thirty six months

My little Buddy,

Your big day is here!  You're three years old!  I hope it doesn't seem like a let down since we already celebrated with family yesterday.  You had a lot of fun.  I know you won't be able to remember your 3 year party when you're older but I sure hope that I can remember your excited little face when you opened a couple of your presents or when you watched us put that cupcake on your plate.

Your birth was a storybook birth.  It couldn't have gone better except for the meconium that kept you in the NICU with junk in your lungs.  It turned out to be a blessing though because Daddy and I got special time with you all to ourselves right from the get-go. 

We've had a good three years, Josh.  You've changed so much since you were that little butterball at birth but yet not a lot from your two year birthday and as you get older the changes will only become less and less noticable. 

But in three short years you've certainly changed us, Buddy.  You're teaching your sister how to love others even when it's hard.  You're teaching your mom and dad to be patient even when it's impossible.  You're teaching me not to scream even when I desparately want to act like a toddler.  We're a more incredible family because of you.

Some things you've said this month that I want us to remember include, "I want my monkey with the tail like my name" (referring to the curled tail as a J) and "When I get bigger I'm going to marry my sister Jules" (coming off the heels of mommy and daddy's anniversary you've been very concerned with who you will marry). 

You've become quite the praise singer and will often be quietly singing "Bless the Lord oh my soul, ohhh-hhhh my soul..." while you play.  You also still like to sing Call Me Maybe and Zac Brown songs, but you always come back to praise songs "My God's not dead, He's surely alive!" or one of the Gaither's songs from Gaither's Pond (one of your absolute favorite things to watch).

 

You can recognize some letters but really have no desire or patience to learn more. One day you looked at a bag Julianna had in the car and you told me, "Jules has a bag with my J-O-S-H name on it!"  You do love to write and color though I suspect it will be a while longer before you can write your name.

When you were younger you used to love to carry around a spoon everywhere you went.  Now it's more of the desire to carry various little treasures with you wherever you go.  If you have a pocket you want something in it; it doesn't matter if it's an eraser, a small toy, a rock or a stick.  It thrills you to have a pocket in your shirt too "like Daddy."

So starved for attention you will lap it up like an eager puppy whenever it's offered.  I took ten minutes out of cooking dinner the other night to simply play "hunting" with you and a couple of Nerf guns.  We were sneaking around corners like they were trees all through the house.  We spotted birds, deer, and even monkeys.  You were so excited someone was playing with you that I actually thought you might wet your pants.  When I asked you exclaimed, "No! I don't need to potty! There's a orange yellow reindeer!!!"

Your 24 month pants are finally high waters and at three years old we've officially retired anything 24 months or smaller. You've grown almost an inch in the last three months and even though you're still shorter than your cousin who is six months younger than you, you are definitely growing quickly.

You love to ride your bike but with the cooler temperatures and earlier darkness it's hard to squeeze in after dinner like we used to.

You can go to the bathroom almost completely by yourself and you (pretend) read lots of books, but you've gone back to wanting someone to feed you at every meal.  You'll sit there all the live-long day if no one will spoon your food in your mouth and no amount of Big Boy Talk can convince you to eat.  I suppose part of you really wants to remain my baby.  And while it's inconvenient, I'll take it.  It won't be too much longer before you'll be embarrased by your ol' Mama.

I hope you enjoy your birthday today, Joshy. Milk the heck out of it just like I know you will!

Love you bunches,
Mama