My dearest Jay Bird,

Sweet boy you are three today; this fact should neither surprise nor shock me since we have spent the last 12 days counting down until this day and jumping up and down as each day passes. Never the less, I find it hard to believe- my baby is 3!  You are growing up before our eyes kiddo and man-o-man do I wish that I could slow down time. I am positive that if I blink too long these days that when I open my eyes you will be graduating and leaving our nest – a thought that I just can’t bear to consider right now.

I struggle to find adequate words to describe you these days…  You delight in the smallest of things, you adore cars and books, your heart is so gentle and kind and you are stubborn to the core. Honestly, each day can be a constant battle; we have really, really great moments followed by knock-down drag-out fights that end in temper tantrums and time outs more times than I care to admit. And more often than not I am not really even sure what set you off. Sometimes it’s that you don’t get what you want, sometimes you don’t get things exactly your way and sometimes it seems as if there is no reason at all (i.e. you are 2!). Most evenings at supper time I get to play witness to a battle of the wills- opponent A: Jay Bird- fierce determined and decidedly going to declare that you want/like nothing that you are being given for supper. Opponent B: Daddy- fierce, determined and decidedly NOT going to give in or budge one bit. If I were an outsider I believe I might find quite a bit of humor in these battles however, since I have fought during both breakfast and lunch the humor seems to escape me.  So instead I sit, observe and hang on the knowledge that this too shall pass. And it will because it is a phase and all phases pass; however, at the risk of sounding contradictory, I don’t want this phase to pass too quickly because while you are stubborn to the core you are gentle, kind, sweet, smart and just so stinking cute sometimes!

You adore your brother Charlie and while y’all do fight over toys and have normal brotherly moments you are generally SO good to him. You let him play with your stuff, want to make sure that he is included and are the first to try to cheer him up when he is sad and crying. Most often, when he is crying, you will head over to him and ask in your sweet and concerned voice “what’s wrong Charlie?” and then start singing because you know that usually makes him stop.  It’s moments like these that make all the day-to-day crazy so incredibly worth it. A year later you still adore cars and while you vary the things you play with, almost everything is an accessory for cars.  Tools?  Things to fix cars with. Used dryer sheets? Parachutes for cars. Duplo? Used to build garages and things to house cars (although you do on occasion build with Duplo without cars) Mommy’s hair tie? Rope to tow cars with.  I love to watch your imagination at work and listen to your conversations as you play; some of the stuff you come up with is hysterical. Games are also another thing that you have taken to lately.  You love being able to play with me and Daddy after Charlie goes to bed and frequently request to play before your nighttime stories.  It is so fun to watch you play because you really don’t have a competitive bone in your body (you got that from me, not from Daddy).  You are ecstatic when anyone wins and you jump up and down and cheer them along giving congratulatory high fives.  It’s so great and I really can’t wait to see what you will use this encouraging part of your personality to do as you continue to grow;  whatever it is I know it will make me proud.  Along with cars and games you also still love books and want so badly to be able to read them on your own; we are working on getting there and I am sure it will come soon if you have anything to do with it.  You have already memorized all kinds of books and frequently “read’ to us.  Often, in the mornings Daddy and I will come into you room to find a pile of books on the ground that you have been reading all morning waiting for us to get up.  I also find books tucked behind a pillow and under blankets on your bed from before you fell asleep either at night or during nap time.  It melts me when you look at me with sleepy eyes (usually after nap time) and ask me… “Mommy let’s cuddle and read stories okay?”  I try to drop all things whenever possible at those requests because there is nothing that I would rather do than cuddle the day away with you.

Like I said earlier, I am finding it so very hard to accurately describe you sweet boy.  We have our moments and I do want to pull my hair out from time to time; however, more often than not I want to scream at the top of my lungs that you are mine.  Daily, you teach me new things, show me how to delight in the smallest and most simple things and you teach me over and over again how to love.  I hope you always know how very proud we are of you.  I know you will continue to do wonderful things and I can’t wait to see what is yet to come.  This life is quite an adventure kiddo, thank you for taking me along for the ride.

I love you sweet boy, Happy Birthday!

Love, Momma