A Birthday Letter To My Little Man

Little Man,

You are three years old today. You are getting to be such a big boy! You are more and more fun each day and are learning so many new things! You are the joy of my heart, a fuzzy-headed little blessing. You bring us so much joy and constantly entertain us with your spunky personality!

I want to write down a bit of who you are right now and what you are saying and doing at age three.

You are always thinking and imagining things, thinking about different scenarios, playing the "What if" game. It is not uncommon for you to say something like, "What if....such and such happened?" inserting silly things that could never really happen, like "What would we do if my head was a burrito?" or "What if we went to the grocery store in just our underwear?" You are such a silly one and always like to think about the "What ifs" in life. I think you are creative in this way. You are my little inventor.

You love guy things....cars, trucks, sports, and doing things with your Daddy. It makes me a little sad that you are starting to become more and more your Daddy's boy and less and less of my little man. Even though it saddens me a little bit, I am somewhat glad, because I know that you being your Daddy's guy is 100% normal and just the way it should be. I just can't help but want to hold on to my little baby. You still suck your thumb, carry your Nima blankie and like me to rock you and sing to you at night, so I know you can't be that big of a guy yet.

You love music! You love instruments and listening to any type of music that I play in the car. Right now, you especially like your Steve Green, The Music Man, the CD that you and Mary Alice made singing hymns, and the classical station. I ADORE hearing your precious, scratchy little voice singing along with your big sister. You really belt those tunes out, too! It is not uncommon for me to go into your room in the morning and hear you LOUDLY singing Count Your Blessings, Holy,Holy,Holy, or another one of the songs that you learned in Bible class. So precious! I love to hear your little voice singing songs of praise and LOVE hearing your enthusiastic voice making music with such gusto.

You love to play church with your sister. The other day, you had your Bible and were leading a worship service (with your sister as the only other participant in the service). You led songs (complete with hand waving), said one of your memory verses for the sermon, said a prayer, SO SWEET!

You are headstrong, much different from Mary Alice at age three. You throw fits at times and find it easy to express your differences in opinion. Lately, when I ask you to do something (put away a toy, empty the trashes, etc.) and you don't want to do it, your response is a fit in the form of angry crying. We've been working on that. You eventually will do what I ask "with a happy heart", though I'm not really sure that fake smile plastered across your face is real happiness. :) You are a happy little boy, but have your own ideas about how to do things. Even though you are not a super easy child, I am hopeful that someday your headstrong ways will help you to stand up for what is right.

You love to go to Bible class and are always sure to remind us that you need to bring your Bible with you. You love your teacher, Miss Devonia. She might just be your best friend right now, other than Mary Alice, of course.

You can't say your "r's" yet, which is cute. When you say your name is sounds like, "Majuw". You say your "l's" now, which we are glad about. Right now, you say the phrase "What you say?" when you can't hear us. When you have a cold, you really have a hard time hearing me especially. During those times, we hear a lot of you saying "What you say?" It can be frustrating repeating things again and again. Sometimes I worry about your hearing. I hope that you don't have to ever go back to wearing hearing aids again. What a pain in the tail those things were! I am so thankful for your ability to hear!!!

Something that both you and your sister do right now... You will say, "Hey Mom!" or "Hey Dad!" to get our attention. Then, if you forget what it is that you needed to tell us, you just insert, "I love you."

You have designated pretend names for everyone in our family, including yourself. You are "Mr. Gower". Your Dad is "Mr. Bedo". I am "Mrs. Fap". Mary Alice is "Mrs. Bedo". The other day, we were singing the Name Game song, (You know, Billy Billy Bo Billy Banana Fanna fo Filly...) You kept suggesting funny words and would say "Let's try Mrs. Fap, Mr. Gower, etc." You are one silly little boy. You and your sister are both pretty silly most of the time.

"Shake it off." is something you've been saying lately. Two words: potty training.

You have some big ole buck teeth. If only you'd stop sucking that thumb! You have one goofy buck-toothed smile. If only we knew someone who could take care of that for you....:)

You like to stick your tongue out of your mouth and wiggle it from side to side whenever you are nervous or shy, usually when someone you don't know very well asks you a question.

You love to jump and LOVE to make noise!!! There are these metal grates at church that you always jump on every time we walk across them. You stop, concentrate, and put all the weight of your body into one big jump, which makes a VERY loud sound, sending many looks in our direction. You jump out of the car, out of the bathtub, off of the stairs, into my arms, etc. I am always afraid that you are going to hurt yourself.

You love for me to read to you and you ask LOTS of questions!! "Why?" "What is that?" "How come he's doing that?" etc.

You are such a complimentary boy and really notice certain things. Whenever I wear a new outfit or dress up you are sure to notice. You look up at me and say, "You look pretty cute mom." or "Mom, you're beautiful." or some other such thing. That kind of attitude will serve you well if you keep it up! Also, I have to note that you saw some Amish/Mennonite type women at Wal Mart the other day and kept staring at them and commenting about how beautiful they were. You said, "Hey Mom, those are some beautiful ladies. Aren't they such beautiful girls?"

One of my favorite things is when you don't think I'm paying enough attention to you and you put your hands on either side of my face and turn my face towards you. Sometimes, you just put your hands there and hold my face, just because. You also think it is funny to tackle me and press your forehead really hard up against my forehead. You just sit there and stare at me, until I start laughing. Then we both laugh. You are a silly guy. You also play with my hair. You're wanting me to hold you less and less. That is probably a good thing, because you weigh a ton!!!

I love your growling and other "boy" sounds that you make. You are like a train that is going full speed ahead lots of times, tearing through the house and roaring. You think it is funny to pretend that you are a lion or a dinosaur, or some other mean animal, and run around saying (in a loud, growly voice) "I AM A LI-ON AND I BITE!!!"

Even though you are rough and tough, you are (mostly) sweet to your sister. You play so well with her. This morning, after breakfast, you went and laid in her bed and listened to her read books to you for quite a long time. You guys love to play together, but I have a feeling the nature of that play will change pretty soon. She directs most of your activities, which means that dolls and house are lots of what is played. You go along with her ideas, for now.

Three years ago today your Dad and I were blessed with a special gift, our sweet little Major Gray. Major, I pray that you will grow to be a strong leader, a man who loves God with his whole heart and wants to do what is right. I pray that your Dad and I will use this time that we have with you wisely. I pray that God will bless you with wisdom, gentleness, and strength. I pray that God will give you a heart that wants to serve. We pray that you will know your purpose in life, that you will use your talents and abilities for God's glory. I know that God has great things in store for you, little man. We are so proud of you and are blessed every day by the extra special something that you bring to our family. I am so proud of my little man!