the birthday song that says her name. Every single time. She thought it was hilarious that we were singing about her.

And while we had some cake,

the engineers went to work.

Daddy & Daddy-in-training

When all was said and done, I think she had a pretty awesome birthday! She seemed to be enjoying herself. And she ran back and forth between playing with one new toy and the other.

I couldn't help but wonder if her biological mom was thinking of her today at one point though. Surely it crossed her mind to wonder if that baby girl she held so tightly to for 4 months was doing well. I hope somewhere deep in her heart, God will give her a peace and pleasant feeling so that she knows our little Rugrat is fine. And that He will bless her in return for the blessing that she has given to us.