Three

Dear Jack,
Holy cowabunga! Today you are 3 years old!

I am so glad that I got to spend the whole day with you and Emma. I got to take you to Ihop for lunch, the library for new books, and the grocery store for your special dinner ingredients. All day I have been thinking about how much I love you and how lucky I am to have you as my son.

This morning as I watched you eat your cereal at the table I was thinking about how I always say, "I can't believe he's going to be 3." Well guess what? I can believe you are 3. You have grown up so very much this past year. You've gone from "talking" where we could understand about 10% of what you were saying to actually speaking! We love how you mispronounce words (Magagacar for Madagascar, Tigeress for Tigress, and kunk for skunk just to name a few!) and use your imagination to tell us stories.

You are still a fairly shy little boy. It takes you a while to warm up in new situations. Once you do though, you love to have a good time. When we got to the Family Christmas party in Chicago this year, you were stuck to me like glue for the first 15 minutes or so. But by the end of the party, you were hanging out in another room with all of your "big guy cousins!" I don't mind at all that it takes you a bit to get used to what's going on. I'm glad you like to think things through and observe before you jump right in.

You have grown up in other ways too this year. You are totally potty trained (well, you occasionally still have accidents at night!) and are working on getting dressed and undressed all by yourself. You are super tall for your age and have absolutely no baby fat left at all! Most people guess that you are at least a year older than you really are. It's neat to have people think you're older, but sometimes you need your Mama to tell them how old you are so they know why you aren't in Kindergarten already! :)

You spent the last half of this year staying home with Moe Moe and Bampa full time while Daddy-O and I were at work instead of going to "school" 2 days a week. I think it was a great decision. You got to experience story times, gardening, walks, and lots of other adventures with two of your most favorite people in the whole world. Thanks to Moe Moe you now say "I'd be happy to" when we ask you to do something! I don't think I've ever met another kid who loves being home as much as you do. You are so comfortable in your house. You love having a playroom to escape to and a racing track (the circle from living room to dining room to kitchen to hallway to living room!) to run on downstairs. You always seem to know where every single thing is in our house- whether it's your stuff or mine! I love asking you where Emma's monitor is and off you run to get it.

Another big event in your life this year was the addition of Emma 2 Lemmas as you like to call her! I was never worried about how you'd handle a sibling, I just worried about having enough time for you. Thank goodness you'll never remember what a challenge that girl was the first few weeks, or how you must have watched Finding Nemo at least a thousand times while we were trying to calm your sister. You seemed to realize something big was happening in our house and you helped us out by being able to chill on your own when we needed you to. Thanks buddy! One of my favorite memories of you and Emma when she was a few weeks old was how you'd ask to hold her. We'd stick her on your lap and the first few times you'd just start to shove her off when you were done holding her- so I told you to say "Done!" when you were finished so we could grab her from you. I loved how you'd hold her for about 30 seconds and then throw your hands in the air and yell "DONE!" It still cracks me up to think of it! The one thing I am probably most proud of you for is how much you love your sister. I don't just mean you tolerate her, or like her. I mean you really, honestly love her. You spend tons of energy trying to get her to laugh, you put on countless puppet shows for her and you just love having her near you. When you hear her wake up on the monitor you say "Mom! Emma's awake! Go get her!" And if I'm taking Finley out or doing laundry or something, you go right in her room, climb on the stool next to her bed, unswaddle her and say "Hi Baby Girl!". I love that about you Roo. Remember the time when Mama was in the bathroom with the door open (cause I had left you two in the playroom) and the next thing I saw was you walking backwards down the hallway dragging Emma's playmat along the floor with HER ON IT! I said, "Jack! What are you doing!!??" And you just looked at me and said, "I'm taking her for a ride!" Buddy I love you so much. Thanks for being a truly great big brother.

The saddest thing to ever happen to our little family happened about a month ago. Bampa died and went to heaven way before we were ready for him to go. As sad as I was for me and how much I would miss him, my heart was really broken for you, Jack. You and Bampa were two peas in a pod. You absolutely adored him. Everything from playing monster trucks together to planting flowers became a special moment for the two of you. I wish so much that somehow you'll remember Bampa and how wonderful he was to you. I hope that because we talk about him all the time, you'll feel like you know him years from now when you head off to a game or a practice. Bampa would have loved to have seen you grow up Jack. I'm so sorry that was taken away from you. I also want you to know how special you have been to Moe Moe through all of this. You have helped to heal her heart by just being you. Wonderful, kind, funny, and thoughtful you. Thank you for that Jack.

You are so important to us buddy. We love you more and more every day. We are having so much fun watching you grow up. Thanks for being the best little boy in the whole wide world. Happy 3rd Birthday!

We love you!
Love,
Mama
(& Daddy-O and Emmers too!)