You Are 3

Sweet Boy,

Tomorrow, you are 3. You've been asking about your "dirtday" for about a month now. You tell us you want "bwoons" and "cake" and "cucakes" at your "dirtday" and I love every single mispronounced word that leaves your cute mouth.

This last year....wooo-eey! I've LOVED being your mommy every single second. Through your tantrums, your cuddles, your first sentences, your first deliberate repetition of "I love you", your stumbles, your illnesses, and your first moments as a big brother. It hasn't always been easy, but I wouldn't change the bad moments for a million good ones. We've learned from you and you've learned from us.

Let's see, where to begin. We measured you tonight and will make a big show of measuring you tomorrow to see how big you've grown from 2 to 3. Because 3 years old is now full on Big Boy territory. You will never be a little guy again. In the last year you have grown so much, both physically and cognitively.

We started out 2 with an Early Intervention evaluation. We were worried that your verbal language skills were lacking. You just proved to us that you were a confidence talker. Right before we started getting concerned again you started talking. And boy, do you talk. You've got a wonderful imagination. You play with McDonald's Happy Meal Transformers and they have epic battles that always end with "I sowwy" and "dat's go-kay!" You lug your many, many (oh so many) Mickey babies everywhere. They eat food, love on Eeny, and go for rides in the car with you. You love those Mickeys more than anything, even your Orange Monster couldn't hold a torch for too long against them. (Orange Monster is actually Muno from "Yo Gabba Gabba")

You are still a skinny little guy. We worry that you eat only PB&J or hot dogs. We wish you'd eat more vegetables, but your dad and I both know that you'll try them on your own time. Right now we feed you whatever you will willingly eat. We're okay with that. We were concerned that you didn't gain much weight between 2 and 2.5 years. In the last couple of months you've gained 3 pounds. This is HUGE, considering you remained so little for so long.

You adore your little sister. You can't wait for her to be big enough to play with your toys with you. You used to call her Een and now you've started calling her Eeny, which I love. I love that you have such a big heart and while you can be a selfish toddler, you are a wonderful big brother who shares toys with his sister. When you accidentally hit her with a wooden dowel, you apologized for hours, knowing that you caused her to cry. She loves you too, buddy. She might not say it, but her determination to scoot and roll to wherever you are should prove that to you.

Right now, you're screaming "MOMMY! DADDY! I MEED YOU! GET IN MY WOOM! I MEED MY DIRTDAY!" and it is adorable. I know tomorrow is going to be amazing for you. Saturday, though, is when your party is. You'll get a big surprise on Saturday morning. We decided to hold off on giving it to you because Daddy wants to see your face light up when you first see your big boy bike. You've been asking for a bike for a couple of weeks now and we are so excited to be able to give you one (of course, full disclosure, the bike is from GG and Pop Pop).

So, for now my boy, sleep. Go to bed. In the morning I'm letting you have a cupcake for breakfast. You'll take them to daycare with you and you'll eat one there. Then, I'm letting you eat cake for dinner. You'll love it, and I'll love watching you enjoy your moment. You only turn 3 once!

I love you Monkey Moo.